User:Nick Gardner /Sandbox
It is generally accepted that the utilitarian criterion of welfare maximisation proposed by Jeremy Bentham [1] that is used elsewhere in economics[2] yields unacceptable results when applied to questions of distribution because of its effects upon motivation. In its place the philosopher John Rawls proposed the "difference principle", requiring that there should be no more inequality than would be required for the benefit of the least well off [3], but the political philosopher Will Kymlicka argued that that too could have averse motivational consequences[4]. The legal philosopher Ronald Dworkin proposed the adoption of an "equality of resources" criterion[5], and the eminent economist Amartya Sen proposed instead the concept of "equality of capability"[6], but the political philosopher Robert Nozick rejected the entire concept of redistribution because it would infringe every person's inalienable right to benefit from the employment of the talents with which he is endowed[7]
- ↑ Jeremy Bentham: An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation, Oxford University Press, 1970
- ↑ See the article on welfare economics
- ↑ John Rawls: A Theory of Justice, Harvard University Press, 1971
- ↑ Will Kymlicka: Contemporary Political Philosophy, Clarendon Press, 1989
- ↑ Ronald Dworkin: Sovereign Virtue, Hasvard University Press, 2002
- ↑ Amartya Sen: The Idea of Justice, Alan Lane, 2009
- ↑ Robert Nozick: Anarchy, State and Utopia, Basic Books, 1974