Page iii The Tanner Lectures on Human Values VII 1986 Amartya Sen, Michael Slote, Barrington Moore, Jr., Quentin Skinner, Clifford Geertz Sterling M. McMurrin, Editor UNIVERSITY OF UTAH PRESSSalt Lake City CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESSCambridge, London, Melbourne, Sydney The Tanner Lectures On Human Values. VII title: 1986 McMurrin, Sterling M.; Sen, Amartya author: Kumar. publisher: University of Utah Press isbn10 | asin: 0874802598 print isbn13: 9780874802597 ebook isbn13: 9780585129334 language: English subject Ethics, Values. publication date: 1986 lcc: BJ1012.T34 1986eb ddc: 170 subject: Ethics, Values. Page iv Copyright © 1986 by The Tanner Lectures on Human Values, a corporation UtahISBN 0-87480-259-8 CambridgeISBN 0-521-33294-X ISSN 0275-7656 Printed in the United States of America All rights reserved Published in North and South America and the Philippines by the University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City, Utah 84112, U.S.A., and in Great Britain and all other countries by The Press Syndicate of the University of Cambridge The Edinburgh Building, Shaftesbury Road, Cambridge CB2 2RU, and 296 Beaconsfield Parade, Middle Park, Melbourne 3206 Australia. The paper in this book meets the standards for permanence and durability established by the Committee on Production Guidelines for Book Longevity of the Council on Library Resources. Page v The Tanner Lectures on Human Values Appointment as a Tanner lecturer is a recognition of uncommon capabilities and outstanding scholarly or leadership achievement in the field of human values. The lecturers may be drawn from philosophy, religion, the humanities and sciences, the creative arts and learned professions, or from leadership in public or private affairs. The lectureships are international and intercultural and transcend ethnic, national, religious, or ideological distinctions. The purpose of the Tanner Lectures is to advance and reflect upon the scholarly and scientific learning relating to human values and valuation. This purpose embraces the entire range of values pertinent to the human condition, interest, behavior, and aspiration. The Tanner Lectures were formally founded on July 1, 1978, at Clare Hall, Cambridge University. They were established by the American scholar, industrialist, and philanthropist, Obert Clark Tanner. In creating the lectureships, Professor Tanner said, "I hope these lectures will contribute to the intellectual and moral life of mankind. I see them simply as a search for a better understanding of human behavior and human values. This understanding may be pursued for its own intrinsic worth, but it may also eventually have practical consequences for the quality of personal and social life." Permanent Tanner lectureships, with lectures given annually, are established at six institutions: Clare Hall, Cambridge University; Harvard University; Brasenose College, Oxford University; Stanford University; the University of Michigan; and the University of Utah. Each year lectureships may be granted to not more than four additional colleges or universities for one year only. The institutions are selected by the Trustees in consultation with an Advisory Commission. Page vi The sponsoring institutions have full autonomy in the appointment of their lecturers. A major purpose of the lecture program is the publication and wide distribution of the Lectures in an annual volume. The Tanner Lectures on Human Values is a nonprofit corporation administered at the University of Utah under the direction of a self- perpetuating, international Board of Trustees and with the advice and counsel of an Advisory Commission. The Trustees meet annually to enact policies that will ensure the quality of the lectureships. The entire lecture program, including the costs of administration, is fully and generously funded in perpetuity by an endowment of the University of Utah by Professor Tanner and Mrs. Grace Adams Tanner. Obert C. Tanner was born in Farmington, Utah, in 1904. He was educated at the University of Utah, Harvard University, and Stanford University. He has served on the faculty of Stanford University and is presently Emeritus Professor of Philosophy at the University of Utah. He is the founder and chairman of the O. C. Tanner Company, manufacturing jewelers. STERLING M. MCMURRIN UNIVERSITY OF UTAH Page vii The Trustees RT. HON. LORD ASHBY Former Chancellor of the Queen's University, Belfast, former Master of Clare College, Cambridge, and former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge DEREK C. BOK President of Harvard University DAVID PIERPONT GARDNER President of the University of California H. L. A. HART University College, Oxford; former Principal of Brasenose College and former Professor of Jurisprudence at Oxford University THE REV. CAROLYN TANNER IRISH Ann Arbor, Michigan DONALD KENNEDY President of Stanford University STERLING M. MCMURRIN E. E. Ericksen Distinguished Professor at the University of Utah and former United States Commissioner of Education CHASE N. PETERSON CHAIRMAN President of the University of Utah HAROLD T. SHAPIRO President of the University of Michigan OBERT C. TANNER Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at the University of Utah O. MEREDITH WILSON President Emeritus of the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, President Emeritus of the University of Minnesota, and President Emeritus of the University of Oregon Page ix Contents The Tanner Lectures on Human Values v The Trustees vii Preface to Volume VII xi The Standard of Living 1 Amartya Sen I. Concepts and Critiques 3 II. Lives and Capabilities 27 Moderation, Rationality, and Virtue. 53 Michael Slote Authority and Inequality under Capitalism and Socialism 101 Barrington Moore, Jr. I. USA 103 II. The USSR 128 III. China 172 IV. Implications 214 The Paradoxes of Political Liberty 225 Quentin Skinner The Uses of Diversity 251 Clifford Geertz The Tanner Lecturers 277 Index to Volume VII 281