"Many liberals and progressives, especially those with egalitarian commitments, resist the claim that the rich are rich because they are more deserving than the poor. They see this as an ungenerous, moralizing argument used by those who oppose taxing the rich to help the disadvantaged. Against the claim that affluence signifies superior virtue, egalitarian liberals emphasize the contingency of fortune. They point out that success or failure in market societies has as much to do with luck and circumstance as with character and virtue. Many of the factors that separate winners from losers are arbitrary from a moral point of view."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Academics from the United StatesPhilosophers from the United StatesJews from the United StatesPeople from MinneapolisHarvard University faculty
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
Chap. 2. “Great Because Good”: A Brief Moral History of Merit
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Michael_Sandel
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Michael Sandel
34 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Michael Sandel →
Related Quotes
"But if political philosophy is unrealizable in one sense, it is unavoidable in another."
"Political philosophy seems often to reside at a distance from the world. Principles are one thing, politics another, …"
"This liberalism says, in other words, that what makes the just society just is not the telos or purpose or end at whi…"
"Unlike the liberty of the early republic, the modern version permits — in fact even requires — concentrated power."
"Admittedly, the tendency to bracket substantive moral questions makes it difficult to argue for toleration in the lan…"
"A public philosophy is an elusive thing, for it is constantly before our eyes. It forms the often unreflective backgr…"
"The idea that freedom consists in our capacity to choose our ends finds prominent expression in our politics and law.…"
"Central to republican theory is the idea that liberty depends on sharing in self-government. This idea is not by itse…"
"It is sometimes thought that liberal principles can be justified by a simple version of moral relativism. Government …"
"Political philosophy seems often to reside at a distance from the world. Principles are one thing, politics another, …"