A theory of Justice: Revised Edition

particular envy, to a certain extent it is endemic to human life; being
associated with rivalry, it may exist in any society. The more specific
problem for political justice is how pervasive are the rancor and jealousy
aroused by the quest for office and position, and whether it is likely to
distort the justice of institutions. It is difficult to settle this matter in the
absence of the more detailed knowledge of social forms available at the
legislative stage. But there seems to be no reason why the hazards of
particular envy should be worse in a society regulated by justice as
fairness than by any other conception.
I conclude, then, that the principles of justice are not likely to arouse
excusable general envy (nor particular envy either) to a troublesome
extent. By this test, the conception of justice again seems relatively sta-
ble. I should now like to examine briefly the possible connections be-
tween envy and equality, taking equality to be defined in various ways as
specified by the theory of justice in question. While there are many forms
of equality, and egalitarianism admits of degrees, there are conceptions of
justice that are recognizably egalitarian, even though certain significant
disparities are permitted. The two principles of justice fall, I assume,
under this heading.
Many conservative writers have contended that the tendency to equal-
ity in modern social movements is the expression of envy.
9
In this way
they seek to discredit this trend, attributing it to collectively harmful
impulses. Before this thesis can be seriously entertained, however, one
must first argue that the form of equality objected to is indeed unjust and
bound in the end to make everyone including the less advantaged worse
off. Yet to insist upon equality as the two principles of justice define it is
not to give voice to envy. This is shown by the content of these principles
9. See, for example, Helmut Schoeck, 
Envy: A Theory of Social Behavior,
trans. Michael Glenny
and Betty Ross (London, Secker and Warburg, 1969). Chapters XIV–XV contain many references. At
one point even Marx thought of the first stage of communism as the expression of envy. See 
Early
Writings,
pp. 153f.
471
81. Envy and Equality

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and the characterization of envy. It is also evident from the nature of the