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Single Idea 23105
[filed under theme 25. Social Practice / B. Equalities / 4. Economic equality
]
Full Idea
It is certainly not intuitively deplorable that billionaires have more money than millionaires.
Gist of Idea
It is not deplorable that billionaires have more than millionaires
Source
John Kekes (Against Liberalism [1997], 05.3)
Book Ref
Kekes,John: 'Against Liberalism' [Cornell 1997], p.97
A Reaction
Nice point. His claim is that sufficiency is the important feature, and equality is largely irrelevant. The reality, though, is that the billionaires, unlike the millionaires, could solve the insufficiency problem.
The
38 ideas
from 'Against Liberalism'
23079
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Liberal justice ignores desert, which is the essence of justice
[Kekes]
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23083
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Liberal welfare focuses on need rather than desert
[Kekes]
|
23081
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Liberal basics are pluralism, freedom, rights, equality, and distributive justice - for autonomy
[Kekes]
|
23082
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Liberal distribution cares more about recipients than donors
[Kekes]
|
23084
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Are egalitarians too coercive, or not egalitarian enough, or lax over morality?
[Kekes]
|
23085
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The key liberal values are explained by the one core value, which is autonomy
[Kekes]
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23086
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Liberals say we are only responsible for fully autonomous actions
[Kekes]
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23087
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Much human evil is not autonomous, so moral responsibility need not be autonomous
[Kekes]
|
23088
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Evil is not deviation from the good, any more than good is a deviation from evil
[Kekes]
|
23089
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Evil people may not be autonomously aware, if they misjudge the situation
[Kekes]
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23090
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Liberals assume people are naturally free, equal, rational, and morally good
[Kekes]
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23091
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Why do liberals not see a much wider range of values as basic?
[Kekes]
|
23092
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Agents have little control over the capacities needed for liberal autonomy
[Kekes]
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23093
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Moral and causal responsibility are not clearly distinct
[Kekes]
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23096
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Morality should aim to prevent all evil actions, not just autonomous ones
[Kekes]
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23095
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Why should moral responsibility depend on autonomy, rather than social role or experience?
[Kekes]
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23094
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Ought implies can means moral responsibility needs autonomy
[Kekes]
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23097
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What matters for morality is the effects of action, not the psychological causes
[Kekes]
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23099
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It is said that if an agent is not autonomous then their evil actions don't reflect on their character
[Kekes]
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23098
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Effects show the existence of moral responsibility, and mental states show the degree
[Kekes]
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23100
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Collective responsibility conflicts with responsibility's requirement of authonomy
[Kekes]
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23101
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Intuitions don't prove things; they just receptivity to interpretations
[Kekes]
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23102
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Liberals are egalitarians, but in varying degrees
[Kekes]
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23103
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Power is meant to be confined to representatives, and subsequent delegation
[Kekes]
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23105
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It is not deplorable that billionaires have more than millionaires
[Kekes]
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23106
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To rectify the undeserved equality, we should give men longer and women shorter lives
[Kekes]
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23108
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Justice combines consistency and desert; treat likes alike, judging likeness by desert
[Kekes]
|
23107
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Prosperity is a higher social virtue than justice
[Kekes]
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23109
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The veil of ignorance is only needed because people have bad motivations
[Kekes]
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23112
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Liberals ignore contingency, and think people are good and equal, and institutions cause evil
[Kekes]
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23113
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Sexual morality doesn't require monogamy, but it needs a group of sensible regulations
[Kekes]
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23114
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The chief function of the state is to arbitrate between contending visions of the good life
[Kekes]
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23116
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Citizenship is easier than parenthood
[Kekes]
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23118
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Awareness of others' suffering doesn't create an obligation to help
[Kekes]
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23117
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Love should be partial, and discriminate in favour of its object
[Kekes]
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23119
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Sentimental love distorts its object
[Kekes]
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23120
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The problem is basic insufficiency of resources, not their inequality
[Kekes]
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23121
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It is just a fact that some people are morally better than others
[Kekes]
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