Overview
KantianDESERT is designed to formulate a new model of distributive justice in response to global growing economic disparities, by offering a distinctive position within dominant egalitarianisms in current political theory/philosophy. Through several original contributions, the project builds an innovative case for a theory sensitive to individual just deserts and applies it to three case studies, in healthcare, education and business. KantianDESERT is designed to produce not only significant scientific impact, but also socio-political – it promises to break the cycle of structural economic injustice and to contribute to a fairer and more stable society.
About this opportunity
Background
KantianDESERT is designed to formulate a new model of distributive justice in response to growing global economic disparities, by offering a distinctive position within dominant egalitarianisms in current political theory/philosophy. First, despite calls in political theory/philosophy to abandon ‘desert’ (Barry 1965: 78; Kleinig 1971: 71; Rawls 1971/rev. ed. 1999), the project, in its first part, retrieves a strong critico-contestatory notion, which continues to guide us in our everyday distributive practices and denunciation of injustices. Secondly, against the background of a naturalist direction in academic disciplines (Scheffler 2001: 20-1) and in the context of a call for theories of justice to be ‘political, not metaphysical’ (Rawls 1985), the second sub-project of KantianDESERT answers important metaphysical objections from moral responsibility scepticism, by drawing on a new reconstruction of Kant’s account of freedom and moral agency. Thirdly, in the context of a recent revival of interest in desertism (Moriarty 2018; Brouwer and Mulligan 2019) and inspired by the second sub-project’s novel reconstruction of Kant’s theory of justice, the third sub-project argues for an innovative desert-sensitive theory of distribution, which takes into consideration other important standards of justice, such as equality, efficiency or need.
Aim and structure
The objective of the doctoral project is to formulate the desert-sensible principle of distribution prepared by the first sub-project and developed and applied by the third sub-project, although the findings of the research carried out as part of the second sub-project will also be indirectly relevant for the student. The doctoral research will contribute to the presentation of the desert-sensitive responsibility-enhancing theory of distributive justice as follows:
Years 1-2: Discussion of the concept of desert, based primarily on texts in contemporary analytic political theory/philosophy.
Year 3: Formulation of the desert-sensitive principle of distribution.
Collaboration and training
Throghout the life of the KantianDESERT doctoral project, the student will work as part of the KantianDESERT research team, which will include, apart from Professor Baiasu, as PI for the KantianDESERT project and lead supervisor for the doctoral research, three Postdoctoral Research Assistants (Dr Tom Bunyard and two others, who will start at the beginning of the second and third sub-projects) and two Research Assistants (Dr Tom Whyman and Dr Roberto Mozzachiodi). The project will be carried out within the framework of the Department of Philosophy’s doctoral programme, and the student will benefit from the standard training opportunities available to PhD researchers at the University of Liverpool. In addition, the student will also benefit from training opportunities specific for the KantianDESERT project, including editorial training, participation to the organisation of the project’s events, preparation of conference presentations, attendance to the project’s reading group meetings. Furthermore, KantianDESERT benefits from the networking and research opportunities provided by the Liverpool-Oxford-St Andrews Kantian Research Centre, which organises its own events, including the LOSAK Annual Lecture and Conference, writing retreats and reading groups. Further networking and collaboration opportunities will also be offered by the Kantian Standing Group of the European Consortium for Political Research, Professor Baiasu currently acting as its Steering Committee Chair.
Further reading
* Baiasu, S. (2021) “Distributive Justice and the Epistemological Argument Against Desert “, in Academia Letters, Article 127: https://doi.org/10.20935/AL127.
* Baiasu, S. (2020) “Why fairness matters more than equality: three ways to think philosophically about justice”, in The Conversation: https://theconversation.com/why-fairness-matters-more-than-equality-three-ways-to-think-philosophically-about-justice-140954
* Barry, B. (1965) Political Argument. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
* Brouwer, H. and Mulligan, T. (2019) “Why not be a desertist? Three arguments for desert and against luck egalitarianism”, in Philosophical Studies. 176(9): 2271-88.
* Kleinig, J. (1971) “The Concept of Desert”, in American Philosophical Quarterly 8(1): 71-78.
* Moriarty, J. (2018) “Desert-Based Justice”, in S. Olsaretti (ed.) The Oxford Handbook of Distributive Justice. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
* Rawls, J. (1971/rev. ed. 1999) A Theory of Justice. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
* Rawls, J. (1985) “Justice as Fairness: Political not Metaphysical”, in Philosophy and Public Affairs 14(3): 223–51.
* Scheffler, S. (2005) “Choice, Circumstance, and the Value of Equality”, in Politics, Philosophy & Economics 4(1): 5–28.