Overview
Against Equality of Opportunity deals with the ways in which opportunities - education, jobs and other things which affect how people get on in life - are distributed. Take jobs: should the best person always get the job? Or should everyone be given an equal 'life chance'? Or can we somehow combine these two ideas, saying that the best person should always get the job, but that everyone should have an equal chance to become the best? These seem to be the standard views, but this book argues that they are all flawed. We need to understand meritocracy for what it is - a technical rather than a moral ideal; and we need to accept that equality just isn't something we should be striving for at all in this area. We also need to rethink our approach to the related issue of discrimination. We tend to assume discrimination is wrong because it violates either meritocracy or equality, when in fact it is wrong for quite different reasons. In all these areas, then, Cavanagh aims to loosen the grip of established ways of thinking, in order that other ideas might find room to breathe. This is particularly important in the case of meritocracy, which after the recent conversion of the centre-left now dominates the debate more than ever. This book will be of interest to students and teachers of political philosophy, but ultimately it is aimed at anyone who cares about the fundamental values that lie behind the way society is organized. Though the argument is rigorous, it does not require a professional philosophical training to follow it.
Full Product Details
Author: Matt Cavanagh (, Lecturer, St Catherine's College, Oxford)
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Imprint: Oxford University Press
Dimensions:
Width: 14.70cm
, Height: 1.70cm
, Length: 22.30cm
Weight: 0.383kg
ISBN: 9780199243433
ISBN 10: 0199243433
Pages: 232
Publication Date: 14 February 2002
Audience:
Professional and scholarly
,
Professional & Vocational
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: To order
Stock availability from the supplier is unknown. We will order it for you and ship this item to you once it is received by us.
Reviews
a book that dares to argue against both meritocracy and equality, surely has to be welcome as a way out of the mess. Philosophical Investigations Cavanagh does create space for new ideas and on more than one occasion offers some penetrating insights on both meritocracy and equality. Philosophical Investigations This is a clearly written book that repays careful attention. Political Studies Review Useful book ... Cavanagh does a tidy job of distinguishing a variety of ways of reading the meritocratic principle. Contemporary Political Theory It is true that Against Equality of Opportunity is a contrarian book - and all the better for that. John Gray, The Independent, Thursday Book, ... the book fully lives up to its provocative title. In the horse-trading of meritocracy versus equality, few have had the nerve and imagination to throw out both these ideals at once. Nicholas Fearn, Spectator
`the book fully lives up to its provocative title. In the horse-trading of meritocracy versus equality, few have had the nerve and imagination to throw out both these ideals at once' Nicholas Fearn, Spectator
Author Information
Matt Cavanagh was Lecturer in Philosophy at St Catherine's College, Oxford, 1996-2000.
