2. 外语
  3. One of the principal of Walzer’s critique of liberal capitalism is that it is insufficiently egalitarian. Walzer’s case against

One of the principal of Walzer’s critique of liberal capitalism is that it is insufficiently egalitarian. Walzer’s case against

admin2010-07-06  60
问题      One of the principal of Walzer’s critique of liberal capitalism is that it is insufficiently egalitarian. Walzer’s case against the economic inequality generated by capitalism and in favor of "a radical redistribution of wealth" is presented in a widely cited essay entitled "In Defense of Equality."
     The most striking feature of Waizer’s critique is that, far from rejecting the principle of reward according to merit, Walzer insists, on its validity. People who excel should receive the superior benefits appropriate to their excellence. But people exhibit a great variety of qualities—" intelligence, physical strength, agility and grace, artistic creativity, mechanical skill, leadership, endurance, memory, psychological insight, tile capacity for hard work—even moral strength, sensitivity, the ability to express compassion". Each deserves its proper recompense, and hence a proper distribution of material goods should reflect human differences as measured on all these different scales. Yet, under capitalism, the ability to make money ("the green thumb of bourgeois society") enables its possessor to acquire almost "every other sort of social good" such as the respect and esteem of others.
     The centerpiece of Walzer’s argument is the invocation of a quotation from Pascal’s Pensees, which concludes: "Tyranny is the wish to obtain by one means what can only be had by another." Pascal believes that we owe different duties to different qualities. So we might say that infatuation is the proper response to charm, and awe the proper response to strength. In this light, Walzer characterizes capitalism as the tyranny of money (or of the ability to make it). And Walzer advocates as the means of eliminating this tyranny and of restoring genuine equality "the abolition of the power of money outside its sphere" . What Walzer envisions is a society in which wealth is no longer convertible into social goods with which it has no intrinsic connection. Walzer’s argument is a puzzling one.
     After all, why should those qualities unrelated to the production of material goods be rewarded with material goods? Is it not tyrannical, in Pascal’s sense, to insist that those who excel in "sensitivity" or "the ability to express compassion" merit aqua] wealth with those who excel in qualities ( such as "the capacity for hard work" ) essential in producing wealthy Yet Waizer’s argument, how- ever deficient, does point out one of the most serious weaknesses of capitalism-that it brings pre- dominant positions to people who, no matter how legitimately they have earned their material re- wards, often lack those other qualities that evoke affection or admiration. Some even argue plausibly that this weakness may be irremediable: in any society that, like a capitalist society, seeks to be- come ever wealthier in material terms disproportionate rewards are bound to flow to the people who are instrumental in producing the increase in its wealth.
According to the passage, which of the following is closest to the concept of "tyranny" mentioned in this passage?
选项 A、an man without civil earns too much money.
B、the degrade of civilian because of the pursuit of money.
C、a special honor is only attribute to those who can afford.
D、the allowance of a people to achieve his fame by money.
答案D
解析 本题是一个细节题，要求考生在理解原文对应段落的文字以后，对相应的事实进行判断。回到原文所引用的《思想录》中的话：“Tyranny is the wish to obtain by one means what can only be had by another”，可以翻译为：“专制暴政是指希望通过一种手段去得到仅能由其它途径获取的事物”。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/HWDd777K
本试题收录于： 公共英语四级笔试题库公共英语（PETS）分类
0

公共英语四级笔试

公共英语（PETS）

相关试题推荐
随机试题
最新回复(0)