Question

What are the liberalist and Marxist views of Equality?

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Answer 1

Answer:

Cohen casts doubt on the extent to which Marxism can contribute to a theory of equality. This essay affirms Cohen's critique. The historical materialist approach to social change, the privileged role ascribed to the proletariat, and Marx's assumption that scarcity can be abolished: these three themes account for the impatience of classical Marxists with moral commitments and normative argument, an impatience which now seems utopian. Marx was wrong about how social change comes about, and that error made it very difficult for the goal of equality to be formulated, let alone realised.

‘The egalitarian turn’ in liberalism suggests that it is liberal political theory, not Marxism, which can inform debates about equality. The insistence on neutrality about the good in much left-liberal argument, however, has forestalled consideration of the kinds of lives to which human beings should aspire, something that must be considered if we are enable individuals to live well, as Marx understood with his critique of alienation. This paper argues that questions of human flourishing are essential to questions of equality, and that Marx's perfectionist vision of the equal society ought to be retrieved.

Explanation:

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Answer 2

Explanation:

In the wide ranging discussion of social equity issues, the theories of contemporary Western thinkers such as Rawls, Nozick, Hayek and MacIntyre are repeatedly cited and expounded. By contrast, for various reasons, classical writers like Marx and Engels have been overlooked or even forgotten. Without a concrete analysis of their historical background and context, it is hard to grasp the true attitude and spiritual essence of the views of Marx and Engels on social equity. We might even conclude not only that they had no theory of social equity but that they opposed and rejected approaching questions from this angle. As a world view and methodology enabling the proletariat to know and transform the world and liberate themselves and mankind, Marxism is a theory that unites truth and value. A rational understanding of the issue of equity as an expression of value is only possible when the dimensions of science and value are dialectically combined. On the one hand, equity is a value concept that functions as a standard for evaluation; on the other, it refers to an actual state of values distribution (including interests, opportunities and rights) that inevitably involves the contradiction between freedom and equality and between formal and substantive equity, the difference between the general and the specific, the conflict between equality and efficiency, the opposition between equity and inequity and so on. Only a dialectical mode of thinking can ensure a correct understanding of the complexity of social equity issues.