Periodic Equity Prioritarianism

Herlitz, Anders & S. Cato | 2026

Utilitas

Abstract

This paper engages with the question of how to understand prioritarianism when people are differently well off at different times. In this context, it introduces a new version of prioritarianism, periodic equity prioritarianism, which is inspired by how focusing on equally distributed equivalents can dissolve tensions in social evaluations that involve risk. The paper shows that periodic equity prioritarianism avoids both certain problems that timeslice prioritarianism faces and some problems that lifetime prioritarianism faces.

Abstract

This paper engages with the question of how to understand prioritarianism when people are differently well off at different times. In this context, it introduces a new version of prioritarianism, periodic equity prioritarianism, which is inspired by how focusing on equally distributed equivalents can dissolve tensions in social evaluations that involve risk. The paper shows that periodic equity prioritarianism avoids both certain problems that timeslice prioritarianism faces and some problems that lifetime prioritarianism faces.