RT Article
T1 Prioritarianism, Levelling Down and Welfare Diffusion
JF Ethical theory and moral practice
VO 14
IS 3
SP 307
OP 311
A1 Persson, Ingmar
LA English
PB Springer Science + Business Media B. V
YR 2011
UL https://ixtheo.de/Record/1785696181
AB I have earlier argued that, like egalitarianism, prioritarianism is exposed to the levelling down objection—which I do not find serious—but also that it faces related, more serious objections that egalitarianism avoids. In this paper I reply to Thomas Porter’s attempt to rebut this argument. I also trace the more serious objections to prioritarianism to the fact that it implies the desirability of welfare diffusion, i.e. that it is better all things considered if a quantity of welfare is distributed over as many recipients as possible, so that each recipient gets a minimal benefit, and that the outcome would still be in one respect better, even if the quantity of welfare was reduced. In contrast to egalitarianism, prioritarianism therefore implies that it is in one respect better if an equality, or a solitary individual, is located at lower rather than a higher level of welfare.
K1 Prioritarianism
K1 Porter
K1 Parfit
K1 Levelling down objection
K1 Egalitarianism
DO 10.1007/s10677-010-9242-y