Equality or Limits?

Limit views conceive of distributive justice as being concerned primarily with respecting limits. This chapter discusses two such limit views: sufficientarianism and limitarianism. Sufficientarianism holds that we have weighty reasons to ensure that no one is below a particular limit. Limitarianism holds that we have weighty reasons to ensure that no one is above a particular limit. The two views are usually defended separately, but arguments for and against them, as well as the views themselves, share similarities and associated vulnerabilities. The aim of this chapter is to draw out these similarities, and to give an overview of reasons to think that distributive justice should primarily be concerned with respecting limits, rather than realizing equality.