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Single Idea 20587

[filed under theme 25. Social Practice / B. Equalities / 1. Grounds of equality ]

Full Idea

If we want equality so much, we find that it is often because they think of equality as a prerequisite for a certain kind of flourishing life.

Gist of Idea

Most people want equality because they want a flourishing life

Source

Tuckness,A/Wolf,C (This is Political Philosophy [2017], 1 'Happiness')

Book Ref

Tuckness,A / Wolf,C: 'This is Political Philosophy' [Wiley Blackwell 2017], p.23

A Reaction

Most writers seem to agree that we don't want equality for its own sake. In what respects do we want to be equal? Why not equal in hair colour? Hence it looks as if equality drops out. I would aim to derive it from the social virtue of respect.

The 38 ideas with the same theme [reaons for viewing and treating people as equals]:

123 Do most people like equality because they are second-rate? [Plato]
1402 Friendship is impossible between master and slave, even if they are made equal [Plato]
262 Men and women should qualify equally for honours on merit [Plato]
2830 We can claim an equal right to aristocratic virtue, as well as to wealth or freedom [Aristotle]
2833 Equality is obviously there to help people who do not get priority in the constitution [Aristotle]
2834 It is always the weak who want justice and equality, not the strong [Aristotle]
19945 Jew and Greeks, bond and free, male and female, are all one in Christ [Paul]
20485 Hobbes says people are roughly equal; Locke says there is no right to impose inequality [Hobbes, by Wolff,J]
2366 There is not enough difference between people for one to claim more benefit than another [Hobbes]
19981 No one even thinks of equality in monarchies and despotism; they all want superiority [Montesquieu]
19991 Equality is not command by everyone or no one, but command and obedience among equals [Montesquieu]
19786 Three stages of the state produce inequalities of wealth, power, and enslavement [Rousseau]
19800 The social compact imposes conventional equality of rights on people who may start unequally [Rousseau]
22672 It is admirable to elevate the humble to the level of the great, but the opposite is depraved [Tocqueville]
20486 Only liberty, equality and sympathy can stand up to anti-social people [Kropotkin]
24116 Justice says people are not equal, and should become increasingly unequal [Nietzsche]
23161 Slaves can be just as equal as free people [Russell]
23753 People absurdly claim an equal share of things which are essentially privileged [Weil]
23901 Relationships depend on equality, so unequal treatment kills them [Weil]
23841 By making money the sole human measure, inequality has become universal [Weil]
3234 Equality seems to require that each person be acknowledged as having a significant point of view [Williams,B]
3233 Equality implies that people are alike in potential as well as in needs [Williams,B]
3275 Equality was once opposed to aristocracy, but now it opposes public utility and individual rights [Nagel]
3277 In judging disputes, should we use one standard, or those of each individual? [Nagel]
3281 The ideal of acceptability to each individual underlies the appeal to equality [Nagel]
20277 Equality of interests is a minimal principle, not implying equal treatment [Singer]
23257 We can treat people as equals, or actually treat them equally [Dworkin, by Grayling]
18621 Treating people as equals is the one basic value of all plausible political theories [Dworkin, by Kymlicka]
23106 To rectify the undeserved equality, we should give men longer and women shorter lives [Kekes]
23121 It is just a fact that some people are morally better than others [Kekes]
23256 Liberty and equality cannot be reconciled [Grayling]
20526 Utilitarians argue for equal distribution because of diminishing utility of repetition [Wolff,J]
20528 Difference Principle: all inequalities should be in favour of the disadvantaged [Wolff,J]
20997 The need for equality among people arises from impartiality and objectivity [Sen]
20996 All modern theories of justice demand equality of something [Sen]
20550 Opportunity should ignore extraneous factors, or foster competence, or ignore all disadvantages [Swift]
20587 Most people want equality because they want a flourishing life [Tuckness/Wolf]
22840 Mere equality, as in two trees being the same height, has no value at all [Charvet]