Honderich on Well-being and Equality
| Date | 01 February 1983 |
| Author | David Gordon |
| Published date | 01 February 1983 |
| DOI | 10.1111/j.1467-9256.1983.tb00152.x |
| Subject Matter | Article |
Unemployment and Industrial Relations
29
Rebferences
Bain,
G.S.
and Elsheikh,
F.
(1976), Union
Growth
and the Business Cycle: an
Econometric Analysis (Oxford:
B1
ackwell
).
Barker,
T.
(1982),
'Long
Term
Recovery:
A
Return
to
Full Employment?'
,
Lloyds Bank
Review (January).
Crouch,
C.
(1982), Trade Unions: the Logic of Collective Action (London: Fontana).
Hawkins,
K.
(1981), Trade Unions (London: Hutchinson).
Hicks, J.R. (1932),
The
Theory of Wages (London: Macmillan).
Kalecki,
M.
(1943), 'Political Aspects of Full Employment', Political Quarterly, Vol.
4.
Locksley,
G.,
and
Marsh,
D.
(1981), 'Recognising Trade
Union
Power', West European
Politics. Januarv.
Minford,
P.
(1982), Trade Unions Destroy a Million Jobs', Journal of Economic Affairs,
January.
Panitch,
L.
(1981),
Trade Unionsand the Capitalist State', New Left Review, January/
Fe
b
rua ry
.
Parsley, C.J. (1980) ,'Labour Union Effects
on
Wage Gains', Journal of Economic
Literature, March.
Shackleton, J.R. (1982), 'In Defence
of
the Unions', Journal of Economic Affairs, July.
The Times, (1982), 13 December,
p.2.
Turner,
H.A.
(1969), Is Britain Really Strike-Prone? (Cambridge:
C.U.P.).
-
0-000-
0-
tiONDERICh
ON
WELL-BEING
AND
EQUALITY
DAVID
GORDON
Ted Honderich, in
'The
Question of Well-being
and
the Principle of Equality,'l
proposes a Principle
of
Equality, which, he endeavours
to
show,
may be defended 'by
a kind of argument .
.
. perhaps the most fundamental possible: increasingly it
reflects ordinary enlightened convictions and feelings' (p.499). In my opinion,
Honderich's Principle, far from reflecting ordinary morality, is radically at variance
with it.
In
particular, it does
not
succeed in escaping familiar objections to
utilitarianism, as Honderich says it does; and insofar as it differs from utilitarian-
ism, the Principle introduces
new
problems.
Honderich states
his
Principle of Equality most fully in
the
following passage:
'The Principle of Equality . . .
is
that
our
principal end
must
be
to make
well-off
those
who
are badly-off, by way of certain policies: increasing
means
to
well-being
and
transferring
means
from the
better
off
which
will
not
affect their well-being; transferring means
from
the better-off which
will affect their well-being, those at
the
higher levels
to
be affected
first
,
and observing a certain
1
imi
t
;
reduci
ng
necessary i nequal i ti es
'
(p.
493) (emphasis removed).
In order to understand
the
Priciple, one
must
grasp what Honderich has in mind
by 'well-being', as
it
is in
terms
of this notion that he characterizes those
whom
the Princlple refers to
as
the
'better-off'
,
'we1 1-off
'
,
and
'
badly-off' .
wishps well-being
to
be
understood as the satisfaction of desire, and its opposite as
desire's frustration.
For
the
puposes
of social policy,
however,
not
every desire
counts equally. Honderich enumerates
six
general categories
of
desire which, he holds,
ought to guide
our
judgements in applying the Principle, viz., the desires for
'subsistence, further material goods, respect, freedom, personal relations,
and
culture'
(p.482).
Honderich
To continue reading
Request your trial