The purpose of my paper was indeed largely critical, although it did contain some sketchy remarks in a more positive direction. The general motivation of the paper was an attempt to work out my reasons for discontent with the theories of equality that dominated the literature I was familiar with: namely the work continuing a tradition that Jerry Cohen had introduced me to as a student at UCL. Jerry had been particularly impressed with the work of Dworkin (198 la, 198 lb), and while he was later to make clear, he wasn’t entirely satisfied with the details of Dworkin’ s approach (Cohen, 1988), see also Ameson, 1988), he was never less sure that Dworkin had made a maj or advance in egalitarian theory.