@article{648ac7489a8b4e73afce9b441fe47e78,
title = "Calibration dilemmas in the ethics of distribution",
abstract = "This paper presents a new kind of problem in the ethics of distribution. The problem takes the form of several 'calibration dilemmas', in which intuitively reasonable aversion to small-stakes inequalities requires leading theories of distribution to recommend intuitively unreasonable aversion to large-stakes inequalities. We first lay out a series of such dilemmas for prioritarian theories. We then consider a widely endorsed family of egalitarian views and show that they are subject to even more forceful calibration dilemmas than prioritarian theories. Finally, we show that our results challenge common utilitarian accounts of the badness of inequalities in resources.",
keywords = "Equality, calibration, egalitarianism, prioritarianism, utilitarianism",
author = "Nebel, {Jacob M.} and Stef{\'a}nsson, {H. Orri}",
note = "Funding Information: Thanks to Gustaf Arrhenius, Matthew Adler, Ralf Bader, John Broome, Krister Bykvist, Kara Dreher, Marc Fleurbaey, Jimmy Goodrich, Hilary Greaves, Ben Holgu{\'i}n, Nils Holtug, Adam Kern, Kacper Kowalczyk, Dillon Liu, Andreas Mogensen, Michael Otsuka, Theron Pummer, Wlodek Rabinowicz, Dean Spears, Elliott Thornley, and Alex Voorhoeve. The paper has been presented in seminars at University of Copenhagen, Stockholm University, and Institute for Futures Studies, as well as at the Fourth PPE Society Meeting, at the Fifth Bolder Workshop in Formal Value theory, and as the Parfit Memorial Lecture 2021 at the Global Priorities Institute in Oxford. We are grateful to the audiences for their comments and suggestions. Stef{\'a}nsson gratefully acknowledges funding from Riksbankens Jubileumsfond (Pro Futura Scientia XIII). Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press.",
year = "2023",
month = mar,
day = "9",
doi = "10.1017/S0266267121000298",
language = "English (US)",
volume = "39",
pages = "67--98",
journal = "Economics and Philosophy",
issn = "0266-2671",
publisher = "Cambridge University Press",
number = "1",
}