''Spheres of Justice: A Defense of Pluralism and Equality'' is a 1983 book by the philosopher

Michael Walzer Michael Laban Walzer (born 1935) is an American political theorist and public intellectual. A professor emeritus at the Institute for Advanced Study (IAS) in Princeton, New Jersey, he is editor emeritus of '' Dissent'', an intellectual magazin ...

Summary

Walzer argues in favour of an idea he calls "

complex equality Complex equality is a theory of justice outlined by Michael Walzer in his 1983 work '' Spheres of Justice''. It is considered innovative because of its emphasis on the broader conceptualization of distribution, which covers not only tangible goods b ...

", and against the view that

goods In economics, goods are items that satisfy human wants and provide utility, for example, to a consumer making a purchase of a satisfying product. A common distinction is made between goods which are transferable, and services, which are not ...

with different meaning and content can be lumped together into the larger category of ''primary goods'', as is advocated by

John Rawls John Bordley Rawls (; February 21, 1921 – November 24, 2002) was an American moral, legal and political philosopher in the liberal tradition. Rawls received both the Schock Prize for Logic and Philosophy and the National Humanities Medal in ...

, in his ''

A Theory of Justice ''A Theory of Justice'' is a 1971 work of political philosophy and ethics by the philosopher John Rawls (1921-2002) in which the author attempts to provide a moral theory alternative to utilitarianism and that addresses the problem of distrib ...

'' (1971).

Reception

''Spheres of Justice'' has, together with '' Just and Unjust Wars'' (1977) and ''

Interpretation and Social Criticism ''Interpretation and Social Criticism'' is a 1987 book about political philosophy by Michael Walzer Michael Laban Walzer (born 1935) is an American political theorist and public intellectual. A professor emeritus at the Institute for Advanced ...

'' (1987), been identified as one of Walzer's most important works by the philosopher Will Kymlicka. Kymlicka 2005, p. 952.

References

Bibliography

External links

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(large images) 1983 non-fiction books Basic Books books Books by Michael Walzer Books in political philosophy English-language books {{Poli-philo-book-stub