The pursuit of equality

Abstract

It is evident that, barring major physical catastrophe, war or some other massive cause of deflection of current social interests, the idea of equality will be sovereign for the rest of this century in just about all circles concerned with the philosophical bases of public policy. One would have to go back to certain other ages in history to find a unifying theme among intellectuals possessed of the intensity and universality we find today with respect to equality. In the past, unifying ideas tended to be religious in substance. There are certainly signs that equality is taking on a sacred aspect among many minds today, that it is rapidly acquiring dogmatic status, at least among a great many philosophers and social scientists.