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EQUALITY VERSUS PRIORITY: HOW RELEVANT IS THE DISTINCTION?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 May 2015

Marc Fleurbaey
Marc Fleurbaey*
Affiliation:
Woodrow Wilson School and the University Center for Human Values, Princeton University, 326 Wallace Hall, Princeton, NJ 08544USA. Email: [email protected]. URL: http://wws.princeton.edu/faculty-research/faculty/mfleurba.
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Abstract:

This paper questions the distinction between egalitarianism and prioritarianism, arguing that it is important to separate the reasons for particular social preferences from the contents of these preferences, that it is possible to like equality and separability simultaneously, and that some egalitarians and prioritarians may therefore share the same social preferences (though for different reasons). The case of risky prospects, for which Broome has proposed an interesting example meant to show that egalitarians and prioritarians cannot share the same preferences, is scrutinized. The levelling down objection is also examined.

Keywords

Equalitypriorityriskseparability
Type
Symposium on Equality versus Priority
Information
Economics & Philosophy , Volume 31 , Issue 2 , July 2015 , pp. 203 - 217
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Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2015 

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References

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