Social inequality in health, responsibility and egalitarian justice

Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review

Standard

Social inequality in health, responsibility and egalitarian justice. / Andersen, Martin Marchman; Dalton, Susanne Oksbjerg; Johansen, Christoffer; Lynch, John; Holtug, Nils.

In: Journal of Public Health, Vol. 35, No. 1, 2013, p. 4-8.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review

Harvard

Andersen, MM, Dalton, SO, Johansen, C, Lynch, J & Holtug, N 2013, 'Social inequality in health, responsibility and egalitarian justice', Journal of Public Health, vol. 35, no. 1, pp. 4-8. https://doi.org/10.1093/pubmed/fdt012

APA

Andersen, M. M., Dalton, S. O., Johansen, C., Lynch, J., & Holtug, N. (2013). Social inequality in health, responsibility and egalitarian justice. Journal of Public Health, 35(1), 4-8. https://doi.org/10.1093/pubmed/fdt012

Vancouver

Andersen MM, Dalton SO, Johansen C, Lynch J, Holtug N. Social inequality in health, responsibility and egalitarian justice. Journal of Public Health. 2013;35(1):4-8. https://doi.org/10.1093/pubmed/fdt012

Author

Andersen, Martin Marchman ; Dalton, Susanne Oksbjerg ; Johansen, Christoffer ; Lynch, John ; Holtug, Nils. / Social inequality in health, responsibility and egalitarian justice. In: Journal of Public Health. 2013 ; Vol. 35, No. 1. pp. 4-8.

Bibtex

@article{1a780f0bd35a4382935321d9fb80902a,
title = "Social inequality in health, responsibility and egalitarian justice",
abstract = "Are social inequalities in health unjust when brought about by differences in lifestyle? A widespread idea, luck egalitarianism, is that inequality stemming from individuals{\textquoteright} free choices is not to be considered unjust, since individuals, presumably, are themselves responsible for such choices. Thus, to the extent that lifestyles are in fact results of free choices, social inequality in health brought about by these choices is not in tension with egalitarian justice. If this is so, then it may put in question the justification of free and equal access to health care and existing medical research priorities. However, personal responsibility is a highly contested issue and in this article we first consider the case for, and second the case against, personal responsibility for health in light of recent developments in philosophical accounts of responsibility and equality. We suggest – but do not fully establish - that at the most fundamental level people are never responsible in such a way that appeals to individuals{\textquoteright} own responsibility can justify inequalities in health. ",
author = "Andersen, {Martin Marchman} and Dalton, {Susanne Oksbjerg} and Christoffer Johansen and John Lynch and Nils Holtug",
year = "2013",
doi = "10.1093/pubmed/fdt012",
language = "English",
volume = "35",
pages = "4--8",
journal = "Journal of Public Health",
issn = "1741-3842",
publisher = "Oxford University Press",
number = "1",

}

RIS

TY - JOUR

T1 - Social inequality in health, responsibility and egalitarian justice

AU - Andersen, Martin Marchman

AU - Dalton, Susanne Oksbjerg

AU - Johansen, Christoffer

AU - Lynch, John

AU - Holtug, Nils

PY - 2013

Y1 - 2013

N2 - Are social inequalities in health unjust when brought about by differences in lifestyle? A widespread idea, luck egalitarianism, is that inequality stemming from individuals’ free choices is not to be considered unjust, since individuals, presumably, are themselves responsible for such choices. Thus, to the extent that lifestyles are in fact results of free choices, social inequality in health brought about by these choices is not in tension with egalitarian justice. If this is so, then it may put in question the justification of free and equal access to health care and existing medical research priorities. However, personal responsibility is a highly contested issue and in this article we first consider the case for, and second the case against, personal responsibility for health in light of recent developments in philosophical accounts of responsibility and equality. We suggest – but do not fully establish - that at the most fundamental level people are never responsible in such a way that appeals to individuals’ own responsibility can justify inequalities in health.

AB - Are social inequalities in health unjust when brought about by differences in lifestyle? A widespread idea, luck egalitarianism, is that inequality stemming from individuals’ free choices is not to be considered unjust, since individuals, presumably, are themselves responsible for such choices. Thus, to the extent that lifestyles are in fact results of free choices, social inequality in health brought about by these choices is not in tension with egalitarian justice. If this is so, then it may put in question the justification of free and equal access to health care and existing medical research priorities. However, personal responsibility is a highly contested issue and in this article we first consider the case for, and second the case against, personal responsibility for health in light of recent developments in philosophical accounts of responsibility and equality. We suggest – but do not fully establish - that at the most fundamental level people are never responsible in such a way that appeals to individuals’ own responsibility can justify inequalities in health.

U2 - 10.1093/pubmed/fdt012

DO - 10.1093/pubmed/fdt012

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 23436200

VL - 35

SP - 4

EP - 8

JO - Journal of Public Health

JF - Journal of Public Health

SN - 1741-3842

IS - 1

ER -

ID: 41857046