Fortgeschrittenenseminar und Essaykurs What is the point of equality

In this seminar we will critically assess and contrast two contemporary attempts to answer the question, ‘What is the point of equality?’: (1) the first answer stems from luck egalitarianism and claims that the point of equality is to rectify disadvantage due to brute luck, and (2) the second answer stems from social or relational egalitarianism – equality is foremost a social and political ideal which determines a certain egalitarian structure to relationships, and opposes (certain kinds of) hierarchical relationships. If you are an egalitarian, what is it that you want to equalize? A popular contemporary answer to this question is that we should aim to eliminate (or compensate for) inequalities due to ‘brute luck’ (e.g. inequalities for which one is not responsible). This kind of egalitarian theory is known as luck egalitarianism or responsibility-sensitive egalitarianism. Elizabeth Anderson has written a particularly influential critique, ‘What is the point of equality?’, in which she claims that luck egalitarianism undermines respect-for-persons, and that equality, foremost, does not have to do with luck, or with distributions of resources. Egalitarianism, she claims, is primarily a commitment to establishing equal relations between people, which for example, promotes equality of standing, and diminishes (at least some) inequalities in esteem and power. This general form of egalitarianism is known as social or relational egalitarianism. Critics claim, however, that it does not provide anything more than a vague notion of equality, and when it does indeed attempt to provide a more precise theory, it no longer appears to be specifically egalitarian. In this seminar we will focus on (1) considering different formulations of each of these theories of equality – luck egalitarianism and social egalitarianism; (2) highlighting criticisms of luck egalitarianism from the perspective of social egalitarianism, and vice versa; and (3) analysing whether they are mutually exclusive. Texts will include articles by Elizabeth Anderson, Richard Arneson, G. A. Cohen, Thomas Pogge, Samuel Scheffler, and Shlomi Segall. The class will be taught jointly by Dr Carina Fourie and Dr Jan-Christoph Heilinger. Fakultät für Philosophie, Wissenschaftstheorie und Religionswissenschaft Some familiarity with theories of justice and moral theories will be helpful. - if the course is taken as -Essay course- than: 4 essays [9 ECTS-points] - only for Philosophy Bachelor (major) and Philosophy Master students. In that case an additional essay-tutorial (1 hour) is offered by agreement. - if the course is taken as -Advanced seminar- than: term paper OR (presentation(s)+essay/record), according to the lecturer's specification [9 ECTS-points] LMU München WiSe 1415 Dr. Heilinger Jan Christoph