When bad things happen to good people: Luck egalitarianism and costly rescues. (February 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Thaysen, Jens Damgaard; Albertsen, Andreas
• Is Part Of: Politics, philosophy & economics. Volume 16:Number 1(2017)
• Page Start: 93
• Page End: 112
• Publication Date: 2017-02
• Subjects: luck egalitarianism -- distributive justice -- morally good actions -- vulnerability of dependent caretakers -- Elizabeth Anderson -- innocent choice -- supererogatory; Social sciences and ethics -- Periodicals; Philosophy and social sciences -- Periodicals; 320.05
• DOI: 10.1177/1470594X16666017
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1470-594X

Abstract

According to luck egalitarianism, it is not unfair when people are disadvantaged by choices they are responsible for. This implies that those who are disadvantaged by choices that prevent disadvantage to others are not eligible for compensation. This is counterintuitive. We argue that the problem such cases pose for luck egalitarianism reveals an important distinction between responsibility for creating disadvantage and responsibility for distributing disadvantage which has hitherto been overlooked. We develop and defend a version of luck egalitarianism which only holds people responsible for creating disadvantage. This revision enables luck egalitarianism to offer compensation to those who are disadvantaged by preventing disadvantage to others, like dependent caretakers, without compromising the responsibility–sensitivity at the heart of luck egalitarianism.