Equality, Moral and Social [addendum]
Equality is a potent ideal that plays a major role in a wide-range of social, political, and moral debates. Unfortunately, equality defies easy characterization, and few ideals of such significance have been so poorly understood.
Equality of What?
Much debate concerns what kind of equality is desirable: income, resources, primary goods, power, welfare, opportunity, needs satisfaction, capabilities, functionings, rights, or liberties. Should the chief concern be legal, social, or political equality? These are extremely important questions, as equality of one kind fosters inequality of another. Although many assume that we should only be concerned with one kind of equality, it is arguable that various kinds of equality matter, perhaps to various degrees in different contexts.
Various Kinds of Egalitarianism
Philosophers have long distinguished between formal and substantive principles of equality. It is perhaps more useful to distinguish between equality as universality, as impartiality, or as comparability. A basic principle of rationality, equality as universality reflects the view that all reasons and principles must be universal in their application. Because it applies universally, even the view that all blondes should be rich and all brunettes paupers meets this egalitarian principle.
Equality as impartiality holds that all people must be treated with disinterested fairness.
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