Justice and responsibility-sensitive egalitarianism
By: Robert C. Robinson
Series: Palgrave pivot; Palgrave pivot
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Published: 2014
Place of publication: Basingstoke; New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 102
ISBN-13: 9781137384089; 9781137381231
Subjects: Equality; Philosophy; Justice; Responsibility
Description: "Among egalitarians, what extent should responsibility play as a deciding factor in assessing the acceptability of inequalities? So-called luck egalitarians agree that instances of genuine choice are decisive in attributing responsibility for disadvantage, and in justifying unequal distributions of social goods. In this exciting new contribution to this literature, the author explores the correct place to locate the cut between choice and chance, or between those inequalities for which it is fair to hold one responsible, and those for which it is not. The argument carefully traces a thread of intellectual history through Marx and Mill, and into Cohen and Rawls, identifying a singular rejection of strong property rights which we inherit from Locke, and find in contemporary defenders of strong entitlements such as Nozick. The result is an egalitarian position which treats responsibility seriously, while maintaining our liberal commitments to impartiality and non-arbitrariness in the distribution of rights and responsibilities in contemporary society."--Publisher's website.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: The correct cut; title: Cohen's incentives argument; title: Can a well-ordered society respect liberal property rights?; title: Conclusion.