Introduction to Political Theory

philosophical position are, first, that the social world is not ‘natural’ – inequality must be justified and not dismissed as if ...

... we give value to our lives by working for the good of the highest specimens’ (Rawls, 1972: 325). Other theorists have argued ...

perfectionism might also take a softer but still elitist form: what is of greatest value is the sustenance, or transmission from ...

all because it violated certain requirements for any legal system. For Fuller, the essential function of law is to ‘achieve orde ...

is being distributed, but rather the protectionof that liberty – if Sam is guaranteed that he will not be thrown in jail for exp ...

The relationship of freedom to equality will be discussed in greater detail in Chapter 4, where the focus is on theories of just ...

Let us consider Nozick’s example. If we measure equality by the number of marriage partners available then there is an unequal d ...

free to leave. Once again, conditionality is at work, but Cohen draws a different conclusion to that of Nozick from this conditi ...

employed in the refuge are working towards a more gender-equal society. However, the restriction of the priesthood to men is mor ...

imposition of a degree of parental discipline sufficient to encourage self-discipline, family networks and contacts, a good diet ...

Equality of outcome Equalisation of outcome seems, on the face of it, neither desirable nor coherent. It is not desirable becaus ...

increasing female representation in the House of Commons (the elected chamber) has been the British Labour Party, and that succe ...

and creates resentment: if a person achieves a position through positive discrimi- nation then others may not respect that perso ...

people (immigrants) washed up on a desert island with abundant resources and no native population. The immigrants have equal per ...

the day someone is born, and in fact even before they are conceived, that they will have a poor natural endowment. To deal with ...

Questions Must freedom and equality conflict? Are there any valid positional goods? Is equality of opportunity desirable? Shoul ...

Weblinks See the Companion Website for further resources. Chapter 3 Equality 75 ...

Chapter 4 Justice Introduction Should people who are intelligent, or good looking or naturally charming be allowed to keep whate ...

Fair taxes S hould the state tax people? That is, should it be allowed to appropriate resources through coercion? If so, what ty ...

Theories of just distribution Distributive justice is, as the name suggests, concerned with the just distribution of resources. ...