Equality and ResponsibilityArguments about distributive justice often take place around two ideas. One is that good should be distributed equally. The other is that how people fare in life should depend on what they are responsible for. The author asks what draws us to these two ideas and examines recent attempts by egalitarian thinkers to bring them together in a single distributive ideal. Underlying this ideal is the egalitarian intuition - the intuition that it is objectionable for some to be worse offthan others through no fault of their own. in a wide-ranging discussion, Lake tests that intuition from a variety of perspectives and points to the gaps in our current thinking about quality and individual responsibility. |
Contents
Introduction | 1 |
1 What is objectionable about inequalities? | 6 |
2 Responsibility and justice | 22 |
3 What we are responsible for | 43 |
4 The social division of responsibility | 66 |
5 The egalitarian intuition | 83 |
6 Natural talents luck and the market | 106 |
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according activity advance advantages agent allow answer appeal apply arbitrary argument assume attribute background basis begin believe benefits better calls capacities causes chapter choice claims clear commitment conception concerns consequences contributive course demands describing desert determinism differences disadvantages distinction distribution doubt egalitarian egalitarian intuition equality establish exists extent fact fault favour follow force given happens holdings human idea Imagine important independent individual responsibility inequalities instance intuition issue judgements justice kind least less Liberal loss luck matter means moral Nagel natural talents objection objectionable obvious opportunities outcomes particular perhaps person philosophical political position precisely preferences principle question Rawls Rawls's reason reciprocity relation relevant requires respect reward rules satisfaction seems sense simply social sort stand status suffer suggested tastes Theory of Justice things thought true unequal University virtue White