Wealth as the exchange-value and the Rawls’s difference principle

Authors

  • Leandro Martins Zanitelli Doutor e professor de Direito da UFMG.

Keywords:

Wealth. Exchange-Value. Difference Principle.

Abstract

The paper addresses the concept of wealth in John Rawls’s difference principle. It asks, in particular, about the consequences for the difference principle of Edward Fullbrook’s claim regarding the Boolean structure of exchange-value quantitative orders. One of my conclusions is that, once viewed as a principle governing the distribution of wealth (in the sense of exchange-value, the difference principle requires strict equality (or equality to the nearest possible extent). Such counterintuitive result is avoided when wealth (understood as exchange-value) is replaced by other metrics of advantage, like capabilities or welfare.

Author Biography

Leandro Martins Zanitelli, Doutor e professor de Direito da UFMG.

Doutor em Direito pela UFRGS. Professor Adjunto na Faculdade de Direito da UFMG.

References

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Published

2019-04-22

Issue

No. 21

Section

Varia

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