G A Cohen was one of the most gifted, influential, and progressive voices in contemporary political philosophy. At the time of his death in 2009, he had plans to bring together a number of his most significant papers. This title contains these papers that have shaped many of the central debates in political philosophy.

Editor's Preface vii Acknowledgments xiii Part One: Luck Egalitarianism Chapter One: On the Currency of Egalitarian Justice 3 Chapter Two: Equality of What? On Welfare, Goods, and Capabilities 44 Afterword to Chapters One and Two 61 Chapter Three: Sen on Capability, Freedom, and Control 73 Chapter Four: Expensive Taste Rides Again 81 Chapter Five: Luck and Equality 116 Chapter Six: Fairness and Legitimacy in Justice, And: Does Option Luck Ever Preserve Justice? 124 Part Two: Freedom and Property Chapter Seven: Capitalism, Freedom, and the Proletariat 147 Chapter Eight: Freedom and Money 166 Two Addenda to "Freedom and Money" 193 Part Three: Ideal Theory and Political Practice Chapter Nine: Mind the Gap 203 Chapter Ten: Back to Socialist Basics 211 Chapter Eleven: How to Do Political Philosophy 225 Chapter Twelve: Rescuing Justice from Constructivism and Equality from the Basic Structure Restriction 236 Works Cited 255 Index 263

"While alerting his readers to the difficulties faced by philosophers, Cohen is a source of guidance to those seeking to find their way in the field of political philosophy."--Richard Mullender, Political Studies Review "Cohen wrote with incredible clarity, analyzed with great insight, and argued with the utmost rigor. He did all this while addressing fundamental problems of political philosophy. It will thus be a joy for those interested in these topics to read, or reread, these essays."--Peter Vallentyne, Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews

"From start to finish, a permanent invitation to fight lazy thinking and sloppy writing and a masterly demonstration of how to do it: straight to the difficult core of each issue; quite often with humor, most of the time with an explicit political engagement, always with impeccable intellectual honesty. The irreplaceable Jerry Cohen at his best."—Philippe van Parijs, Université catholique de Louvain"G. A. Cohen argues brilliantly for two important and unfashionable ideas: that accidental inequality is unjust and that poverty limits freedom. Cohen's essays reveal a wonderful mind in search of the fundamental truths about justice. Here you have the mix of clarity and depth that marks philosophy at its apex."—Joshua Cohen, Stanford University"This will be one of the most important books in political philosophy published this decade, and compulsory reading for anyone working on distributive justice, including philosophers, legal and political theorists, and philosophically inclined economists."—Andrew Williams, ICREA and Pompeu Fabra University"G. A. Cohen's landmark essays on luck egalitarianism, freedom, and property have become standard points of reference. These highly acclaimed pieces have been scattered over a wide range of journals and edited volumes, so having them now in a single volume is an enormous boon. Very valuably, the book also includes the unpublished essay 'How to Do Political Philosophy,' in which Cohen reflects on the way he sought to address the issues in these essays."—Hillel Steiner, professor emeritus, University of Manchester