GA Cohen, on the currency of egalitarian justice


chapter 7

(151) freedom of non-owners is safeguarded/promoted by intervention

(152) capitalism, then, is a particular distribution of freedom AND unfreedom

(153) libertarians account of freedom, then, is not normatively neutral

(155) capitalism doesn't encode liberty--it only encodes that liberty which is compatible with the existing distribution of private property. put differently, it equally encodes nonfreedom for non-owners

(155) 'capitalism doesn't end up living up to its own professions"

(155) communal ownership can enhance liberty/freedom (idle skis, idle tools, idle homes)

chapter 2

(46) Sen's criteria, midfare, comes between goods (objective) and welfare (Subjective)

(50) vs. Sen, 'capability'

chapter 6

(128) 'justice' vs. legitimacy (which is what you get from the W. Chamberlain example)

(129) 'Justice' vs.  freedom (they can come into conflict--so something can advance freedom, but not justice)

(131) against Dworkin, "option luck" vs. "brute luck" (deliberate gambles vs. involuntary)

chapter 8


(168) to lack money is not just to lack means, it is to be interfered with (this is what Berlin, Rawls don't acknowledge)

(168) libertarians define intervention as preventing someone from continuing an action--but what about preventing someone from embarking on an action in the first place?