Luck Egalitarianism - (Bloomsbury Ethics) by Kasper Lippert-Rasmussen (Paperback)

About the Book

Kasper Lippert-Rasmussen tackles the major questions concerning luck egalitarianism, providing deep. penetrating and original discussion of recent academic discourses on distributive justice as well as responses to some of the main objection in the literature. He offers a new answer to the "Why equality?" and "Equality of what?" questions, and provides a robust luck egalitarian response to the recent criticisms of luck egalitarianism by social relations egalitarians. This systematic, theoretical introduction illustrates the broader picture of distributive justice and enables the reader to understand the core institutions underlying (and sometimes conflicting with) luck egalitarianism. The book also interrogates applied distributive justice by addressing issues such as the levelling down objection, and explores how equality relates to other values such as freedom, community, stability and publicity.

Book Synopsis

Kasper Lippert-Rasmussen tackles all the major questions concerning luck egalitarianism, providing deep, penetrating and original discussion of recent academic discourses on distributive justice as well as responses to some of the main objections in the literature. It offers a new answer to the "Why equality?" and "Equality of what?" questions, and provides a robust luck egalitarian response to the recent criticisms of luck egalitarianism by social relations egalitarians.

This systematic, theoretical introduction illustrates the broader picture of distributive justice and enables the reader to understand the core intuitions underlying, or conflicting with, luck egalitarianism.

Review Quotes

"This brilliant and challenging book ... Illuminates different conceptions of luck, as found in the philosophical literature, clarifies the difference between telic and deontic equality, and explains the 'levelling down' problem and the way that this affects luck egalitarians, and egalitarians more generally." --Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews

"Lippert-Rasmussen's book offers both a reliable and critically sophisticated guide to the debate on luck egalitarianism from one of its shrewdest and most subtle contributors, and also advances several new interesting ideas and proposals ... This book is a model of its kind. It should be read by everyone with an interest in contemporary debates on distributive justice." --Ethical Theory and Moral Practice

"The book provides a well-balanced overview of luck egalitarianism with a well-chosen ordering of the different chapters ... An excellent introduction." --Ethical Perspectives

"Lippert-Rasmussen's book makes a tremendous contribution to our understanding of luck egalitarianism and will no doubt become a central reference point for both its proponents and its critics." --Ethics

About the Author

Kasper Lippert-Rasmussen is Professor of Political Theory at the University of Aarhus, Denmark and Professor II in Philosophy at the University of Tromsø, Norway. His most recent book is Born Free and Equal? A Philosophical Inquiry into the Nature of Discrimination (2013).