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9 - Who Should Get What?

from Part II - Implications for Society and Politics

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 August 2022

W. L. Tiemeijer
Affiliation:
Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam
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Summary

This chapter focuses on the currently popular idea that the distribution of scarce goods such as income and social benefits should reflect differences in “deservingness” and track “responsible behavior.” In philosophy, this idea lies at the heart of what is sometimes referred to as “luck egalitarianism,” while in politics the idea translates into an ever-increasing emphasis on “personal responsibility.” I argue that the psychological findings on self-control raise serious problems for this approach to distributive justice. In fact, the problems are so intractable that they leave us little choice but to entirely abandon this approach in favor of an alternative – a combination of sufficientarianism and relational equality – that better fits the psychological findings previously discussed. Put differently, these findings more or less force us to revise our views on “who should get what.” Especially for the United Kingdom and the United States, this would imply a significant change in both ideology and practical policies.

Type
Chapter
Information
Self-Control
Individual Differences and What They Mean for Personal Responsibility and Public Policy
, pp. 215 - 237
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2022

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  • Who Should Get What?
  • W. L. Tiemeijer, Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam
  • Book: Self-Control
  • Online publication: 20 August 2022
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009089678.011
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  • Who Should Get What?
  • W. L. Tiemeijer, Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam
  • Book: Self-Control
  • Online publication: 20 August 2022
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009089678.011
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Who Should Get What?
  • W. L. Tiemeijer, Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam
  • Book: Self-Control
  • Online publication: 20 August 2022
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009089678.011
Available formats
×