Précis <i>From Rationality to Equality</i>

Abstract

James Sterba’s From Rationality to Equality provides an argument from rationality to equality, which is meant to “help to resolve the fundamental conflicts between opposing moral and political ideals of our times and thus prepare the way for a peaceful implementation of its egalitarian conclusions, thereby making philosophy and philosophers look a little better in the process” (p. 219). This task is achieved in two steps. First, Sterba argues for the claim that an action is morally required insofar as it is also rationally required. Second, he argues for the claim that liberty entails commitment to a substantial form of equality, which extends to future generations and non-human animals.