Luck, Love, and Extreme Skiing: Distributive Injustice without Unfairness
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Kerah Gordon-Solmon
Abstract
In the classic article, “On the Currency of Egalitarian Justice,” G.A. Cohen states that “a large part of the fundamental egalitarian aim is to extinguish the effects of brute luck on distribution.” This canonical formulation pinpoints what is distinctive of the luck-egalitarian mandate. But it also indicates that that mandate, so stated, is incomplete. The primary task of the paper is to extend what is explicit within that mandate, and in doing so, to bring it closer to completion. To that end, I defend – in the spirit of Cohen, and by arguments he pioneered – a new, expanded conception of luck-egalitarian compensation. I propose, accordingly, an amendment, seemingly friendly, to Cohen’s statement. But, in fact, my proposed amendment, and its rationale, reveal a major lacuna in the normative underpinnings of Cohen-style egalitarianism. I thereby show that, contrary to what is widely assumed, important foundational work remains to be done for the luck-egalitarian project.
Acknowledgements
This paper benefitted a great deal from written comments and discussion from Rahul Kumar, Jeff McMahan, Thomas Pogge, Miriam Ronzoni, Julian Savulescu, Daniel Star, participants in Columbia University’s graduate political philosophy reading group, and two anonymous referees for Moral Philosophy and Politics. Its deepest debt is to G.A. Cohen.
©2016 by De Gruyter
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- Symposium on Brain Drain: The Merits and Limits of Furthering Normative Solutions in Source Countries
- Debating Brain Drain: An Overview
- Debating Brain Drain: An Overview
- Sharing the Burdens of the Brain Drain
- Can a Liberal State Make Access to Medical Education Conditional on Public Service?
- Compulsory Public Service and the Right to Exit
- Medical Brain Drain: Free-Riding, Exploitation, and Global Justice
- Brain Drain, Contracts, and Moral Obligation
- Solving Problems Associated with the Brain Drain: Fair Contracts, Legitimate States, and Appropriate Policy Measures
- On Money, God, and Dogmatic Liberalism: A Reply to my Critics
- Additional Article
- Luck, Love, and Extreme Skiing: Distributive Injustice without Unfairness
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Symposium on Brain Drain: The Merits and Limits of Furthering Normative Solutions in Source Countries
- Debating Brain Drain: An Overview
- Debating Brain Drain: An Overview
- Sharing the Burdens of the Brain Drain
- Can a Liberal State Make Access to Medical Education Conditional on Public Service?
- Compulsory Public Service and the Right to Exit
- Medical Brain Drain: Free-Riding, Exploitation, and Global Justice
- Brain Drain, Contracts, and Moral Obligation
- Solving Problems Associated with the Brain Drain: Fair Contracts, Legitimate States, and Appropriate Policy Measures
- On Money, God, and Dogmatic Liberalism: A Reply to my Critics
- Additional Article
- Luck, Love, and Extreme Skiing: Distributive Injustice without Unfairness
