平等的概念

The concept of equality

平等不同于等同、平均,嫉妒也不是导致平等观念及主张的源泉。平等概念作为一种衡量标准,一种尺度,无法作为一种一般的要求而独立并且普遍有效。我们既无法提出关于人的完全的自然等同的普遍要求,也无法提出个人之间在社会嘉益分配上完全平均的普遍要求。平等始终就是针对某种东西的要求的比较与衡量的尺度,而并非绝对的独立自存的标准,也不是独立自存的价值。平等作为一种价值和主张是依赖于构成正义社会基本结构的独立因素———自由或权利而存在的。

Equality does not mean sameness and equilibration, and envy is not an origin of the idea and the claim of equality. Equality, as a standard and measure, can not be universally valid as a general and independent claim. We could not make a universal claim of complete natural sameness between persons, nor of complete equilibration of social goods be tween persons. Equality is always a criterion of comparison and measure concerning some claim for some things, therefore it could not be absolutely free-standing as an independent value. Equality, as a value and a demand, is dependent on some other free-standing elements of the basic structure of a just society, i. e. , liberty and rights.