Persky on "Vanity"American Journal of Economics and Sociology, 2008, vol. 67, issue 3, pages 455-471 Abstract: Sandra Peart and David Levy in "The "Vanity of the Philosopher"" champion a concept of "analytical egalitarianism." Equality is a difficult concept. Peart and Levy attempt to reconstruct analytical egalitarianism from the classical writing of British political economy from Adam Smith to John Stuart Mill. Aspects of this reconstruction touch on a number of different egalitarian conceptions, including: (1) equality of capacity and talent, (2) racial equality, (3) equality in the marketplace, (4) equality of opportunity, (5) equality of material conditions, (6) equality of happiness, (7) equality before God, and (8) political equality. This paper briefly considers the relation of each of these equalities to Peart and Levy's analytical egalitarianism. The hope is that such exercises can help elucidate Peart and Levy's reinterpretation of classical economic's understanding of equality. A central theme does emerge. Peart and Levy, echoing the classical economists themselves, seem reluctant to follow their radical assumptions concerning talent and capacity for happiness to radical conclusions concerning the appropriate provenance of redistributional policies. Copyright © 2008 American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Inc.. Date: 2008 Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: http://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:bla:ajecsc:v:67:y:2008:i:3:p:455-471 Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from Access Statistics for this article American Journal of Economics and Sociology is edited by Laurence S. Moss More articles in American Journal of Economics and Sociology from Blackwell Publishing |
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