Positional Goods and Social Equality: Examining the Convergence Thesis.

Area of Science:

• Political Philosophy
• Social Ethics
• Distributive Justice

Background:

• The convergence thesis posits that different ethical theories (prioritarianism, sufficientarianism, egalitarianism) may agree on distributing positional goods equally.
• Positional goods are those valued for their relative standing, such as education and wealth.
• Existing arguments for the convergence thesis face challenges when applied to specific goods.

Purpose of the Study:

• To critically examine the application of the convergence thesis to education and wealth.
• To propose and defend a modified version of the convergence thesis.
• To demonstrate the significance of this modified thesis for social or relational egalitarianism.

Main Methods:

• Philosophical analysis and argumentation.
• Conceptual clarification of positional goods and ethical theories.
• Examination of existing literature on distributive justice and the convergence thesis.

Main Results:

• The standard convergence thesis encounters significant problems when applied to education and wealth.
• A revised version of the convergence thesis is presented that avoids these identified problems.
• This revised thesis has direct implications for understanding and achieving relational egalitarianism.

Conclusions:

• The convergence thesis, in its original form, is problematic for key positional goods.
• A modified convergence thesis offers a more robust framework for ethical distribution.
• Citizenship status emerges as a central good for social or relational egalitarianism under this revised thesis.