Category Books

Against Equality of Opportunity »

Authors: Matt Cavanagh
ISBN-13: 9780199243433, ISBN-10: 0199243433
Format: Hardcover
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Date Published: May 2002
Edition: (Non-applicable)

Author Biography: Matt Cavanagh

Matt Cavanagh was Lecturer in Philosophy at St Catherine's College, Oxford, 1996-2000.

Book Synopsis

These days almost everyone seems to think it obvious that equality of opportunity is at least part of what constitutes a fair society. At the same time they are so vague about what equality of opportunity actually amounts to that it can begin to look like an empty term, a convenient shorthand for the way jobs (or for that matter university places, or positions of power, or merely places on the local sports team) should be allocated, whatever that happens to be.
Matt Cavanagh offers a highly provocative and original new view, suggesting that the way we think about equality and opportunity should be radically changed.

Times Higher Education Supplement

Assured, punchy and tenacious As a piece of consecutive thinking about the goals of defensible public policy in a modern democracy, [t]his book gives an object lesson to anyone who cares about its politics and acknowledges the responsibility to try to understand what is really at stake in them.

	Introduction
Pt. 1	Meritocracy
1	Two concepts of meritocracy	33
2	Meritocracy as a way of rewarding desert	35
3	Meritocracy as hiring the best person for the job	43
4	Are employers obliged to hire the best people?	49
5	When being good at he job is not just a means to an end	54
6	Arguments for meritocracy that appeal to efficiency rather than fairness	63
7	Meritocracy in the public sector	69
8	Legitimate expectations	72
9	Should we be trying to promote merit indirectly?	77
10	Conclusions	78
Pt. 2	Equality
1	Equality and meritocracy	83
2	Some common but unsuccessful arguments for equal treatment	90
3	Arguments for equality in the face of difference	103
4	Egalitarian arguments that appeal not to some claim we are each separately thought to possess, but to our relations with each other	112
5	Equality of what: Work, opportunities, or chances?	118
6	So why do we believe in equality?	132
7	Conclusions	138
Pt. 3	Discrimination
1	Discrimination, meritocracy, and equality	153
2	So what exactly is wrong with discrimination?	160
3	A libertarian objection	167
4	Does every kind of discrimination express contempt?	176
5	Is it unfair to use statistical judgements when dealing with people?	180
6	Giving in to people's prejudices	193
7	Is discrimination wrong in itself, or because of its effects?	197
8	Conclusions	207
	Conclusions	213
	References	219
	Index	221