Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-7cvxr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-23T07:41:18.940Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

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
Get access

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

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

  • 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 Dropbox

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 Dropbox.

  • 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
×