Rescuing Justice and Equality

by G.A. Cohen

In this stimulating work of political philosophy, acclaimed philosopher G. A. Cohen sets out to rescue the egalitarian thesis that in a society in which distributive justice prevails, people’s material prospects are roughly equal. Arguing against the Rawlsian version of a just society, Cohen demonstrates that distributive justice does not tolerate deep inequality.

In the course of providing a deep and sophisticated critique of Rawls’s theory of justice, Cohen demonstrates that questions of distributive justice arise not only for the state but also for people in their daily lives. The right rules for the macro scale of public institutions and policies also apply, with suitable adjustments, to the micro level of individual decision-making.

Cohen also charges Rawls’s constructivism with systematically conflating the concept of justice with other concepts. Within the Rawlsian architectonic, justice is not distinguished either from other values or from optimal rules of social regulation. The elimination of those conflations brings justice closer to equality.

Genres: Philosophy, Politics, Justice, Theory, Social Justice

448 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 2008

About the author

Gerald Allan Cohen FBA, known as G. A. Cohen or Jerry Cohen, was a Canadian Marxist political philosopher who held the positions of Quain Professor of Jurisprudence, University College London and Chichele Professor of Social and Political Theory, All Souls College, Oxford.

Born into a communist Jewish family in Montreal, Quebec, on 14 April 1941, Cohen was educated at McGill University (BA, philosophy and political science) in his home town and the University of Oxford (BPhil, philosophy) where he studied under Isaiah Berlin and Gilbert Ryle.

Cohen was assistant lecturer (1963–1964), lecturer (1964–1979) then reader (1979–1984) in the Department of Philosophy at University College London, before being appointed to the Chichele chair at Oxford in 1985. Several of his students, such as Christopher Bertram, Simon Caney, Alan Carter, Cécile Fabre, Will Kymlicka, John McMurtry, David Leopold, Michael Otsuka, Seana Shiffrin, and Jonathan Wolff have gone on to be important moral and political philosophers in their own right, while another, Ricky Gervais, has pursued a successful career in comedy.

Known as a proponent of analytical Marxism and a founding member of the September Group, Cohen's 1978 work Karl Marx's Theory of History: A Defence defends an interpretation of Karl Marx's historical materialism often referred to as technological determinism by its critics. In Self-Ownership, Freedom, and Equality, Cohen offers an extensive moral argument in favour of socialism, contrasting his views with those of John Rawls and Robert Nozick, by articulating an extensive critique of the Lockean principle of self-ownership as well as the use of that principle to defend right as well as left libertarianism. In If You're an Egalitarian, How Come You're So Rich? (which covers the topic of his Gifford Lectures), Cohen addresses the question of what egalitarian political principles imply for the personal behaviour of those who subscribe to them.

Cohen was close friends with Marxist political philosopher Marshall Berman.

Cohen died on 5 August 2009.

Reviews

[Lucas · Rating 5 out of 5]

G.A. Cohen at his best. Out of this, KMTH, S-O, F + E, and Egalitarian, this seems to be the deepest penetrating critiques of the prevailing liberal political theory. Largely an elaboration on his critiques of Rawls from chapters 8+9 in Egalitarian, the first half of this book is a masterpiece. Rigorously argued and exceptionally clear. While I am not without my questions about some of Cohen's arguments, this truly is a marvelous piece of political philosophy.

[Micah · Rating 2 out of 5]

The other book by G. A. Cohen that I've read is "Why Not Socialism?" which, at under 85 very short pages, proved that the man could write a small amount based on a small insight. At over 400 very long pages, this book proves that he could also write a very large amount based on a smaller insight.

[Bay Long · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is a very high level of rigour shown in this book. However, some parts of it are really dull due to unnecessary sophistication.

[Jasmine]

“The flesh may be weak, but one should not make a principle out of that” PUT THAT ON A T SHIRT 🗣️🗣️🗣️

[May Ling · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's an interesting enough book and what Cohen is saying is really nuanced and a huge improvement on a Pareto or maximum utility sort of justice. However, if you have not read Rawls thoroughly, I think you would miss the importance of the nuances. I will have to revisit this piece once I have considered exactly what it is that Rawls is saying.

[Ft. Sheridan · Rating 4 out of 5]

For sure incentives aren't part of justice, but I'm not hearing that intuitionist strict equality talk.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a brilliant work by the most important (late) Jerry Cohen. It's worth a seminar.