Relational Egalitarianism, Paternalism, Adults and Children: A Puzzle

TY - JOUR

T1 - Relational Egalitarianism, Paternalism, Adults and Children: A Puzzle

AU - Bengtson, Andreas

PY - 2022

Y1 - 2022

N2 - Relational egalitarianism is a theory of justice according to which people must relate as equals. However, not just any inegalitarian relation is unjust, i.e., the fact that parents do not relate as equals to their children is not unjust. Whereas an adult treating another adult paternalistically is objectionable from the point of view of relational egalitarianism, parent-child paternalism is not. What may explain this difference in judgment? I refer to this as the Puzzle. I discuss four justifications of the Puzzle and argue that none of them is satisfactory. In the final part of the paper, I discuss where this leaves relational egalitarianism as a theory of justice.

AB - Relational egalitarianism is a theory of justice according to which people must relate as equals. However, not just any inegalitarian relation is unjust, i.e., the fact that parents do not relate as equals to their children is not unjust. Whereas an adult treating another adult paternalistically is objectionable from the point of view of relational egalitarianism, parent-child paternalism is not. What may explain this difference in judgment? I refer to this as the Puzzle. I discuss four justifications of the Puzzle and argue that none of them is satisfactory. In the final part of the paper, I discuss where this leaves relational egalitarianism as a theory of justice.

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85175223422&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.3998/ergo.2267

DO - 10.3998/ergo.2267

M3 - Journal article

SN - 2330-4014

VL - 2022

SP - 309

EP - 328

JO - Ergo an Open Access Journal of Philosophy

JF - Ergo an Open Access Journal of Philosophy

IS - 9

M1 - 11

ER -