Date: 2007
Type: Working Paper
Arbitrariness of Social and Natural Differences: Luck, Lottery, and Equality
Working Paper, EUI LAW, 2007/12
SADURSKI, Wojciech, Arbitrariness of Social and Natural Differences: Luck, Lottery, and Equality, EUI LAW, 2007/12 - https://hdl.handle.net/1814/6812
Retrieved from Cadmus, EUI Research Repository
It is sometimes argued that social and natural inequalities which are both arbitrary from
a moral point of view should nevertheless have a different moral status in a theory of
justice: while inequalities of a social type should be rightfully neutralized, the effects of
natural inequalities should be respected, because they are a component of individual
identity, in a way that social inequalities are not. This paper argues against such a
distinction. It first clarifies the notion of “natural lottery”; it then draws a distinction
between the notion of “self-ownership” and the extensions of one’s rights over one’s
body. Subsequently, it argues that the appeal to competing conceptions of “the self” is
not helpful in this context, because a “thick” conception of the self is a proxy for a
particular normative conception of justice, rather than a metaphysical presupposition for
theories of justice. The paper concludes by suggesting an interpretation of the metaphor
of a “common pool of natural abilities” that would not be intrusive so as to effectively
respect the separate identity of individuals.
Cadmus permanent link: https://hdl.handle.net/1814/6812
ISSN: 1725-6739
Series/Number: EUI LAW; 2007/12
Publisher: European University Institute
Keyword(s): Social justice Equality