John Charvet is Professor Emeritus in Political Science at London School of Economics, UK, where he taught political philosophy and its history for many years. He is the author of several books, including A Critique of Freedom and Equality and The Social Problem in the Philosophy of Rousseau. His most recent book, written with Dr Kaczynska-Nay, is The Liberal Project and Human Rights (2008).

"Charvet sets out to provide us with not only a detailed account of basic equality and where it originates, but also to present us with a new and unique account of how basic equality and egalitarian political ethics, that is the equal distribution of equal rights and duties amongst free citizens, go together. ... Charvet's book is an intriguing read for all those interested in questions of basic equality ... ." (Fabian Schuppert, Res Publica, Vol. 22, 2016)

• Key Terms 1. The Strange Neglect of the Basis of Equality in Contemporary Egalitarianism 2. Ancient Ethics and the Transformation of Political Values in Early Modern Natural Law Theory 3. The Individualist Ethical Justification of Equality and its Problems 4. The Community as the Source of Individual Ethical Worth 5. Communitarianism, Old and New 6. Global Justice in the Contemporary Literature 7. Liberal Communitarianism from a Global Perspective Selected Bibliography Index