J. Wolff 2005-06

Dept of Philosophy

UCL

Equality, Priority and Sufficiency

Course Outline

The purpose of the course is to look at some of the key debates within recent egalitarian thought, with a particular focus on the work of Ronald Dworkin. Attention will be given to the following issues:

a) What should an egalitarian try to equalise: need satisfaction; preference satisfaction; happiness; resources; capabilities?

b) Is equality the right goal? Or should it be priority or sufficiency?

c) What is the role of responsibility in determining just outcomes?

d) How should fairness be balanced against other values?

1 and 2: Dworkin and Equality:

Ronald Dworkin, ‘What is Equality Part 2: Equality of Resources’, Philosophy and Public Affairs, 1981: Reprinted in Dworkin’s Sovereign Virtue

Abridgement in M. Rosen and J. Wolff Political Thought pp. 248-255

W. Kymlicka, Contemporary Political Philosophy, pp. 76-90 (Summary of Dworkin)

3: Critics of Dworkin

Richard Arneson ‘Equality and Equal Opportunity for Welfare’ Philosophical Studies 1989 and in L. Pojman and R. Westmoreland (ed) Equality

G.A. Cohen, ‘On the Currency of Egalitarian Justice’, Ethics 1989.

Ronald Dworkin, Sovereign Virtue Ch 7

4: Sufficiency and Priority

Harry Frankfurt, ‘Equality as a Moral Idea’, Ethics 1987 (reprinted in his The Importance of What We Care About, and in L. Pojman and R. Westmoreland (ed) Equality)

Derek Parfit, ‘Equality and Priority’, in Ideals of Equality ed A. Mason and in The Ideal of Equality ed. M. Clayton and A. Williams

5: Distributive and Social Equality

Elizabeth Anderson, ‘What is the Point of Equality?’ Ethics 1999

Samuel Scheffler, ‘What is Egalitarianism?’ Philosophy and Public Affairs 2003

Jonathan Wolff, ‘Fairness, Respect and the Egalitarian Ethos’, Philosophy and Public Affairs 1998

General Background

John Baker, Arguing for Equality.

Louis Pojman and Robert Westmoreland (ed) Equality: Selected Readings

Bruce Landesman, ‘Egalitarianism’ Canadian Journal of Philosophy 1983.

Thomas Nagel, ‘Equality’ in his Mortal Questions.

John Rawls, A Theory of Justice esp s.77.

Bernard Williams, ‘The Idea of Equality’ in his Problems of the Self.

Jonathan Wolff ‘Economic Justice’ in The Oxford Handbook of Practical Ethics ed. H. La Follette

Critics of Equality

David Hume, Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals, Section III, Part 1.

J.R. Lucas, ‘Against Equality’, Philosophy 1965.

- ‘Against Equality Again’, Philosophy 1977.

Robert Nozick, Anarchy, State, and Utopia pp. 149-64, 232-239.

Contemporary Issues

Richard Arneson, ‘Equality of Opportunity for Welfare Defended and Recanted’, Journal of Political Philosophy 1999.

Richard Arneson ‘Luck Egalitarianism and Prioritarianism’ Ethics 2000

Richard Arneson, ‘Egalitarian justice versus the right to privacy’ Social Philosophy and Policy 2000

Richard Arneson, ‘Perfectionism and Politics’ Ethics 2000

Justine Burley (ed) Dworkin and His Critics

Matthew Clayton and Andrew Williams (ed) The Ideal of Equality

Roger Crisp ‘Equality, Priority and Compassion’ Ethics 2002

Norman Daniels, ‘Equality of What: Welfare, Resources or Capabilities?’ Philosophy and Phenomenological Research. (supplement) 1990.

Ronald Dworkin, ‘What is Equality? I. Equality of Welfare’, Philosophy and Public Affairs 1981. (Reprinted in his Sovereign Virtue)

Ronald Dworkin, Sovereign Virtue

Will Kymlicka, Introduction to Contemporary Political Philosophy, esp. Ch 1 &3.

Kasper Lippert-Rasmussen, ‘Egalitarianism, Option Luck and Responsibility’, Ethics 2001.

Colin McLeod, Liberalism Justice and Markets

Thomas Nagel, Equality and Partiality.

Martha Nussbaum, Women and Human Development

Michael Otsuka, ‘Luck, Insurance, and Equality’, Ethics 2002

John Rawls, A Theory of Justice

John Rawls, Political Liberalism Ch 5.

John Rawls, ‘Social Unity and Primary Goods’, in A. Sen and B. Williams (ed) Utilitarianism and Beyond, and in his Collected Papers.

T.M. Scanlon, ‘Preference and Urgency’, Journal of Philosophy 1975.

Amartya Sen, Inequality Reexamined

Amartya Sen, ‘Equality of What?’ in his Choice, Welfare and Measurement, and Contemporary Political Philosophy ed. R. Goodin and P. Pettit.

Amartya Sem, Development as Freedom

Hillel Steiner, ‘Choice and Circumstance’ in A. Mason (ed) Ideals of Equality

Peter Vallentyne ‘Brute Luck, Option Luck, and Equality of Initial Opportunities’ Ethics 2002

Phillipe Van Parijs, What (if anything) Can Justify Capitalism?

Phillipe Van Parijs, ‘Why Surfers Should Be Fed’, Philosophy and Public Affairs 1991.

Michael Walzer, Spheres of Justice