This lecture examines major concepts of equality and justice in political theory. It distinguishes formal, moral, legal, material, access, opportunity, and outcome-based equality, while addressing debates over liberty, redistribution, privilege, and affirmative action. The lecture then compares John Rawls’s egalitarian theory of justice, including the veil of ignorance, equal liberty, equal opportunity, and the difference principle, with Robert Nozick’s libertarian defense of private property and the minimal state. It concludes by introducing Marxist critiques of capitalism, exploitation, private property, and distributive justice, particularly through the work of Gerald Cohen.
