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- Title
Emile Durkheim on human talents and two traditions of social justice.
- Authors
Green, S. J. D.
- Abstract
This paper directs critical attention to Emile Durkheim's considerations about the crucial role of non-transferable, human talent resources within any coherent theory of social justice. It is argued that Durkheim's appreciation of this question anticipated all modern formulations of the issue, and has been insufficiently acknowledged in the contemporary literature. It is contended that Durkheim developed a theory of 'equal treatment' through a rigorous repudiation of Mill's theory of self-ownership, but tempered the sociological force of this idea by developing a parallel 'equal opportunity' theory, which established the basis of a coherent defence of the idea of equality of opportunity through the principle of proportionality. It is concluded that the ethical and sociological compromise for which Durkheim argued between these two egalitarian theories of social justice remains philosophically coherent and sociologically plausible.
- Subjects
DURKHEIM, Emile, 1858-1917; SOCIAL justice; EQUALITY; DISTRIBUTIVE justice; SOCIOLOGY
- Publication
British Journal of Sociology, 1989, Vol 40, Issue 1, p97
- ISSN
0007-1315
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.2307/590292