Basic equality: A Hegelian resolution.

Contemporary political philosophers often take for granted that for political purposes all humans are to be considered of equal worth. The difficulty, as Bernard Williams observed, is to find an interpretation of this claim that does not collapse into absurdity or triviality. I show that the princip...

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Publicado en:European Journal of Philosophy Vol. 32; no. 2; pp. 507 - 532
Autor principal: Thakkar, Jonny
Formato: Artículo
Publicado: Wiley-Blackwell Jun2024
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Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
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        atl: Basic equality: A Hegelian resolution.
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        au: Thakkar, Jonny
        affil: Swarthmore College, Swarthmore Pennsylvania, , USA
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        Political philosophy
        Equality
        Williams, Bernard, 1929-2003
        Absurd (Philosophy)
        Justification (Ethics)
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        subj:
          Political philosophy
          Equality
          Williams, Bernard, 1929-2003
          Absurd (Philosophy)
          Justification (Ethics)
      ab: Contemporary political philosophers often take for granted that for political purposes all humans are to be considered of equal worth. The difficulty, as Bernard Williams observed, is to find an interpretation of this claim that does not collapse into absurdity or triviality. I show that the principal attempts to solve this problem all beg the question against an Aristotelian proponent of natural hierarchy. I then explore existing proposals for dissolving the problem of basic equality, whether by denying the need for justification altogether or by reframing justification in either ostensive or coherentist fashion, showing that each fails to account for our sense that basic equality is objectively true. In response, I outline a Hegelian approach that treats the commitment to basic equality as a social fact that constrains philosophical reasoning in contemporary liberal democracies. By itself that might suggest complacent conservatism or cultural relativism, but I argue that practices and institutions that reflect and foster a commitment to basic equality have a distinct value in permitting reciprocal recognition and thereby enabling us to make a distinct class of normative claims on one another. This Hegelian resolution of the problem is dialectically superior to its rivals and therefore warrants further development.
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