Book Review: Social Justice Fallacies

Abstract

At the heart of _Social Justice Fallacies_ is a refutation of the verdicts of Progressives on the moral status of inequalities between the races, sexes and classes, on their own grounds. Following from this is a criticism of the state interventions proposed to correct these inequalities. Sowell considers three themes throughout the book to make his case, these being, the unchosen background of people, the different tastes of people, and, the responses which people make to Progressive policies to “fix” inequalities. By showing how a majority of the inequality between groups is due to these three factors, he defeats the central idea of the social justice movement, namely, ‘disparities are evidence or proof of the effects of such human vices as exploitation and discrimination’ (2). This is a good book grounded in plenty of empirical evidence and solid arguments. This review summarizes its three themes, outlines its secondary concerns, and offers minor criticism towards the end.