HISTORY OF ECONOMIC THOUGHT AND POLICY

Terenzio Maccabelli

doi:10.3280/SPE2025-002004

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THIS DOI METADATA WAS LAST UPDATED: 2025-12-19 10:34

DOI data

10.3280/SPE2025-002004

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Journal Data

Full Title

HISTORY OF ECONOMIC THOUGHT AND POLICY
Publisher

FrancoAngeli
ISSN

2240-9971 (Printed Journal)

2280-188X (Online Journal)

Journal Issue Data

Journal Issue Number

2
Journal Issue Designation

2
Journal Issue Date

2025

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Full Title

An Antinomy of Liberalism: Equality of Opportunity and Inherited Wealth in Maffeo Pantaleoni
By (author)
First Page

97
Last Page

133
Language of text

English
Publication Date

2025/11
Copyright

2025 FrancoAngeli srl

Main description

Within the liberal tradition, the principle of equality of opportunity stands among the most deeply rooted. Emerging in the wake of the French Revolution, it marked the shift from the ascriptive logic that dominated ancient régime societies to the acquisitive logic of the market based on merit and individual abilities. As an egalitarian model, it confines its application exclusively to the realm of ex-ante conditions, thereby accepting inequality in ex-post outcomes and endorsing the market as a mechanism of social regulation. However, the universality of this principle is merely apparent. It represents one of the most contentious antinomies within liberal thought. The case discussed here is undoubtedly among the most significant. In numerous writings, particularly his 1901 essay, Maffeo Pantaleoni explicitly addressed the interplay between "equality of opportunity", "initial conditions", and the inherited wealth of economic agents, engaging in a discourse that intertwines ethical, political, and theoretical dimensions. This paper elucidates why Pantaleoni regarded any demand for greater equality of opportunity as inconsistent with the liberal and market-oriented framework.

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