Free Market Fairness (ebook)

Argumento de Free Market Fairness (ebook)

"[Free Market Fairness's] aim is to question opposed modes of thought and find a way between them. Saying that his book was written for 'ideologically uncommitted readers,' Mr. Tomasi invites them and others to join him in exploring the ideas he has outlined. It is an invitation well worth accepting, especially in an election year."--Adam Wolfson, Wall Street Journal

"Tomasi presents a powerful vision of 'social justice, American style' . . . [and] provides a refreshing framework for thinking about the ability of free markets and limited government to preserve the conditions in which justice can be realized, and it is particularly noteworthy for seeking to engage with egalitarian liberals on their own terms. . . . Tomasi's primary goal is to challenge the existing paradigms for thinking about the relationship between markets and justice. At this task, he emphatically succeeds."--Keith Hankins, Journal of Moral Philosophy

"Tomasi takes a significant step beyond classical and some types of social democratic liberalism in an attempt to find common ground. . . . Tomasi's 'market democracy' contributes important insight to the continuing political-economic debate."--Choice

"One could hardly imagine John Tomasi's Free Market Fairness coming along at a more opportune time. Stump-speech rhetoric seems to have turned its attention (at least nominally) towards the concept of fairness. . . . The proper role of government is up for debate again. . . . Tomasi offers a clear-headed exploration of these and other issues during a moment of noticeable obtuseness and obfuscation in American politics [as] an accident of timing, incidental to his larger project, which is both ambitious and deeply needed."--Robert Herritt, Policy Review

"[This book] will be greatly helpful to students of political philosophy and political economy, especially for those whose interests lie in economic inequality and economic Justin."--Sojin Shin, Political Studies Review

"In many respects, [Tomasi] is a classical liberal, but he also retains a strong commitment to the worst off in society. He is a supporter of both free-market capitalism and of safety nets. His goal is to combine economic liberty and social justice. In attempting to transcend the standard positions, he should be commended."--Daniel Ben-Ami, Spiked Review of Books

"John Tomasi is to be applauded for endeavoring to restore among contemporary philosophy professors an appreciation of the political and moral virtues of classical economic liberalism, highlighting . . . its benefits for all citizens, especially the 'less advantaged,' while distinguishing it from the dogmatic, apolitical libertarianism that tends in practice to weaken support for economic (and hence political) freedom."--David Lewis Schaefer, Society

"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

"Free Market Fairness is a fine book that merits promotion, a merit raise, a cohort of graduate students, a fine reputation, and all the other benefits of academic life. The book is well written and well researched. The arguments are clearly stated and well defended. Political thinkers of all stripes will benefit from Tomasi's discussion of classical liberalism and libertarianism."--Mark A. Graber, Review of Politics

"A landmark publication in political philosophy."--Res Publica

"Tomasi is a useful corrective to both Rawls and Hayek."--Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews

"John Tomasi has written a spirited, accessible book that successfully argues the classical liberal tradition . . . of private economic liberty as a necessary and equal partner with social and political liberties in a free and just democratic society. This integrated, constructive approach . . . also recognizes the importance of social justice, a high liberal concept that he redefines by employing the principles of classical liberal thought. . . . Tomasi has provided the intellectual and justificatory framework for classical liberal adherents to robustly explore opportunities in a market-democracy research program."--Thomas A. Hemphill, Journal of Markets and Morality

"Free Market Fairness is both an excellent book and an important one. What makes a work of philosophy valuable is not that it arrives at all the right conclusions, but that it asks the right questions, makes us think, and causes us to re-examine our assumptions. Free Market Fairness does all of those things. For this reason, it is appropriate to describe the book as seminal."--John Hasnas, Regulation

"[I]mportant"--Andrew KoppelmanNotre Dame Philosophical Reviews

"Tomasi has done us all a service by starting, if not by ending, this important conversation."--John Thrasher, Public Choice

"Brilliant. . . . The heart of Tomasi's book entails serious engagement with John Rawls and his liberal theory of justice as fairness."--Ryan T. Anderson, Weekly Standard

"An extremely interesting and important project."--Ethics0Acknowledgments ix
Introduction 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