The Equal Society: Essays on Equality in Theory and Practice

(Stefan Gosepath, Free University Berlin) . (Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews)This is a great collection of essays which exemplifies the most recent trends in egalitarian theory. The essays by eminent scholars in the field discuss such important and hotly debated issues as: Should we see equality primarily a distributive ideal or as a matter of what kinds of relations members of society stand in? What should be equal between persons: their resources or their capabilities? And how should we theoretically approach the aim of equality: by outlining a positive, even ideal vision we should aim at? Or wouldn’t it be theoretically more illuminating to begin by analyzing th

The authors explore the demands of egalitarian justice, addressing issues of distribution and rectification, but equally investigating what it means for people to be equals as producers and communicators of knowledge or as members of subcultures, and considering what it would take for a society to achieve gender and racial equality.The essays collected here address not just the theory but also the practice of equality, arguing for concrete changes in institutions such as higher education, the business corporation and national constitutions, to bring about a more equal society.The Equal Society offers original approaches to themes pr

George Hull is lecturer in Philosophy at the University of Cape Town.