Towards spherical justice : a critical theoretical defence of the idea of complex equality

Abstract

The aim of this thesis is to explore the intricacies of Michael Walzer’s idea of complex equality and to develop a cogent support of this idea. In order to achieve these aims, the thesis concerns itself with three issues.

The thesis shows that Walzer’s method of interpreting shared understandings of social goods can only offer a very limited support of complex equality. This method can at best describe a small number of cases that approximate a state of complex equality.  The thesis argues that the idea of complex equality needs to be defended by a strong programme that is able to explain the emergence of complex equality and not merely describe it.

The thesis also demonstrates that Walzer has advanced three unconvincing arguments against the possibility of deriving such a strong programme from Jürgen Habermas’s critical theory.  The thesis argues that because these arguments misunderstand the premises of Habermas’s theory, they do not undermine an attempt to develop the idea of complex equality in a Habermasian direction.

The thesis finally shows that Walzer can seek plausible support for the idea of complex equality in Habermas’s critical theory. The thesis argues that Habermas’s theory is able to explain the success of complex equality with reference to communicative, moral and political responsibilities that develop under the conditions of modernity and that this theory also is able to explain the failure to establish complex equality with reference to the systemic mechanics for action-coordination that also develop under conditions of modernity.

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