Blackwell Reference Online

Extract

Few would deny that any morally defensible social arrangement must be based on some notions of impartiality and fair play. In popular perception at least, equality seems to be a very similar type of notion. It is true that the old adage “all men are born equal” fails utterly to reflect the human condition in the real world, where the accident of birth routinely drives a wedge between fellow human beings by bestowing unearned privilege on some and undeserved misery on others, but at least it echoes a deeply felt human aspiration for how things ought to be. Yet neither in intellectual discourse nor in practical politics does equality appear to command the same universal appeal as do the notions of impartiality and fair play. There are in fact many champions of inequality, and they are not in the most part evil people reveling at the misfortune of others. This chapter is in part an attempt to explain this apparent paradox and in part an attempt to reiterate the demand for egalitarianism. I take a critical look at some of the major theoretical and empirical issues that have figured prominently in the debate on equality, especially on economic equality.The arguments for inequality fall generally into two groups. The first group of arguments is concerned with the object of equality. The demand for equality must refer to the equality of something - the object of equality - and the debate ... log in or subscribe to read full text