Envy-Freeness and Distributive Justice: A Reply to Kolm's Comment

Christian Arnsperger

Journal of Economic Surveys, 1996, vol. 10, issue 2, 217-23

Abstract: This reply takes up specific points raised by Professor Kolm over which there persists some disagreement between us. It offers a rather broad, philosophically oriented discussion of the issues. I explain why I think Kolm is right in preferring the term 'equity' to that of 'envy-freeness,' but I express moral doubts concerning the interpretation proposed by Kolm of equity as a criterion of equal liberty. On this basis, I then defend my own specific interpretation of equity as a welfarist-egalitarian criterion, and express some reluctance as to the alleged 'moral irrelevance' of individual preferences in the theory of equity. I also briefly discuss the conceptual role played by counterfactuals and try to mitigate somewhat Kolm's critique of the use of axioms involving 'imaginary' situations. Copyright 1996 by Blackwell Publishers Ltd

Date: 1996
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