Synopsis
Cohen's challenge to egalitarians to live their professed principles personally, not just demand them of institutions and the state.
Core passage idea
Paraphrase · Modern copyrighted workIf you truly believe in equality, your own choices and lifestyle, not only the rules you advocate, must answer to that belief.
It closes the gap between political principle and personal conduct, insisting justice has implications for how individuals live.
To avoid a bubble
Pair with John Rawls, A Theory of Justice.
Reading note
Read it as a moral provocation aimed at the reader, weighing whether structure really excuses individual choices.
Best paired with
John Rawls, A Theory of Justice