In this stimulating work of political philosophy, acclaimed philosopher G. A. Cohen sets out to rescue the egalitarian thesis that in a society in which distributive justice prevails, people's material prospects are roughly equal. Arguing against the Rawlsian version of a just society, Cohen demonstrates that distributive justice does not tolerate deep inequality.In the course of providing a deep and sophisticated critique of Rawls' theory of justice, Cohen demonstrates that questions of distributive justice arise not only for the state but also for people in their daily lives. The right rules for the macro scale of public institutions and policies also apply, with suitable adjustments, to the micro level of individual decision-making.Cohen also charges Rawls' constructivism with systematically conflating the concept of justice with other concepts. Within the Rawlsian architectonic, justice is not distinguished either from other values or from optimal rules of social regulation. The elimination of those conflations brings justice closer to equality.

科恩(G．A．Cohen，1941—2009)，牛津大学万灵学院研究员、齐切利社会与政治理论教授，分析的马克思主义学派的开创者和旗手。代表作：《卡尔·马克思的历史理论：一个辩护》(1978年)、《历史、劳动和自由：来自马克思的论题》(1988年)、《自我所有、自由和平等》(1995年)、《如果你是平等主义者，为何如此富有?》(2000年)、《拯救正义与平等》(2008年)、《为什么不要社会主义?》(2009年)等。 陈伟，男，1973年生，河北邯郸人，复旦大学哲学学院副教授，哲学博士。目前关注的研究方向为现代逻辑与分析的马克思主义。代表作：《功能解释与唯物史观》、《分析的马克思主义的方法论》、《在马克思主义和分析哲学之间》等。