Publication 11 March 2021

Buy from Amazon 

or from Bookshop.uk

To Be Fair

By Ben Fenton

What does it mean ‘to be fair’, how do we decide what we mean by Fair Play and why does unfairness cause us such anguish? We take it for granted and talk about it constantly, but when fairness is broken, why does its absence gnaw at what it means to be human?

Fairness has gone missing in Western society, Ben Fenton argues in this polemic on the common impulse that holds humanity together.

Fenton, one of Britain’s most experienced news reporters, defines what we mean by fairness and reveals where it sits in the make-up of our species. He traces the evolution of the instinct to be fair from prehistoric man to Black Lives Matter and explores its place in history, politics, sport, law, business and even in war.

Contents

PART I – WHY SHOULD WE TRY TO
BE FAIR?
1. Why You Should Read This Book
2. The Principles of Fairness
3. The Neurology and Psychology
of Fairness
4. Fairness in History
5. Is Fairness a Creation of the English speaking
World? (Spoiler alert: No)

PART II – WHAT DOES FAIRNESS LOOK LIKE
IN THE MODERN WORLD?
6. Fairness in Sport (and other forms
of War )
7. Fairness in Business and Economics
8. Fairness in Law and Taxation
9. Fairness in Communication and
Technology

10. Fairness in Politics and Government
11. Fairness in Human Relationships
12. Is Fair Play the Answer to the Ultimate
Question?

 

About Ben Fenton

Ben Fenton has spent the 42 years of his adulthood studying people and writing about them. First as an undergraduate historian, then for 32 years as a reporter for the Oxford Mail, The Daily Telegraph and the Financial Times, finally as a media consultant and strategist in the oblique world of public relations.

News & Reviews


Review in The enlightened Economist.