What is Justice ?

The Nature of Justice

 Definitions of justice:
Justice is related to morality as part to a whole, and is
often specified in connection with terms such as
fairness, equality, desert or rights.
 It is one important aspect of morality.
 Talk of justice generally involves related notions of
fairness, equality, desert, and rights.
 The Nature of Justice
 Aristotle on justice as fairness: Treat
similar cases alike except where there is
some relevant difference.
 Mill on justice as a moral right: Justice
implies something that is not only right to
do, and wrong not to do, but something
that an individual can claim from us as a
moral right.
 The Nature of Justice
Five rival principles of distribution:
(1)Each an equal share.
(2)Each according to individual need.
(3)Each according to personal effort.
(4)Each according to social contribution.
(5)Each according to merit.
For example: If equality of income were guaranteed, then
the lazy would receive as much as the industrious. On the
other hand, effort is hard to measure and compare, and
what one is contributed to society may depend on one’s luck
in being at the right place at the right time
 The Nature of Justice

• Reconciling rival principles of distribution: Some

philosophers argue that principles are applicable in
some circumstances and not in others – but it is not
always clear how to reconcile two or more rival
principles in the same circumstances.
• Michael Walzer’s approach: The idea that different
distribution principles depend on implicit social norms.
 The Utilitarian View
 Reconciling rival principles of justice:
Mill argued that rival principles of justice can be reconciled only on
the basis of the principle of utility, such as through considerations of
the general well-being.

 Utilitarianism does not tell us which economic system will

produce the most happiness.
 The Utilitarian and Economic Distribution
Deciding which system will promote most happiness
depends on knowing:

(1) The type of economic ownership.

(2) The form of production and distribution.
(3) The type of authority arrangements.
(4) The range and character of material incentives.
(5) The nature and extent of social security
and welfare provisions.
The Utilitarian View

Distinctive utilitarian ideals:

(1)Worker participation: In his Principles of Political Economy (1848), Mill

argued for the formation of labor and capital partnerships promoting
equality between workers and industrialists.
(2) Greater equality of income: Utilitarians are more likely to favor equal
income distribution on the basis of the so-called declining marginal utility
of money.
The Libertarian View
The principle of liberty:
Libertarians refuse to restrict individual liberty even if doing so would
increase overall happiness.

Nozick’s theory of justice:

Nozick developed an influential statement of the libertarian position in his
book Anarchy, State, and Utopia, based on the idea of negative and natural
rights borrowed from the writings of the British philosopher John Locke
(1632–1704).
The Libertarian View

The idea of Lockean negative and natural rights:

The idea amounts to:

(1) Non-interference with the way others choose to live
or act,
(2) The ownership of those rights prior to any social
and political institution.
(3) Nozick’s entitlement theory:
Nozick maintains that people are entitled to their
holdings (that is, goods, money, and property) as long
as they have acquired them fairly.
The Libertarian View: Principles of Nozick’s
entitlement theory:
(1) A person who acquires a holding in
accordance with the principle of justice in
acquisition is entitled to that holding.
(2) A person who acquires a holding in
accordance with the principle of justice in
transfer, from someone else entitled to the
holding, is entitled to the holding.
(3) No one is entitled to a holding except by
(repeated) applications of statements 1 and 2.
The Libertarian View:
Nozick’s Wilt Chamberlain example:

The player of a team is guaranteed $5 from the

price of each ticket. He is a favorite player and
eventually ends up with far more than the
average income.

Nozick argues that Chamberlain is entitled to his

new wealth, and that any other theory of
economic justice would inevitably fail to defend
his entitlement.
The Libertarian View
Distinctive libertarian ideals:

(1)Liberty:
Libertarians support economic laissez faire and oppose
any governmental economic activity that interferes
with the marketplace, even if the point is to enhance
the performance of the economy.

(1)Free markets:
Libertarians don’t contend that people morally deserve
what they get in a free market, but only that they are
entitled to it. Moreover, justice does not necessarily
help those in need.
The Libertarian View
Property rights:
For libertarians, property rights exist prior to any social systems and
legislative acts, reflecting one’s initial appropriation of a product or
exchange between consenting adults.

Criticisms of libertarian property rights:

(1)Property includes more than material objects. It also has many abstract
forms.
(2)Property ownership is not a simple right but involves a bundle of
different rights.
John Rawls
Born February 21, 1921, Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.
Died November 24, 2002, Lexington, Massachusetts)

American political and ethical philosopher, best

known for his defense of egalitarian liberalism in his
major work, A Theory of Justice (1971). He is widely
considered the most important political philosopher
of the
 John Rawls:
Theory of Justice
1. The Principle of Equal Liberty
2. a. The Difference Principle
b. Principle of Fair Equality of Opportunity

The Principle of Equal Liberty Whether the action

protects our rights from invasion and provides rights for
us equal to the rights of others.
 This principle goes beyond protecting us from
invasions of our privacy to prohibiting force, fraud
and deception.
 The latter would deprive us of rights equal to others.
This preserves the Kantian commitment – no one
wants to be treated as a “mere means”
The second principle has two parts
PART 1:
The Difference Principle There will be inequalities, but we are morally obligated
to improve the worst off unless it would make everyone worse off.
 In business this guarantees an efficient use of resources and competitive
markets free of price-fixing and monopolies.
 Preserves the Utilitarian belief in “net benefits”.
PART 2:
Principle of Fair Equality of Opportunity Requires that
job qualifications be related to the job.
 There must be equal access to training for the most
desirable jobs. These principles combine Kant
[treating people as free & equal] & Utilitarianism
[treating people equal].
Rawls' justification for this choice of principles
How are these principles to be chosen?

 From the “original position” behind the “veil of ignorance”

 You know you would be IN the society, but none of the details with regard
to sex, religion, economic class etc…
 He believes that these are the principles that a rational self-interested
person would choose if they were in the “original position” behind the “veil
of ignorance.”
Rawls’s Theory of Justice
Explanation of the principles:
(1)The first principle takes priority over the second – it guarantees as much
liberty to individuals as possible, compatible with others having the same
amount of liberty.
(2)The first part of the second principle articulates the familiar ideal of equality
of opportunity.
(3)The second part of the principle – called the difference principle – stipulates
that inequalities are justifiable only if they benefit the least advantaged
members of society.
 UTILITY: Focuses on all affected by a potential action
 Bentham -- Weighs the social costs and benefits, looking for the action
that provides the “greatest net benefits” RIGHTS: focuses on the freedom
& equality of individuals
 Kant -- Decides on the basis of rights that a person has that are necessary
to provide freedom and equality for that person. JUSTICE: focuses on the
distribution of goods
 Rawls -- Looks for a fair distribution of benefits and burdens
.
 The question is which moral principles will ensure that.
Rawls’s Theory of Justice
 Fairness and the basic structure: Rawls rejects utilitarianism because it
could permit an unfair distribution of benefits and burdens. Contrary to
Nozick, Rawls believes that social justice concerns the basic structure of
society, not transactions between individuals.
 Benefits and burdens:
 According to Rawls, justice requires that the social and economic
consequences of arbitrarily distributed assets (natural characteristics and
talents) be minimized.
 Feature
 Rejection of Utilitarianism He rejected the concept of Bentham.
 Self Esteem It was public affirmed distribution of Fundamental Rights and
liberties.
 Relation between Liberty and Equality There should be Ideal relation
between it.

Substantive Social Justice :

To him moral system can be understood only in the
context of class relationship and of ownership. It is a
procedural theory of justice which maximizes the well
being of the least advantaged. The natural assets
should be distributed according to the principle of
social Justice.
Justice as fairness Principle of Justice as fairness comes close to society, for it
meets the principles which free and equal persons would assent to under
circumstances that are fair.
Then justice as fairness succeeds reasonably well

Criticism:
Once his theory is broad than suddenly it is too
narrow.
Rawl’s theory of Justice is criticized on the ground
that justice as fairness rejects the conception of the
individuals underlying beliefs and practices.