Nordic self-respect
Is my hypothesis disproved?
Earlier, I theorized that a deterministic conception of the person–one wherein our lives are largely the product of circumstance–threatens our self-respect. As I mentioned, this is often a justification for massive wealth distribution in contemporary egalitarian theories. I wondered if Scandinavian people experienced less self-respect in their rather egalitarian societies.
This OECD study proves otherwise, reporting that countries with large welfare systems, like Denmark, Finland, and the Netherlands, have the highest levels of happiness. The questions were very similar to those one would ask to determine self-respect.
The relevance of this study for my hypothesis depends on the public justification for those social welfare systems, and whether or not they say anything about the free will vs. luck debate. If they indeed are based upon–explicitly or implicitly–a deterministic conception of the person, then my hyopthesis is simply wrong, either because its actually really wrong, or because people don’t internalize the conception of the person forwarded by their society.
If these countries don’t say anything about free will v. luck, then the hypothesis is still untested. But at least it would show that, practically and ideologically speaking, there are justifications for egalitarianism that can skirt deeper metaphysical issues about luck and choice. In the academic world, G.A. Cohen famously criticized John Rawls’ argument that philosophical arguments for social justice, whatever it may be, can cabin those issues.
-Jake
Related posts:
- Genius and self-respect
- The American Dream and self-resect
- Who gets Bubbles the chimp?
- Libertarianism
- Guest Post: What does respect mean to Horst Köhler?
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