Fairness

by Nicholas Rescher

Overview

In theory and practice, the notion of fairness is far from simple. The principle is often elusive and subject to confusion, even in institutions of law, usage, and custom. In Fairness, Nicholas Rescher aims to liberate this concept from misunderstandings by showing how its definitive characteristics prevent it from being absorbed by such related conceptions as paternalistic benevolence, radical egalitarianism, and social harmonization. Rescher demonstrates that equality before the state is an instrument of justice, not of social utility or public welfare, and argues that the notion of fairness stops well short of a literal egalitarianism.

Rescher disposes of the confusions arising from economists' penchant to focus on individual preferences, from decision theorists' concern for averting envy, and from political theorists'sympathy for egalitarianism. In their place he shows how the idea of distributive equity forms the core of the concept of fairness in matters of distributive justice. The coordination of shares with valid claims is the crux of the concept of fairness. In Rescher's view, this means that the pursuit of fairness requires objective rather than subjective evaluation of the goods being shared. This is something quite different from subjective equity based on the personal evaluation of goods by those laying claim to them. Insofar as subjective equity is a concern, the appropriate procedure for its realization is a process of maximum value distribution. Further, Rescher demonstrates that in matters of distributive justice, the distinction between new ownership and preexisting ownership is pivotal and calls for proceeding on very different principles depending on the case. How one should proceed depends on context, and what is adjudged fair is pragmatic, in that there are different requirements for effectiveness in achieving the aims and purposes of the sort of distribution that is intended.

Rescher concludes that fairness is a fundamentally ethical concept. Its distinctive modus operandi contrasts sharply with the aims of paternalism, preference-maximizing, or economic advantage. Fairness will be of interest to philosophers, economists, and political scientists.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780765801104
Publisher:	Transaction Publishers
Publication date:	01/31/2002
Pages:	148
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Nicholas Rescher is distinguished university professor of philosophy at the University of Pittsburgh. He is the author of numerous philosophical works and holds eight honorary degrees from universities on three continents. He has served as a president of the American Philosophical Association, the American Metaphilosophical Society, and the American Catholic Philosophical Association. He was awarded the Alexander von Humboldt Prize for Humanistic Scholarship in 1984, the Belgium Prix Mercier in 2005, the Aquinas Medal of the American Catholic Philosophical Association in 2007, and the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany in 2011.

Table of Contents

1: Treating Claims Impartially; 2: Abstract Fairness and Claim Proportionality; 3: The Liabilities and Assets of Fairness; 4: Going Beyond Fairness? Subjective Equity and Benevolent Allocation; 5: Probabilistic Expectations; 6: Predominantism; 7: Dividing Credit for Discoveries; 8: The Pragmatic Rationale of Distribution Principles

Editorial Reviews

"[Fairness is] one of the most forceful conceptual analysis of fairness yet produced." —Ludwig Beckman, The Review of Metaphysics

From the Publisher