Distributive Justice and Access to Advantage

Transcription

1 Distributive Justice and Access to Advantage G. A. Cohen was one of the world s leading political theorists. He was noted, in particular, for his contributions to the literature of egalitarian justice. Cohen s classic writings offer one of the most influential responses to the currency of the egalitarian justice question the question, that is, of whether egalitarians should seek to equalize welfare, resources, opportunity, or some other indicator of well-being. Underlying Cohen s argument is the intuition that the purpose of egalitarianism is to eliminate disadvantage for which it is inappropriate to hold the person responsible. His argument therefore focuses on the appropriate role of considerations regarding responsibility in egalitarian judgment. This volume comprises chapters by major scholars addressing and responding both to Cohen s account of the currency of egalitarian justice and its practical implications, and to Cohen s arguments regarding the appropriate form of justificatory arguments about justice. alexander kaufman is Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Georgia, where he has taught political theory since His research and teaching interests include distributive justice, theories of equality, social contract theory, German idealism, philosophy of law, constitutional law, and the theory of the welfare state.

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3 Distributive Justice and Access to Advantage G. A. Cohen s Egalitarianism Edited by Alexander Kaufman University of Georgia

4 University Printing House, Cambridge CB2 8BS, United Kingdom Cambridge University Press is part of the University of Cambridge. It furthers the University s mission by disseminating knowledge in the pursuit of education, learning and research at the highest international levels of excellence. Information on this title: / Cambridge University Press 2015 This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press. First published 2015 Printed in the United Kingdom by Clays, St Ives plc A catalogue record for this publication is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication data Distributive justice and access to advantage : G. A. Cohen s egalitarianism / edited by Alexander Kaufman. pages cm ISBN (hardback) 1. Distributive justice. 2. Equality. 3. Cohen, G. A. (Gerald Allan), I. Kaufman, Alexander, 1958 editor of compilation. HB523.D dc ISBN Hardback Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of URLs for external or third-party internet websites referred to in this publication, and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate.

5 Contents List of contributors Acknowledgments page vii viii Introduction 1 alexander kaufman Part I Justice and justification 1 The fundamental disagreement between luck egalitarians and relational egalitarians 21 elizabeth anderson 2 Justice, interpersonal morality, and luck egalitarianism 40 peter vallentyne 3 The egalitarian ethos as a social mechanism 50 joseph h. carens 4 Justice and the crooked wood of human nature 79 adam cureton 5 Facts, principles, and the Third Man 95 lea ypi Part II Justice and equality 6 Equality and freedom: Cohen s critique of Sen 117 alexander kaufman 7 The incoherence of luck egalitarianism 131 david miller 8 What is the point of egalitarian social relationships? 151 patrick tomlin v

6 vi Contents 9 Basic equality and the currency of egalitarian justice 180 gabriel wollner Part III Equality and society 10 Why not capitalism? 207 richard j. arneson 11 The labor theory of justice 235 chandran kukathas 12 Rescuing justice and equality from libertarianism 249 serena olsaretti Index 271

7 Contributors elizabeth anderson, Department of Philosophy, University of Michigan. richard j. arneson, Department of Philosophy, University of California, San Diego. joseph h. carens, Department of Political Science, University of Toronto. adam cureton, Department of Philosophy, University of Tennessee. alexander kaufman, Department of Political Science, University of Georgia. chandran kukathas, Department of Government, London School of Economics and Political Science. david miller, Nuffield College, University of Oxford. serena olsaretti, ICREA-Universitat Pompeu Fabra. patrick tomlin, Department of Politics and International Relations, University of Reading. peter vallentyne, Department of Philosophy, University of Missouri-Columbia. gabriel wollner, Department of Philosophy, Logic and Scientific Method, London School of Economics and Political Science. lea ypi, Department of Philosophy, Logic and Scientific Method, London School of Economics. vii

8 Acknowledgments I am grateful for permission to include the following in this collection: Chapter 1 Elizabeth Anderson, The Fundamental Disagreement between Luck Egalitarians and Relational Egalitarians, Canadian Journal of Philosophy, Vol. 40, Supplement 1 (2010) Special Issue: Supplementary Vol. 36: Justice and Equality: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group. Chapter 5 Lea Ypi, Facts, Principles, and the Third Man, Socialist Studies/Etudes Socialistes ( 8(1) (2012) [special issue on G. A. Cohen]: Society for Socialist Studies (SSS). Chapter 6 Alexander Kaufman, Capabilities and Freedom, Journal of Political Philosophy 14(3) (2006): John Wiley & Sons. Chapter 12 Serena Olsaretti, Rescuing Justice and Equality from Libertarianism, Economics and Philosophy 29 (2013): Cambridge University Press. viii