Balder Ex-Libris

Author : Baker John
Title : Arguing for equality
Year : 1987

Link download : Baker_John_-_Arguing_for_equality.zip

How to Use this Book. The aim of this book is to set out the central arguments for equality, and to reply to the arguments commonly raised against it. A central theme is that true equality depends on a democratic population who think and decide for themselves. Thus, this book is designed to be clear and easy to use, to avoid unnecessary jargon, and to stimulate people to draw on their own experience, make up their own minds and develop their own ideas. In today's political climate, many people have lost their sympathy for equality I - hope that the arguments in this book will help to reawaken it. I also hope to help committed egalitarians to define their own views. The book is in two parts. I begin Part One by trying to explain what it actually means to believe in equality - to be an egalitarian. I then set out the basic case for equality, drawing on the ideas of basic needs, mutual respect, and a sense of community. These are natural starting points for any egalitarian argument. In Part Two, I consider more controversial areas, in which both egalitarians and their opponents claim to have support. Each chapter is relatively self-contained, disposing of some commonplace objections to equality and extending the case in its favour. I argue that we must go beyond the limited equality involved in 'equal opportunity'; that the privileged cannot claim to deserve their advantages; that freedom and equality support one another; that equality would benefit society as a whole; and that equality is possible. ...