eBookCourse Book (Course Book)
Related collections and offers
Overview
A provocative new vision of free market capitalism that achieves liberal ends by libertarian means
Can libertarians care about social justice? In Free Market Fairness, John Tomasi argues that they can and should. Drawing simultaneously on moral insights from defenders of economic liberty such as F. A. Hayek and advocates of social justice such as John Rawls, Tomasi presents a new theory of liberal justice. This theory, free market fairness, is committed to both limited government and the material betterment of the poor. Unlike traditional libertarians, Tomasi argues that property rights are best defended not in terms of self-ownership or economic efficiency but as requirements of democratic legitimacy. At the same time, he encourages egalitarians concerned about social justice to listen more sympathetically to the claims ordinary citizens make about the importance of private economic liberty in their daily lives. In place of the familiar social democratic interpretations of social justice, Tomasi offers a "market democratic" conception of social justice: free market fairness. Tomasi argues that free market fairness, with its twin commitment to economic liberty and a fair distribution of goods and opportunities, is a morally superior account of liberal justice. Free market fairness is also a distinctively American ideal. It extends the notion, prominent in America's founding period, that protection of property and promotion of real opportunity are indivisible goals. Indeed, according to Tomasi, free market fairness is social justice, American style.
Provocative and vigorously argued, Free Market Fairness offers a bold new way of thinking about politics, economics, and justice—one that will challenge readers on both the left and right.
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781400842391 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Princeton University Press |
| Publication date: | 02/26/2012 |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 384 |
| File size: | 540 KB |
About the Author
Also Known As:
The Purple ParrotsTable of Contents
Acknowledgments ixIntroduction xi
Chapter 1: Classical Liberalism 1
Property and Equality 1
Market Society 6
America 11
Hayek 16
Classical Liberalism 22
Chapter 2: High Liberalism 27
Property or Equality 27
The Decline of Economic Liberty 32
Rawls 37
The Libertarian Moment 46
Liberalismus Sapiens Sapiens 51
Chapter 3: Thinking the Unthinkable 57
The Great Fact: Economic Growth 57
Populism, Probability, and Political Philosophy 60
Economic Liberty and Democratic Legitimacy 68
Endings, and Beginnings, Too 84
Chapter 4: Market Democracy 87
The Conceptual Space 87
Breaking Ice 99
Market Democracy as a Research Program 103
Institutions 106
The Challenges to Market Democracy 118
Chapter 5: Social Justicitis 123
The Distributional Adequacy Condition 123
Hit Parade: Property and the Poor 127
Hayek’s Critique 142
Benadryl for Free-Marketeers
151
Chapter 6: Two Concepts of Fairness 162
Warming up to Market Democracy 162
Applying the Theory 172
The Argument Ipse Dixit 177
Justice as Fairness: Status or Agency? 180
Chapter 7: Feasibility, Normativity, and Institutional Guarantees 197
The Twilight of Left Liberalism? 197
Realistic Utopianism 203
Aims and Guarantees 215
Chapter 8: Free Market Fairness 226
The Difference Principle 226
Fair Equality of Opportunity 237
Political Liberty 247
Generational, Environmental, and International Justice 254
Free Market Fairness as a Moral Ideal 264
Conclusion 267
Notes 273
Bibliography 315
Index 333
What People are Saying About This
"This book provides an original defense of classical liberalism. Tomasi argues that the high liberal conception of free and equal moral persons requires robust economic liberties as a condition of individual independence and self-authorship, while also justifying social supports for the less advantaged. Free Market Fairness is an important contribution to liberal thought."—Samuel Freeman, University of Pennsylvania"Tomasi's 'market democracy' is a fresh, important research program."—Elizabeth Anderson, University of Michigan"The great political power of free market ideas in recent decades has been unmatched by philosophical and moral defenses. John Tomasi's fresh exploration of market liberty will challenge orthodoxies left and right. An important and timely book."—Stephen Macedo, Princeton University"This is one of the very best philosophical treatments of libertarian thought, ever. John Tomasi cements his position as one of America's leading social and political philosophers."—Tyler Cowen, author of Creative Destruction"This book represents the most ambitious recent effort by a political philosopher to square the circle: free markets and fairness. Even readers who disagree with Tomasi's conclusions will find insight and clarity on every page."—Richard Epstein, New York University"Tomasi's elegant book resembles a long and friendly conversation between Friedrich Hayek and John Rawls—a conversation which, astonishingly, reaches agreement."—Deirdre McCloskey, author of Bourgeois Dignity and The Bourgeois Virtues"Tomasi is sympathetic to, and captures much of the point of, positions to the right of his, and positions to the left. The result is disarming and genuine. Readers will find themselves turning the pages, hoping not so much to spot the flaw as simply to learn something, and they will not be disappointed."—David Schmidtz, University of Arizona"This book makes a case that needed making and that will have a large impact on contemporary thinking about social justice."—Michael Zuckert, University of Notre Dame"Hayekian freedom and Rawlsian social justice both evoke attractive visions of how human beings might live together—something seldom acknowledged in our polarized political world. John Tomasi's Free Market Fairness treats both traditions with depth, nuance, and unremitting fair-mindedness, and then points us toward a synthesis. Social democrats and libertarians equally need to read this book."—Charles Murray, American Enterprise Institute"Political philosophers are apt to dig in to carefully constructed ideological bunkers from which they lob argumentative mortar shells at their opponents. John Tomasi prefers instead to build bridges. Well-crafted and provocative, Free Market Fairness will surely stimulate much conversation—and perhaps a few mortar rounds in response."—Loren Lomasky, University of Virginia"This is a terrific book—lively, stimulating, novel, and important. Written with clarity and lightness, it is appealingly wide-ranging, spanning political philosophy, intellectual history, and more. It will be widely read and cited."—Jacob T. Levy, McGill University