Ritröð Guðfræðistofnunar - 01.01.2007, Page 34

... one of the most important political problems is that of economic equaliza-
tion. (92).
Again, I am not quite happy with the translation of the Danish wording “den
okonomiske udligning [bliver] det vigtigste af alle politiske problemer” (Log-
strup 1962, 107). Why is economic equalization the most important political
problem? Because inequality contradicts the very basis of market economy:
“competition presupposes equality ..” (Logstrup 1997, 91). As Logstrup deals
with the distribution of wealth in terms of social norms, we could interpret
him as saying that the idea of equal distribution has just succeeded medieval
feudalism by accident. Our insight in the changing character of the inter-
pretation of economic life does not challenge the binding character of the
norms of our time. But there is another possible interpretation. In the process
of transition and change of norms the ethical demand might play a role as
inspiration for formulating new norms. As Logstrup remarks, we face a situ-
ation where “people are troubled, despondent, and happy”, and this situation
should - like the critical situation - make us receptive to the ethical demand.
By way of compromise we could be motivated to act politically in favour of a
society with a more just or equal distribution of wealth, i.e. in favour of a wel-
fare state. Admittedly, this interpretation does not find explicit support in the
text of The Ethical Demand. But if we look at the development of Logstrup’s
thought, the interpretation becomes plausible. In the book System og symbol
(1982), Logstrup again discusses political and economic equality. He almost
repeats his claim about the importance of economic equality:
Equalizing of income is a political task consisting in, as far as possible, to posi-
tion people equally in economic terms. (Logstrup 1982, 121).
But then Logstrup asks: is there not behind or beneath all inequalities a deep-
er equality founding political equality? He answers in the affirmative: there is
an equality based upon the unconditional meaning or absolute worth of each
human being. This equality Logstrup calls ‘cosmic’, meaning among other
things that it is in no way produced or constructed by humans but is rather
given. Cosmic equality is an ethical phenomenon of the same status as the de-
mand and the sovereign expressions of life: they do not originate from social
development or social construction. They belong to ontological ethics. The