Are Liberty and Equality Compatible?

Jan Narveson is Distinguished Professor Emeritus at the University of Waterloo. His previous publications include The Libertarian Idea (1989), Moral Matters, 2nd edition (1999), Respecting Persons in Theory and Practice (2002) and You and the State (2008). In 2003, Professor Narveson was made an Officer of the Order of Canada in recognition of both his scholarly work and his lifelong promotion of music in his home cities of Kitchener and Waterloo, Ontario. James P. Sterba is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Notre Dame. His previous publications include Affirmative Action for the Future (2009), Does Feminism Discriminate Against Men?: A Debate (2008, co-authored with Warren Farrell), The Triumph of Practice over Theory in Ethics (2005) and Terrorism and Justice for Here and Now (1998).

• Introduction; Part I. Equality is Compatible and Required by Liberty: 1. The practical requirements of an ideal of negative liberty; 2. Other attempts to show that libertarians should accept welfare or equality; 3. Objections from libertarians to my argument from liberty to equality; 4. My argument again and its future prospects; Part II. Liberty is Incompatible with the Right to Equality: 5. The issue framed; 6. The 'Social Contract' approach to moral philosophy; 7. The grounds for welfarism considered; 8. Conclusion; Part III. Responses: 9. Response to Narveson; 10. Response to Sterba.

'I think the book is very well structured … the discussion of the challenge to (right-)libertarianism that negative liberty is at stake on both sides in conflicts between the poor and rich is elaborated masterfully … Narveson and Sterba are to be praised for … developing two comprehensive and important answers to the questions it raises.' Nils Holtug, Mind