Synopses & Reviews
Equality: Selected Readings collects the most representative material on the subject of equality, providing critical analyses of the egalitarian principles which underlie contemporary debate on issues such as welfare, civil and human rights, affirmative action, and immigration. The most comprehensive anthology of its kind, this volume includes a broad range of readings, from the classical works of Aristotle, Hobbes, and Rousseau to contemporary selections by John Rawls, Thomas Nagel, R.M. Hare, Harry Frankfurt, Wallace Matson, Robert Nozick, Michael Walzer, and others. Several important topics are covered in depth, including the concept of equality; equal opportunity; welfare egalitarianism; resource egalitarianism; complex equality; and equal human worth and human rights. A comprehensive introduction and bibliography are also included. Ideal for courses in political philosophy, this unique work covers all sides of the crucial debate over equality and strives to expand readers' understanding of the issues at stake in order to help them arrive at informed judgments.
Description
Includes bibliographical references (p. 319-321) and index.
Table of Contents
Introduction: The Nature and Value of Equality I. Classical Readings
1. Justice and Equality, Aristotle
2. Equality in the State of Nature, Thomas Hobbes
3. On the Origins of Inequality, Jean-Jacques Rousseau
4. On Justice and Equality, David Hume
5. The Manifesto of Equality, Francis-Noel Babeuf and Sylvain Marechal
II. On the Concept of Equality Itself
6. Egalitarianism as a Descriptive Concept, Felix E. Oppenheim
7. Equality and Time, Dennis McKerlie
8. Inequality, Larry Temkin
III. General Considerations
9. Groundwork for a Metaphysic of Morals (second formula of the categorical Imperative and other selections), Kant
10. Justice Does Not Imply Equality, Robert Nozick
11. Against Equality, J.R. Lucas
12. Egalitarianism and the Equal Consideration of Interests, Stanley I. Benn
13. Justice and Equality, Gregory Vlastos
IV. Equal Opportunity
14. Equality of Opportunity and Beyond, John Schaar
15. Liberty versus Equal Opportunity, James Fishkin
16. The Concept of Equal Opportunity, Peter Westen
17. Life is Not a Race, Robert Nozick
18. A Liberal Defense of Equal Opportunity, William Galston
V. The Contemporary Debate on the Nature and Value of Equality
19. Equality and Desert, John Rawls
20. Justice: A Funeral Oration, Wallace Matson
21. Radical Welfare Egalitarianism, Kai Nielson
22. A Utilitarian Defense of Equality, R.M. Hare
23. Equality and Equal Opportunity for Welfare, Richard Arneson
24. A Critique of Welfare Egalitarianism, Eric Rakowski
25. Equality and Partiality, Thomas Nagel
26. Equality as a Moral Ideal, Harry Frankfurt
27. A Defense of Resource Equality, Eric Rakowski
28. On Equal Human Worth: A Critique of Contemporary Egalitarianism, Louis Pojman
29. Complex Equality, Michael Walzer
Appendix
30. Harrison Bergeron, Kurt Vonnegut
Bibliography