相関社会科学研究会では、以下のセミナーを開催します。どなたでも参加できますので、是非お越しください。事前登録は不要です。使用言語は英語（通訳なし）となります。
Date: June 11, 2025 (Wed) / 17:00-19:00
Venue: University of Tokyo Komaba Campus, Building 18, Collaboration Room 3
https://www.u-tokyo.ac.jp/campusmap/cam02_01_17_j.html
Chair: Akira Inoue (University of Tokyo)
Speaker: Jesse Spafford (Victoria University of Wellington)
Paper title: “Incas, Aliens, and Anarchists”
Abstract: This paper presents a novel solution to egalitarianism’s leveling down problem. The leveling down objection holds that egalitarian theories are implausible because they sometimes take justice to require leveling down, i.e., leaving some people worse off and no one better off. This paper argues that egalitarians can sidestep this objection by adopting an amended version of Jesse Spafford’s recently proposed anarchist schema of egalitarian rights. First, the paper argues that only a certain species of leveling down requirement is theoretically unacceptable (what it calls a “remote leveling down” requirement). It then argues that an adjusted version of Spafford’s proposal avoids the implication that such leveling down is required. Finally, it considers a revised version of the leveling down objection that focuses on the apparent unacceptability of requiring what the paper calls “strong leveling down.” The paper argues that adopting Spafford’s anarchist rights schema renders any strong leveling down requirement acceptable.
* This paper attempts to address the levelling down objection by proposing a slight modification to the anarchist position set out in Jesse Spafford’s book. Thus, it is recommended that you read Chapter 1 (esp. Section 1.6) of the book, which is available to download for free, before attending the seminar.
