Relational Egalitarianism, Paternalism, Adults and Children: A Puzzle
Relational egalitarianism is a theory of justice according to which people must relate as equals. However, not just any inegalitarian relation is unjust, i.e., the fact that parents do not relate as equals to their children is not unjust. Whereas an adult treating another adult paternalistically is...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Michigan Publishing
2023-03-01
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| Series: | Ergo, An Open Access Journal of Philosophy |
| Online Access: | https://journals.publishing.umich.edu/ergo/article/id/2267/ |
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| _version_ | 1850066647464804352 |
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| author | Andreas Bengtson |
| author_facet | Andreas Bengtson |
| author_sort | Andreas Bengtson |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Relational egalitarianism is a theory of justice according to which people must relate as equals. However, not just any inegalitarian relation is unjust, i.e., the fact that parents do not relate as equals to their children is not unjust. Whereas an adult treating another adult paternalistically is objectionable from the point of view of relational egalitarianism, parent-child paternalism is not. What may explain this difference in judgment? I refer to this as the Puzzle. I discuss four justifications of the Puzzle and argue that none of them is satisfactory. In the final part of the paper, I discuss where this leaves relational egalitarianism as a theory of justice. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-8b9a5bf0c0a74dd092b8f47e81f1f67f |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2330-4014 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2023-03-01 |
| publisher | Michigan Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Ergo, An Open Access Journal of Philosophy |
| spelling | doaj-art-8b9a5bf0c0a74dd092b8f47e81f1f67f2025-08-20T02:48:41ZengMichigan PublishingErgo, An Open Access Journal of Philosophy2330-40142023-03-019010.3998/ergo.2267Relational Egalitarianism, Paternalism, Adults and Children: A PuzzleAndreas Bengtson0https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9224-8756N/ARelational egalitarianism is a theory of justice according to which people must relate as equals. However, not just any inegalitarian relation is unjust, i.e., the fact that parents do not relate as equals to their children is not unjust. Whereas an adult treating another adult paternalistically is objectionable from the point of view of relational egalitarianism, parent-child paternalism is not. What may explain this difference in judgment? I refer to this as the Puzzle. I discuss four justifications of the Puzzle and argue that none of them is satisfactory. In the final part of the paper, I discuss where this leaves relational egalitarianism as a theory of justice.https://journals.publishing.umich.edu/ergo/article/id/2267/ |
| spellingShingle | Andreas Bengtson Relational Egalitarianism, Paternalism, Adults and Children: A Puzzle Ergo, An Open Access Journal of Philosophy |
| title | Relational Egalitarianism, Paternalism, Adults and Children: A Puzzle |
| title_full | Relational Egalitarianism, Paternalism, Adults and Children: A Puzzle |
| title_fullStr | Relational Egalitarianism, Paternalism, Adults and Children: A Puzzle |
| title_full_unstemmed | Relational Egalitarianism, Paternalism, Adults and Children: A Puzzle |
| title_short | Relational Egalitarianism, Paternalism, Adults and Children: A Puzzle |
| title_sort | relational egalitarianism paternalism adults and children a puzzle |
| url | https://journals.publishing.umich.edu/ergo/article/id/2267/ |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT andreasbengtson relationalegalitarianismpaternalismadultsandchildrenapuzzle |