Egalitarianism
Key Figures: John Rawls, John Locke, Adam Smith, Ronald Dworkin, G.A. Cohen, etc.
Egalitarianism is a philosophy often connected to political, economic, and social philosophy that emphasizes the equality of human beings. While the word is a fairly new term, this idea of all humans equal has been around since the earliest theories of Natural Law (which has been around since the ancient Greeks), which generally states that all humans are governed by a natural law that remains true across all peoples and individuals. But the idea is not necessarily a simple one, since the very concept of equality is contested. For does ‘equality’ mean equality of opportunity, of outcome, or of condition? Further, it may be just or moral to have equality in a societal sense (i.e. it is wrong to discriminate), though political egalitarianism may not be defended since it is a different sphere - in other words, different forms of egalitarianism deal with radically different issues. What is right for ethics may not be right for politics, what is right for economics may not be for society, etc. Nevertheless, the fundamental belief for these egalitarian ideals is in-grained in many religions, thus it is also present in modern society.