Relational egalitarianism, future generations, and arguments from overlap

Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy, vol. 28, pp. 443–463

Abstract

Relational egalitarianism holds that people should live together as equals. We argue against the received wisdom amongst both friends and foes of relational egalitarianism that it fails to provide a theory of intergenerational justice. Instead, we argue that relational egalitarianism is concerned with social equality amongst future contemporaries, and that this commitment gives rise to duties of justice for current generations that can be grounded in the idea of generational overlap. In doing so, we argue that that the scope of relational egalitarian concerns extends beyond generations amongst whom social relations exist.

Authors 2

1. Tim Meijers corresponding Aachen Intitute for Philosophy

   Leiden University

   Affiliation as printed

   Intitute for Philosophy, Leiden University

   Intitute for Philosophy, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands

2. Dick Timmer

   TU Dortmund University

   Affiliation as printed

   Institute for Philosophy and Political Science, TU Dortmund University

   Institute for Philosophy and Political Science, TU Dortmund University, Dortmund, Germany