Egalitarian Philosophy Research Articles

Capitalism and Distributive Justice: Musings of a Mormon Economist

Capitalism and Distributive Justice: Musings of a Mormon Economist

Reflections of Dr. B.R Ambedkar’s Idea of Social Justice

Dr. B. R. Ambedkar is revered as a hero for his role in advancing equality. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar was an instrumental figure in the formation of our nation's constitution and was one of the principal authors of it. He made it illegal to discriminate against those who were considered to be of a lower caste or to be untouchable, and he worked toward establishing equality among the citizens of our nation. He stated that he had faith in a community that could support the ideals of friendship, equality, and fraternity. However, in the early days of our nation, a man who had done so much for our country had been subjected to numerous cruelties because of his caste. Dr. Bhimrao Babasaheb Ramji Ambedkar was a renegade who challenged the social order in which the contradiction of caste and class had been apparent for years. His egalitarian philosophy was "one man, one value," and it was based on the belief that everyone should be treated equally. Dr. Ambedkar worked hard to change the pre-existing social order based on caste and class, and he strove to plant the seed of social justice. He accomplished this by lobbying for a wide range of causes, including the plight of the caste system and untouchability, human rights, labour rights, women's rights, and, most crucially, Indian politics. Because he was born into a mahar family in the state of Maharashtra, he was subjected to the humiliations and discrimination that came with being an untouchable. According to B. R. Ambedkar, social justice is a method for constructing an ideal society or a society that is just. According to him, a just society is one that does not practise caste, is founded on the ideals of social justice, and incorporates all three of the following elements: liberty, equality, and fraternity. Ambedkar's vision for the perfect society is underpinned by a commitment to a pair of core values. The purpose of the study is to describe and analyse the concept of social justice that was conceived of by B.R. Ambedkar, who was the architect of the Indian constitution.

Did Covid‐19 transform the European Union into a ‘community of destiny’?

Did Covid‐19 transform the European Union into a ‘community of destiny’?

REFLECTIONS OF DR. B.R AMBEDKAR’S IDEA OF SOCIAL JUSTICE

Dr. B. R. Ambedkar is revered as a hero for his role in advancing equality. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar was an instrumental figure in the formation of our nation's constitution and was one of the principal authors of it. He made it illegal to discriminate against those who were considered to be of a lower caste or to be untouchable, and he worked toward establishing equality among the citizens of our nation. He stated that he had faith in a community that could support the ideals of friendship, equality, and fraternity. However, in the early days of our nation, a man who had done so much for our country had been subjected to numerous cruelties because of his caste. Dr. Bhimrao Babasaheb Ramji Ambedkar was a renegade who challenged the social order in which the contradiction of caste and class had been apparent for years. His egalitarian philosophy was "one man, one value," and it was based on the belief that everyone should be treated equally. Dr. Ambedkar worked hard to change the pre-existing social order based on caste and class, and he strove to plant the seed of social justice. He accomplished this by lobbying for a wide range of causes, including the plight of the caste system and untouchability, human rights, labour rights, women's rights, and, most crucially, Indian politics. Because he was born into a mahar family in the state of Maharashtra, he was subjected to the humiliations and discrimination that came with being an untouchable. According to B. R. Ambedkar, social justice is a method for constructing an ideal society or a society that is just. According to him, a just society is one that does not practice caste, is founded on the ideals of social justice, and incorporates all three of the following elements: liberty, equality, and fraternity. Ambedkar's vision for the perfect society is underpinned by a commitment to a pair of core values. The purpose of the study is to describe and analyze the concept of social justice that was conceived of by B.R. Ambedkar, who was the architect of the Indian constitution.

Reflections of Dr. B.R Ambedkar’s Idea of Social Justice

Dr. B. R. Ambedkar is revered as a hero for his role in advancing equality. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar was an instrumental figure in the formation of our nation's constitution and was one of the principal authors of it. He made it illegal to discriminate against those who were considered to be of a lower caste or to be untouchable, and he worked toward establishing equality among the citizens of our nation. He stated that he had faith in a community that could support the ideals of friendship, equality, and fraternity. However, in the early days of our nation, a man who had done so much for our country had been subjected to numerous cruelties because of his caste. Dr. Bhimrao Babasaheb Ramji Ambedkar was a renegade who challenged the social order in which the contradiction of caste and class had been apparent for years. His egalitarian philosophy was "one man, one value," and it was based on the belief that everyone should be treated equally. Dr. Ambedkar worked hard to change the pre-existing social order based on caste and class, and he strove to plant the seed of social justice. He accomplished this by lobbying for a wide range of causes, including the plight of the caste system and untouchability, human rights, labour rights, women's rights, and, most crucially, Indian politics. Because he was born into a mahar family in the state of Maharashtra, he was subjected to the humiliations and discrimination that came with being an untouchable. According to B. R. Ambedkar, social justice is a method for constructing an ideal society or a society that is just. According to him, a just society is one that does not practise caste, is founded on the ideals of social justice, and incorporates all three of the following elements: liberty, equality, and fraternity. Ambedkar's vision for the perfect society is underpinned by a commitment to a pair of core values. The purpose of the study is to describe and analyse the concept of social justice that was conceived of by B.R. Ambedkar, who was the architect of the Indian constitution.

THE DEMANDS OF EQUALITY

AbstractEver since the publication of G. A. Cohen’s essay “If You’re an Egalitarian, How Come You’re So Rich?” the matter of personal responsibility for the amelioration of economic disadvantage has become a question for egalitarian political philosophers to wrestle with both theoretically and personally. This essay examines “the demands of equality” in light of an egalitarian philosophy that focuses on human flourishing. I consider Cohen’s call for personal commitments to the egalitarian project to show both the power and problems of his approach and propose an alternative view, where individuals’ concern for living well involves an engagement with the demands of equality, but also some respite from its strictures.

The Significance of the Social State Model in Development of an Inclusive Society

This article provides a critical analysis of the features of neoliberal capitalism that hinder the development of social justice and the creation of an inclusive society. Some of them, such as the commercialization and commodification of education and health care systems and the curtailment and cancelation of social programs and social policies, have been adopted in many countries with transitional economy. As a viable example of the social state, this paper briefly analyzes the Scandinavian model of the welfare state, in which the concept of "care" became the central idea. Also, this article discusses the features of the Scandinavian model of education, which is student-centric and based on an egalitarian philosophy. This model of education can be qualified as "empowering the students and pupils." The Scandinavian model of social state can serve as a viable alternative to the economic and social model, created according to the principles of neoliberal capitalism, which does not lead to the creation of an inclusive society.

Modern Urban Planning and Dissonant Heritage: The Case of San Polo

Summary The aim of the article is to understand to what extent modern mass housing estates, built in the decades following the Second World War with new construction methods and under the influence of innovative planning ideas and egalitarian philosophy, are currently facing a process of decline. In particular, the research is committed to understand how such innovative urban structures rapidly evolved into stigmatized places of residence and sources of dissonant heritage. The work focuses on the case of San Polo, a neighbourhood of Brescia, in Italy, designed by architect, planner and historian Leonardo Benevolo, who had the opportunity in the northern Italian city to experiment and implement his architectural views in the sphere of “public urbanization”. It is possible to claim that Benevolo’s theoretical approach and architectural practice excellently represented the golden age of modern housing in postwar Europe, when the connection between progressive political views and egalitarian urban planning was apparently perfect. Nevertheless, after the political and economic transition that characterized western Europe since the 1980s, mass housing quickly became a residual issue in the public discourse and entered in a spiral of decline. San Polo was no exception: problems – especially in its iconic tower blocks – soon emerged, and overall optimistic expectations were frustrated by the reality of physical, social and economic decline. This study is therefore committed to understand to what extent San Polo is a case of dissonant heritage in the urban context. While it is clear that the heritage of San Polo is the heritage of a precise historical phase and represents particular ideas in architecture and planning, on the other hand it must be stressed that the ideological transition of recent decades made its values and its messages obsolete and that socio-economic segregation negatively affected the reputation of the neighbourhood and its inhabitants had to face a process of stigmatization that found echo in official and journalistic discourse.

Translator's Introduction: Jacques Rancière, "Autonomy and Historicism: The False Alternative"

TRANSLATOR’S INTRODUCTION: JACQUES RANCIÈRE, “AUTONOMY AND HISTORICISM: THE FALSE ALTERNATIVE” PATRICK NICKLESON A discipline . . . is not first of all the definition of a set of methods appropriate to a certain domain or a certain type of object. It is first the very constitution of this object as an object of thought, the demonstration of a certain idea of knowledge. —Jacques Rancière1 HE FRENCH PHILOSOPHER JACQUES RANCIÈRE has recently gained much notice in Anglo-American scholarship for bringing an egalitarian theory of politics and historiography to bear on the aesthetics of literature, poetry, film, sculpture, and painting. That Rancière has little to say about music has been noted in many sources.2 The rare essay on music historical literature translated below was written as a contribution to a 2003–04 seminar called Penser l’oeuvre musicale au XXe siècle: avec, sans ou contre histoire? at l’École Normale supérieure,3 organized by François Nicolas and Gilles Dulong. As such, many of Rancière’s lines of argument are specifically responses to the proceedings, and in T 326 Perspectives of New Music particular to Nicolas’s formalist insistence on an autonomous “world of music.”4 Because this contribution is atypical of Rancière’s writing, and it may be a first introduction to his thought for some readers, I offer a brief overview of his thought as a means of tying this essay into his broader writing. Rancière’s egalitarian philosophy is founded on a premise, as much political and pedagogic as methodological, that “the same intelligence is at work in all acts of the human mind.”5 From this foundational axiom he challenges what he calls “allegories of inequality”—between teacher and student, performer and listener, subject and object, even cause and effect.6 This has led to a particularly pointed critique of mastery and expertise, as well as the Althusserian scientism in which he was trained, which places the opening sentences of this essay—in which he confesses he is neither a musician nor a historian of music, and that the specific power of music has always evaded him—particularly pointed. While the reference to musicians and music literature found here distinguish “Autonomy and Historicism: The False Alternative” from his other writing, the essay also reveals close parallels to ideas presented elsewhere more prominently. Readers familiar with Aesthetics and Its Discontents will recognize an early version of his commentary on Adorno’s reading of Beethoven’s diminished-seventh chords, and the ideas presented here on artistic autonomy and heteronomy are more prominently laid out in articles like “The Aesthetic Revolution and Its Outcomes: Emplotments of Autonomy and Heteronomy.”7 While the latter article makes its case through reference to those whom Davide Panagia calls Rancière’s “writerly figures”—Mallarmé, Flaubert, Schelling, and so on8—here we find him referring to the Ars Nova, Bach, Rameau, the Second Viennese School, Lachenmann, and Sciarrino. Rancière is not introducing the reader to new work, new ideas, or new concepts in music; his approach is that of a philosopher of historiography , set out to “dissonate” our foundational assumptions about the teleological underpinnings of modernism in music and elsewhere.9 These musical figures shift the discussion of Rancière’s well-known regimes of art in light of the regimes of historicity that he borrows here from François Hartog,10 such that the representative regime is described as “the pairing of history-as-example and of history-as-agency” and the aesthetic regime as a form of history-as-coexistence. In this sense, it is a unique introduction to his often misinterpreted (or at least oversimplified ) ideas of the regimes of the arts, of interest to both Rancière scholars and newcomers. Further, in his opening discussion of Rameau’s Treatise, Socrates’s dreamed injunction to “make music,” and the relationships between the Conservatory classroom and the popular Translator’s Introduction: Autonomy and Historicism 327 radio audience, we get a clear sense of the broad method of equality through which Rancière’s thought comes into contact with a discipline like music—that is, in forming itself around the constitution of a particular...

Politeia’s place in our practical life: Pierre Bourdieu on the modern state

Pierre Bourdieu’s account of the modern state’s emergence has affinities with the analyses of legal systems offered by Herbert Hart and Hans Kelsen. Bourdieu, Hart, and Kelsen each describe normative spaces within which practical life unfolds. While Bourdieu’s account of the state as ‘a space of spaces’ is less systematic than the analyses of Hart and Kelsen, he augments their contributions in important ways. He conveys a more definite sense of the texture of lived experience within the space he describes than either Hart or Kelsen on the modern state. Bourdieu’s analysis also affords a basis on which to draw out the significance of institutions that rarely feature in jurisprudential works on the state or legal systems. This article illustrates this point by reference to the public inquiry. It also finds at work within On the State an ideal that gives expression to an egalitarian philosophy of government. This is the ideal of politeia, which, on the view offered here, identifies legal, political, and economic institutions and practices as constituents of ‘community.’

Yang Zhu – enfant terrible filozofskega daoizma in njegov koncept privatizma

Yang Zhu, kitajski filozof iz četrtega stoletja pred našim štetjem, se je v zgodovino kitajske filozofije zapisal kot egoističen hedonist, nezmožen krepostnega življenja v skupnosti, ustrojeni po načelih stroge konfucijanske filozofije. Kot takega ga je uradno konfucijansko zgodovinopisje vselej znova ožigosalo za heretičnega misleca, nevrednega položaja resničnega filozofa. Ta članek poskuša zavrniti takšno intepretacijo Yang Zhujeve filozofije in pokazati, da gre pri njegovem idejnem opusu za izjemno egalitarno filozofijo, ki si prizadeva za svobodo, dostojanstvo in osebno integriteto vsakega posameznika v družbi. Članek izhaja iz predpostavke, da je prav Yang Zhu tisti predstavnik klasičnega daoizma, ki je poskušal v svojem nauku najbolj dosledno uresničiti načelo družbene strpnosti, avtonomije in individualne svobode v smislu, ki prihaja do izraza v reku »živi in pusti živeti «. Yang Zhu je pogosto označen kot zagovornik anarhizma in individualizma. Avtorica na podlagi kontekstualne analize kritično preveri to predpostavko in ugotovi, da je za označevanje Yangove filozofije, ki temelji na zaščiti »zasebnosti«, morda najprimernejši koncept »privatizma«.

Female body—male body: The valiant Hungarian women of Eger and Szigetvár from the 16th century in historiography, literature, and art

AbstractThe question of whether the characteristics of the genders are determined by anatomical, biological, or physiological factors or influenced by society and culture (or perhaps a mixture of the two), in other words whether the masculine and feminine personality traits are inherent or they are shaped by our education and the expectations of our society, is still debated in psychology, sociology, anthropology or, for example, among the researchers of the anatomy of the male and female brains. Throughout history, the theological, philosophical, and historiographical schools had different beliefs about whether the differences or the similarities between the genders are more significant. Both sides used biblical (Old Testament) texts to prove their opinion: that Eve was made from Adam’s rib is proof of the secondary role of women, however, the fact that humans (both male and female) were created in the image and likeness of God means that they are inherently equal. The egalitarian philosophy of the Age o...

Vitalism in America: Elihu Palmer's Radical Religion in the Early Republic

For more than a decade, the New York–based freethinker Elihu Palmer (1764–1806) lectured and wrote on “vitalism,” the idea that a divine life force inheres in the tiny particles of matter that comprise everything in the universe. The idea was transformative, Palmer believed. When people recognize that all creatures are made of the same eternal and divinely propelled particles, they will radically change their behavior toward all living things. Palmer was a minister by training who never left the United States. Where did he learn about a vital power infusing all matter? Three men inspired him: Dr. Isaac Ledyard of Long Island, who first introduced Palmer to a vitalist cosmology; John “Walking” Stewart, an eccentric Englishman who persuaded Palmer that atoms register and remember pain; and comte de Volney, a French philosophe attached to the idea of a life force in matter. Fully persuaded, Palmer made it his life’s work to undermine all “religious superstition” and spread the good news of vital matter in eternal motion. He believed vitalism would naturally evoke a “universal benevolence” that would in turn end all oppression, making vitalism, in his view, the most radically egalitarian philosophy in the early Republic.

Masculinity Scripts, Good Life and Familial Intentions: the Case of Young Lithuanian Men

Analyzing 30 semi-structured interviews with 19–34-year-old Lithuanian men, the article focuses on the interconnection of these men’s scripts of masculinity, good life and familial intentions. Despite differences in class, education, sexual orientation, age and physical ability, most men adhered to the traditional masculinity script based on very normative male ideals and practices. In this script prevalent in the Lithuanian society, a man was manly, strong, economically secure, career-minded and successful breadwinner for his family. A significantly smaller part of the interviewed men were proponents of the second masculine script of a ‘sensitive new age man’ based on an egalitarian philosophy of caring, support and respect for others. However, both traditional and ‘dissident’ masculinity scripts remained equally linked to the reproduction of a traditional fantasy of family life/partnership and childbearing. Thus, it is possible to conclude that the choice of different masculinity scripts does not significantly influence the respondents’ familial intentions and visions of good life. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.ss.86.4.7882

Mudarabah/مضاربۃ In the Light of the Holy Qur’An and Sunnah/سُنَّۃ of the Messenger of Allah (صَلَّی للهُ عَلیۡہِ وَ آ لِہٖ وَسَلَّم)

Mudarabah/مضاربۃ is an Arabic term of business law. Grammatically, the word Mudarabah/مضاربۃ is on the scale of Mufa`alah/مفاعلۃ . It is from the chapter of mufa`al/باب مفاعل which signifies mutual action of two persons. In business, mudarabah is a kind of business where there are two parties, otherwise qualified to enter into a contract, joining in business in the manner that one gives his capital (ra’s al-mal/) رأس المال and the other his services (i.e., the abilities, the capabilities, the capacity, the skill and the doing of all sorts of work required by such business termed as effort or labour or mihnat/محنۃ ) and they (both the partners in Mudarabah/مضاربۃ business) share the profit according as to their mutual lawful agreement. However, in case of any loss in the business it shall be borne by the person who invests capital. The jurists also call it Qirad قراض. It is one of the kinds of Partnership (Shirkat/شرکۃ or Shirakat/شراکۃ MUDARABAH/مضاربۃ is a financial arrangement. It is a contract. Law of Pakistan recognizes it and defines the rights and obligations of the contracting parties and also of the third parties who are directly affected by it. Its ideal nature is that in which there is no interest open or hidden and it achieves the goal of Islamic egalitarian philosophy. The Constitution of Pakistan, 1973 also mentions in its Article 38 (f) that the State shall eliminate riba as early as possible. This is one of the Principles of Policy given in Chapter 2 (Articles 29 to 40) of the Constitution.

Law, Morality and the Egalitarian Philosophy of Government

Herbert Hart and the positivists influenced by him have, according to Nigel Simmonds, deflected attention from the question that has always been at the heart of philosophical reflection on law. This question concerns the relationship between law and morality and how we should understand it. Simmonds argues that law and morality are necessarily related and seeks to explain their relationship by reference to an archetype that actually existing legal institutions approximate more or less adequately. He identifies this archetype as providing the basis for an analysis of law that is free from metaphysics and universally applicable. This review article raises doubts concerning Simmonds’ claims to offer a metaphysics-free and universal analysis. It also offers an argument in support of the conclusion that he has failed to point up the complexity of the positivist tradition he criticizes. While Simmonds is vulnerable to these criticisms, he throws light on an egalitarian philosophy of government that informs legal institutions in the West and is relevant to positivist analyses of law.

Justice Implications of the Proposed Federal Family and Work Tax Credits: Applying Justice Theories to Policy Advocacy

A 2005 Presidential Advisory Panel on Tax Reform proposed a family credit and a work credit to replace some current tax credits, deductions, and exemptions. Taxes are overlooked by many social workers as a policy instrument for increasing the disposable income of low- and moderate-income families. This paper analyzes the proposed new credits through a justice framework. Social justice often is defined as the equitable distribution of societal resources. This definition reflects one type of justice–-Rawls's egalitarian philosophy. A more nuanced understanding of justice may enable coalition building in policy making, leading to the enactment of tax policy that helps families pay for their basic needs–-a goal of both direct service and policy practice social work practitioners.

The racialization of the globe: an interactive interpretation

This article argues that racist belief systems are global although they are neither uniform nor universal. It suggests that racist belief systems share a common language based on science, that they have a common political tension derived from an egalitarian philosophy and that they can also diverge considerably according to local cognitive traditions and political agendas. The article contends that an interactive approach alone can take into account how racist belief systems were negotiated, appropriated and transformed within historically specific contexts, and it provides a number of detailed discussions of cases ranging from Rwanda to China.

Equality of Opportunity for Education: One-off or Lifelong?

Adult education has long been the Cinderella of the education system. This is not helped by the fact that there is currently an impasse between employers, government and individuals over who should finance such training. So what, if anything, can philosophers do to help resolve the normative question of who ought to pay, setting aside for the moment the practical question of how this might be put into effect? An important strand of contemporary egalitarian philosophy argues that equality of opportunity for education should be implemented in such a way that children with the same level of talent and the same willingness to make an effort have the same opportunity to attain skills and qualifications such that they are each able (at the onset of adult life) to compete effectively with others for advantageous positions and rewards in society. But what about children or teenagers who drop out of education or make such little effort that they achieve wholly inadequate exam results? Should they be offered second and third chances for free education as adults funded by the state? A case is made for lifelong as opposed to one-off equality of opportunity for education on a number of grounds, including efficiency, utility, the value of choice, the social bases of self-respect and responsibility-catering prioritarianism. This last view supports lifelong access to education (for reasons of priority) but with the additional (responsibility-catering) stipulation that adults should contribute at least some of the costs themselves in so far as they are accountable for not making enough effort the first time around.

Music for all? Pupils' perceptions of the GCSE Music examination in one South Wales secondary school

This article originated from a research project examining pupils' perceptions of the GCSE Music examination (for pupils aged 15–16) in one large secondary school in the United Kingdom. The research explored the hypothesis that pupils considered it necessary to have additional instrumental or vocal tuition outside class music lessons in order to secure a high grade in the examination. The research also hypothesised that, despite the egalitarian philosophy underpinning the General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) examination system, the music course was still viewed by pupils as being élitist. It was concluded that although there were some very positive comments from pupils, GCSE Music was still not the intended examination for all.