ABSTRACT
Competition is typically justified on the basis of the social benefits it generates in important societal domains, such as the (labour) market, the judicial system, politics and sports. Competition is believed to channel the behaviours of self-interested individuals into socially beneficial outcomes, such as the efficient allocation of resources, the promotion of well-being, excellence and justice, and it is also considered a form of entertainment. This chapter starts from the assumption that competition does, indeed, generate such benefits. It aims to organise and categorise the various advantages that have been attributed to competition in the political philosophy literature into a comprehensive taxonomy. The goal of this taxonomy is to show that we cannot speak of the benefits of competition but that there are different types of benefits. The upshot of this chapter is that each type of social benefit – aggregate social benefits, internal social benefits and external social benefits – comes with its own institutional requirements and beneficiaries.
