WHY JUSTICE REQUIRES TRANSFERS TO OFFSET INCOME AND WEALTH
INEQUALITIES
Richard J.
Arneson
a1
a1 Philosophy, University of California, San
Diego
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If an array of goods is for sale on a market, one's wealth,
the tradable resources one owns, determines what one can purchase
from this array. One's income is the increment in wealth
one acquires over a given period of time. In any society, we
observe some people having more wealth and income, and some
having less. At any given time, some societies have a greater
average wealth than others. Across time, we can observe societies
becoming richer or poorer and showing more or less equal
distributions of wealth among their members. Does it matter
from an ethical standpoint whether some people have more income
and wealth than others? Does securing a more equal distribution
of income and wealth either constitute the achievement of something
that is intrinsically morally desirable or serve as a reliable
means to the achievement of some intrinsic moral value? If we
suppose that justice demands, in many circumstances, the
equalization of the income or wealth of persons, what principles
of justice generate this demand?
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