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

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Arnsperger, Christian [UCL]

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.

Document type Article de périodique (Journal article)
Publication date 1996
Language Anglais
Journal information "Journal of Economic Surveys" - Vol. 10, no. 2, p. 217-223 (1996)
Peer reviewed yes
issn 0950-0804
e-issn 1467-6419
Publication status Publié
Affiliation UCL - ESPO/RSPO - Rattachement ESPO
Links
  1. Arnsperger C., Journal of Economic Surveys, 8, 155 (1994)
  2. Dworkin R., Philosophy and Public Affairs, 10, 283 (1981)
  3. Fleurbaey M., Recherches Economiques de Louvain, 60, 9 (1994)
  4. Sussangkarn Chal, Goldman Steven M., Dealing with envy, 10.1016/0047-2727(83)90059-2
  5. Harsanyi John C., Cardinal Welfare, Individualistic Ethics, and Interpersonal Comparisons of Utility, 10.1086/257678
  6. Kolm S.-C., Justice et Equite. (1971)
  7. Kolm S.-C., Social Choice and Welfare, 11, 194 (1994)
  8. Kolm S.-C., Japanese Economic Review, 46, 63 (1995)
  9. Rawls J., A Theory of Justice. (1971)
  10. Varian Hal R, Equity, envy, and efficiency, 10.1016/0022-0531(74)90075-1
Bibliographic reference Arnsperger, Christian. Envy-Freeness and Distributive Justice: A Reply to Kolm's Comment. In: Journal of Economic Surveys, Vol. 10, no. 2, p. 217-223 (1996)
Permanent URL http://hdl.handle.net/2078.1/79008