scholarly journals Fraternity and Equality

Philosophy ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 88 (2) ◽  
pp. 299-311
Author(s):  
Geoffrey Cupit

AbstractIs there a connection between the values of fraternity and outcome equality? Is inequality at odds with fraternity? There are reasons to doubt that it is. First, fraternity requires us to want our ‘brothers’ and ‘sisters’ to fare well even when they are already better off than we are and their doing better will increase inequality. Second, fraternity seems not to require equality as a matter of fairness. Fairness requires (a certain) equality, but fraternity does not require fairness.In examining what fraternity requires I discuss Rawls' suggestion that the difference principle corresponds to a natural meaning of fraternity, arguing that fraternity may be even more tolerant of inequality than the difference principle. Nevertheless, I defend the claim that fraternity and equality are linked, albeit not in such a way as to make inequality inconsistent with fraternity. Fraternity is related to equality since equalizing expresses the connectedness at the core of fraternity; but inequality is consistent with fraternity since there are other ways of expressing that connectedness.

2002 ◽  
Vol 50 (4) ◽  
pp. 779-793 ◽  
Author(s):  
Saladin Meckled-Garcia

The paper responds to Cohen's critical claim that for agents who sincerely accept Rawls's difference principle it is not consistent to seek material incentives towards productivity. The central argument of the paper is that productive agents in a market economy would not be as productive without material incentives unless held to be under a (controversial) duty to increase productivity. This duty is distinct from merely having a duty to contribute up to a reasonable minimum, and then equalise material benefits. The controversial duty is not derivable from the difference principle itself, nor from the background motivations for it. Therefore, if Cohen's critique is internal to Rawlsian distributive justice, it is based on a controversial version of that view of distributive justice when applied to a market system. It is the reach, and not the core insight of Cohen's critique that is attacked here. If in any way sound, that insight does not un-controversially apply to all material incentive-seeking in a market economy.


2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 151-172
Author(s):  
Andrew Lister

Abstract Jason Brennan and John Tomasi have argued that if we focus on income alone, the Difference Principle supports welfare-state capitalism over property-owning democracy, because capitalism maximizes long run income growth for the worst off. If so, the defense of property-owning democracy rests on the priority of equal opportunity for political influence and social advancement over raising the income of the worst off, or on integrating workplace control into the Difference Principle’s index of advantage. The thesis of this paper is that even based on income alone, the Difference Principle is not as hostile to property-owning democracy as it may seem, because the Difference Principle should not be interpreted to require maximizing long run income growth. The main idea is that it is unfair to make the present worst off accept inequality that doesn’t benefit them, for the sake of benefitting the future worst off, if the future worst off will be better off than they are anyway.


2013 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jahel Queralt

AbstractRawls identifies only two arrangements, the liberal socialist regime and the property-owning democracy, as being compatible with justice. Both are market-based economies, suggesting that a just society must include the market. This article questions this idea by looking at three Rawlsian arguments in favour of the market. Two arguments, which link the market to certain basic liberties, are unsound because the market is shown to be nonessential in protecting these liberties. A third argument points at the instrumental value of the market to make the least advantaged as well off as possible. R. is based on an interpretation of the difference principle in which justice requires maximizing the position of the worst off within the most productive economic system. Although commonly accepted, this reading of the principle should be questioned, and thus the third argument is also inconclusive.


2009 ◽  
pp. 90
Author(s):  
Marek Brabec ◽  
John Komlos

We examine spatial convergence in biological well-being in the Habsburg Monarchy, circa 1890-1910, on the basis of evidence of the physical stature of 21-year-old military recruits, disaggregated into 15 Districts. We find that the shorter the population in 1890, the faster its height grew thereafter. Hence, there was convergence in physical stature between the peripheral areas of the monarchy (located in today’s Poland/Ukraine, Romania, and Slovakia) and its core (located in today’s Austria, Czech Republic, and Hungary). The difference in trends between the trend in height in the Polish District of Przemysl and in Vienna was about 0.9 cm per decade, in favor of the former. Convergence among the core Districts themselves was minimal or non-existent, whereas the convergence among the peripheral Districts was more pronounced. Spatial convergence also took place between the peripheral regions and the more developed ones. The pattern is somewhat reminiscent of modern findings on convergence clubs in the global economy.


2020 ◽  
Vol 136 (4) ◽  
pp. 189-209
Author(s):  
Henk Wolf

Abstract Both Dutch and (West) Frisian make use of the exclamative particle wat (‘how’), that adds an element of surprise about a high degree of something to the semantics of the sentence. In this paper I will first show the similarities between the use of the particle in the two languages. I will demonstrate that, in Dutch, its use is largely confined to constructions that are semantically scalable, whereas in Frisian this restriction is far less strict. I will explain the difference by showing that Dutch wat is a syntactic amplifier of lexical phrases, whereas Frisian wat has developed into a pragmatic amplifier of the core predicate. I will try to account for that difference by showing how homophonous words absent in Dutch are likely to have influenced the use of Frisian wat, and how Dutch prosody strengthens the connection between wat and the amplified lexical phrase, whereas Frisian prosody weakens it. Finally, I will show that the system described as ‘Frisian’ is occasionally found in varieties of Dutch too


1998 ◽  
Vol 180 (2) ◽  
pp. 17-40 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen Nathanson

This article deals in depth with perhaps the most troubling education issue of the day—funding and proper distribution of educational resources. How is the money raised and how is its allocation decided? Can the ideals of both justice and equality be served? Is “extra” spending on behalf of children with special needs justified? Stephen Nathanson raises the central questions and, approaching them from a moral-philosophical standpoint, presents and evaluates the arguments of those who defend extra spending for children with disabilities and those who believe that “unequal” spending violates the principle of justice. Nathanson treats various theories of distributive justice—entitlement, utilitarianism, the “difference principle,” and the “decent level” idea. In focusing on the latter, he contends that social consensus developed around “decent level” may be the touchstone, more helpful than any rationale (or rhetoric) in satisfying the claims of justice and equality.


BMC Genomics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Qianyun Ge ◽  
Yongbo Guo ◽  
Wangshan Zheng ◽  
Yuan Cai ◽  
Xuebin Qi ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Yaks that inhabit the Tibetan Plateau exhibit striking phenotypic and physiological differences from cattle and have adapted well to the extreme conditions on the plateau. However, the mechanisms used by these animals for the regulation of gene expression at high altitude are not fully understood. Results Here, we sequenced nine lung transcriptomes of yaks at altitudes of 3400, 4200 and 5000 m, and low-altitude Zaosheng cattle, which is a closely related species, served as controls. The analysis identified 21,764 mRNAs, 1377 circRNAs and 1209 miRNAs. By comparing yaks and cattle, 4975 mRNAs, 252 circRNAs and 75 miRNAs were identified differentially expressed. By comparing yaks at different altitudes, we identified 756 mRNAs, 64 circRNAs and 83 miRNAs that were differentially expressed (fold change ≥2 and P-value < 0.05). The pathways enriched in the mRNAs, circRNAs and miRNAs identified from the comparison of yaks and cattle were mainly associated with metabolism, including ‘glycosaminoglycan degradation’, ‘pentose and glucuronate interconversions’ and ‘flavone and flavonol biosynthesis’, and the mRNAs, circRNAs and miRNAs identified from the comparison of yaks at different altitude gradients were significantly enriched in metabolic pathways and immune and genetic information processing pathways. The core RNAs were identified from the mRNA-miRNA-circRNA networks constructed using the predominant differentially expressed RNAs. The core genes specific to the difference between yaks and cattle were associated with the endoplasmic reticulum and fat deposition, but those identified from the comparison among yaks at different altitude gradients were associated with maintenance of the normal biological functions of cells. Conclusions This study enhances our understanding of the molecular mechanisms involved in hypoxic adaptation in yaks and might contribute to improvements in the understanding and prevention of hypoxia-related diseases.


Author(s):  
K. Dmytriieva

The article outlines the factors of development of the restaurant facilities in Kyiv and surrounding areas. The status of the territorial organization of the restaurant facilities of Kyiv and Kyiv region through the review of the main indicators of the industry by districts in 2013 has been analyzed. Comparison of the industry standards due to availability of these services to population needs has been performed. The result of the difference of efficiency of the restaurant industry through calculation of concentration ratios turnover has been received. Area that can be considered as the core of the restaurant industry of Kyiv agglomeration and area with the potential of growth has been identified. The article visualized by maps.


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