The paper considers the place of markets in educational philosophy, distinguishing between existing or proposed educational markets as an object of philosophical concern and 'the market' conceived as an abstract device for ordering preferences within wider educational projects of one sort or another. It argues that: (i) debates about markets in education frequently confuse these two conceptions, (ii) following Ronald Dworkin, that 'the market' is an indispensible philosophical device in the elaboration of any meaningful conception of educational equality - even though actual markets may very well operate to increase inequality, (iii) that the merit of any such elaboration depends not on the properties of the market but on the degree of warrant for the premise from which it begins. This is illustrated through comparison of particular examples from the work of Dworkin and of Robert Nozick, (iv) that philosophical disputes about the merit of existing markets in education are best understood not as disagreements about the operation of markets, but rather as a consequence of different assumptions about the nature of human preferences and their relation to rationality.See above Brighouse, H. (2000) School Choice and Social Justice (Oxford, Oxford University Press). Brighouse, H. (2004) What's Wrong with Privatising Schools, Journal of Philosophy of Education, 38.4, pp. 617-630. Burley, J. (ed.) (2004) Dworkin and His Critics (Oxford, Blackwell). Dworkin, R. (2000) Sovereign Virtue: The theory and practice of equality (Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press). Dworkin, R. (2002) Sovereign Virtue Revisited, Ethics, 113, pp. 106-143. Dworkin, R. (2004) Ronald Dworkin Replies, in: J. Burley (ed.) Dworkin and His Critics (Oxford, Blackwell), pp. 339-395. Gray, J. (1992) The Moral Foundation of Market Institutions (London, Institute of Economic Affairs). Nozick, R. (2001) The Nature of Rationality (Princeton, NJ, Princeton University Press). Nozick, R. (1974) Anarchy, State and Utopia, Oxford, Blackwell. Sen, A. K. (2002) Rationality and Freedom (Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press). Tooley, J. (2003) Why Harry Brighouse is Nearly Right About Privatisation of Education, Journal of Philosophy of Education, 37.3, pp. 427-447. Will be submitted following comments from colleagues at ECER