POLI 231 Lecture Notes - Lecture 19: Iris Marion Young, Apple Juice, Egalitarianism
17 May 2018
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POLI231
Lecture 19 – 27 March 2018
Problem of equality as a political ideal:
• No matter how you define equality as condition, in the end there will be inequalities. For
example, if we gave everyone the same income, the would spend it differently, and have
different savings left
• Would require frequent coercion and regulation
• There is no overall measure of distribution of goods by which we can measure outcome
Equality of resources:
• There is the assumption that equality of resources gives people a chance to seek what they
want
• Problem: equality of resources is not the same as equality of chances
- Giving equal income to a person with two legs and a person with no legs does not create
equal quality of life
- Some people need more
Equality welfare:
• Subjective sense of welfare
• Problem: expensive tastes
- Some might be happy with apple juice, while others are only satisfied with expensive
champagne
- It seems intuitively that this is not fair
Equality of functions:
• Assumes there is an objective way to judge what is of value to people
• People don’t eat the same amount, but they have access to nutrition
- Someone who chooses to fast for religious purposes is not undergoing starvation
- You must have the choice to eat, but you are not required to eat
It is hard to come up with an objective standard for egalitarianism. Some argue that equality is
not what is intrinsically valuable to people → equality can divert people away from what really
matters.
• Egalitarians sneak in the idea of insufficiency (extreme poverty)
• What is everyone has a level of sufficiency but there is still inequality?
• Comparing yourself to others is alienating – you don’t need an IPhone, but others have it, so
now you want it. Comparing yourself to others skews your wants and needs
Sufficiency: can we define objectively what it is?
• It is easier to decide in terms of healthcare
• What about education? Studies show that a university education raises income levels. So,
should everyone have the option to go to university? This can be contextualized within the
argument
Iris Marion Young
• Died prematurely, in 2006
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Problem of equality as a political ideal: no matter how you define equality as condition, in the end there will be inequalities. Equality of resources: there is the assumption that equality of resources gives people a chance to seek what they want, problem: equality of resources is not the same as equality of chances. Giving equal income to a person with two legs and a person with no legs does not create equal quality of life. Equality welfare: subjective sense of welfare, problem: expensive tastes. Some might be happy with apple juice, while others are only satisfied with expensive champagne. It seems intuitively that this is not fair. Equality of functions: assumes there is an objective way to judge what is of value to people, people don"t eat the same amount, but they have access to nutrition. Someone who chooses to fast for religious purposes is not undergoing starvation.
