Does equality of opportunity fall short of building a just society?
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Abstract
Despite been widely accepted the foundations of the principle of equal opportunities and its institutional implications still need to be clarified. One of the most active theoretical controversies revolves around whether the principle has truly egalitarian consequences or, on the contrary, deepens economic inequalities. For this reason, critics advocate for the complete rejection of the principle. In this paper, I work out the details of Rawlsian "fair" conception of equal opportunity to work out an alternative to meritocratic (formal) equality of opportunity and "responsibility-sensitive" (radical) equality of opportunity. I then confront some objections that express the idea that equality of opportunity is an obstacle to building an egalitarian and just society. The main argument in favor of the principle of distributive fairness in opportunities implies that everyone must have the chance to develop a worthwhile life plan in order to feel respected and for their life projects to be considered valuable.
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