Equality and Time

Abstract

An egalitarian moral view must make certain choices in formulating principles to explain our particular egalitarian judgments. The first choice concerns the form of the egalitarian principle, the particular way in which it differs from a principle simply telling us to maximize what is good across all lives. One kind of aims at equality between different lives. It uses a measure of inequality and requires us to minimize the inequality recorded by the measure. A second kind of gives priority to helping those who are badly off. This view has a tendency toward equality, but not because it believes that equality itself has value. It furthers equality because that will be the result of helping the badly off, and it believes that improving a bad life takes priority over improving better lives. I will use maximin egalitarianism as a general name for this kind of view, even though some of the principles it covers are not exclusively concerned with the interests of the very worst off. A third version of believes that everyone should receive at least a specified share of advantages or benefits. It could be called minimum entitlement egalitarianism. Each view puts constraints on the distribution of good and bad things across different lives. An egalitarian theory must also specify the things to which the constraints apply. To take the first kind of as an example, which things should be distributed equally across different lives? Some views apply the requirement of equality to possessions and services like wealth, property, and medical care. In Ronald Dworkin's terms these views aim at equality in resources.1 Other views say that lives should be equal in terms of happiness or the extent to which people's desires are satisfied-equality of welfare in Dworkin's terms. Yet other views start with a list of objective features that give lives value-knowledge, achievements, relationships with others, and so on-and say that we should try to make lives equal in these value-conferring respects. These two choices have been extensively discussed. A third question is less familiar. As well as specifying the things to be distributed, an