E-Books →Learning to Be Fair Equity from Classical Philosophy to Contemporary Politics

The language of "equity" saturates our contemporary culture. Human-resources departments lead workshops on "diversity, equity, and inclusion." Progressive politicians advocate for "equity" in novel programs for housing and healthcare while their conservative counterparts decry "equity" as a revolutionary rejection of traditional notions of equality and freedom. By excavating texts from antiquity to the modern age, Learning to Be Fair undercuts the supposed novelty of "equity" and anchors it in the foundations of Western philosophy. Despite its newfound popularity (or infamy), in fact, the concept of equity stands as one of the oldest, most durable, and often most paradoxical principles of ethical and political thought. In Learning to Be Fair, Charles McNamara draws out the ancient origins of equity in classical Greek and Roman authors and traces their influence on lawyers, philosophers, America's Founding Fathers, and even our contemporary culture. He shows how this history connects current debates about the role of equity to long-standing, unsettled questions about equality before the law and the possibility of teaching people to be good.