<p>The term "equality of condition" can also be thought of as "equality of outcome."</p>

<p>In this context, it refers to the idea that people in a society/state have approximately the same overall quality of life, regardless of opportunity, socioeconomic circumstances, prejudicial treatment, advantages/disadvantages, etc.</p>

<p>This is an oversimplification but, to put it another way, you could think of equality of <strong><em>opportunity</em></strong> (in regards to material wealth, access to luxuries, health and quality of life, etc.) as "equalizing how people start" and equality of <strong><em>condition</em></strong> as "equalizing how people finish."</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-01-18T04:08:06.557Z
2019-01-18T04:08:06.557Z
Jack Bonneman
<p>According to Chomsky, Adam Smith distingushes between equality of opportunity and equality of condition and that he supported the latter over the former. </p>

<p>Although I have come across the former term and have some appreciation of what it means, I have not come across the latter term. What does Adam Smith mean by it?</p>

<adam-smith>
What does Adam Smith mean by equality of condition?
Mozibur Ullah
# What does Adam Smith mean by equality of condition?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2019-01-17)

According to Chomsky, Adam Smith distingushes between equality of opportunity and equality of condition and that he supported the latter over the former.

Although I have come across the former term and have some appreciation of what it means, I have not come across the latter term. What does Adam Smith mean by it?

**Tags:** adam-smith

---

## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2019-01-18. Score: 4

The term "equality of condition" can also be thought of as "equality of outcome."

In this context, it refers to the idea that people in a society/state have approximately the same overall quality of life, regardless of opportunity, socioeconomic circumstances, prejudicial treatment, advantages/disadvantages, etc.

This is an oversimplification but, to put it another way, you could think of equality of ***opportunity*** (in regards to material wealth, access to luxuries, health and quality of life, etc.) as "equalizing how people start" and equality of ***condition*** as "equalizing how people finish."


---

