PHIL 237 Lecture Notes - Lecture 14: Better Off, Egalitarianism, Root Mean Square
16 Aug 2016
School
Department
Course
Professor
PHIL 237
Lecture 14 — March 30
What is Equality?
Question: What is morally wrong here?
-Better off would only have to give up a little
bit for the worse off to reach the red line
(line of basic needs
-People who are living in the better off are
well above the amount that they need for
basic needs, but that often results in those
of the worse off suffering to keep the better
off better
Chart expresses Inequality:
-There is a group relative to another group
that is less equal
-Absolute level must be taken into perspective — can either have absolute or relative
assessment to determine which group is better
Different Views:
1. Egalitarianism
-Political equality
-Equality before the law — you may have rule of law, equality before law…
-Equal rights
-Equal weight given to everyone’s interests
-Teleological or telic equality: what matters most importantly are the outcomes. Even if
there is equality of opportunity, what matters more is what the final outcome is
-Deontic egalitarianism: not how people end up, but rather different things (offer fair
opportunities, political equality…) even if we end up with unequal outcomes, we had
equality elsewhere
-Distributive Equality: money, access to education, resources…
-Relational Equality: the realtions people have between each other — if people can
enjoy status and prestige in society, no matter how much distribution occurs with
resources there is inequality in buisness firms, or universities (ex. professors own
more than me, but it doesn’t matter because they have more responsibility and if I
wanted to, I could reach his position…). The trouble with this is the relational upper
level that people enjoy = CEO is entitled to more benefits for example. It is the
relations among people that matters
2. Priority View: not relative inequality between people, but rather the energy and resources
that are worse off for those worse off. The more worse, the more justified they are to receive
aid
3. Sufficiency View: prioritize the worse off even if they are worse off
Different views may have different equalisandum
Parfit: “Equality and Priority”
Nagel Example: Healthy and Happy
0
12.5
25
37.5
50
Better Off
Worse Off
Society
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Better off would only have to give up a little bit for the worse off to reach the red line (line of basic needs. People who are living in the better off are well above the amount that they need for basic needs, but that often results in those of the worse off suffering to keep the better off better. There is a group relative to another group. Absolute level must be taken into perspective can either have absolute or relative assessment to determine which group is better. Equality before the law you may have rule of law, equality before law . Teleological or telic equality: what matters most importantly are the outcomes. Even if there is equality of opportunity, what matters more is what the nal outcome is. Deontic egalitarianism: not how people end up, but rather different things (offer fair opportunities, political equality ) even if we end up with unequal outcomes, we had equality elsewhere.
