Explanation, Justification, and Egalitarianism
Citation:
Spafford, Jesse, Explanation, Justification, and Egalitarianism, Synthese, 2021, 199, 3-4, 9699 - 9724Abstract:
This paper argues that the philosophy of explanation can help inform core debates in value theory. Specifically, it argues that there is a consistent parallelism between the properties of explanation and the properties of justification such that one can reasonably infer that any property of explanation has a counterpart property of justification. Thus, by appealing to facts about the nature of explanation, one can derive various conclusions about the justifications offered by normative theorists. The paper illustrates this point by considering a debate within political philosophy over whether inequality requires justification in a way that equality does not. Egalitarians typically presume an affirmative answer to this question. However, libertarian critics note that this justificatory asymmetry cannot be simply assumed without argument. This paper argues that, by appealing to the explanation-justification parallelism, one can resolve this debate in favor of the egalitarians, as there are two properties of explanation, the justificatory analogs of which vindicate the egalitarian presumption.
Sponsor
Grant Number
European Research Council (ERC)
819043
Author's Homepage:
http://people.tcd.ie/spafforjDescription:
PUBLISHED
Author: Spafford, Jesse
Type of material:
Journal ArticleCollections
Series/Report no:
Synthese;199;
3-4;
Availability:
Full text availableKeywords:
Egalitarianism, Justification, Explanation, MetaphilosophySubject (TCD):
Inclusive Society , INEQUALITYDOI:
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11229-021-03222-4ISSN:
0039-7857Metadata
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