E-Mich "Desert as Control - A new perspective on Luck Egalitarianism"

Mardi intime de la Chaire Hoover par Jonas Franzen

Luck Egalitarianism is an important family of theories in distributive justice. It gradually evolved in the late 20th century and tries to reconcile two fundamental values which have traditionally been conceived as incompatible, i.e. equality and (personal) responsibility. However attractive, this raises a fundamental question: In what sense is Luck Egalitarianism still an egalitarian theory? Within this context, I would like to defend two separate claims: Negatively, I argue that Luck Egalitarianism fails to be a meaningful synthesis of equality and responsibility. Positively, I want to show that the core commitment(s) of Luck Egalitarianism can be transferred into a control-based theory of desert. Thus, instead of seeing themselves as egalitarians, Luck Egalitarians should wholeheartedly embrace desertarianism.