Justice and

Fairness
 OBJECTIVES
At the end of the lesson, the students
should be able to:

Identify the forms of justice in the

given scenarios.

Articulate on the 3 categories of justice.

Critique each category according to

usage/applicability.
 The Concept of
Justice
It is a theory (philosophical and legal) by
which fairness is administered.

Plato: justice is a command from God.

John Locke: Justice is derived from the

natural law.

Social Contract theorists: It is about the

mutual agreement of everyone concerned.
John Stuart Mill: It is about something that
has the best consequences (maximity of
happiness)
Egalitarians: Justice exists only in the context
of equality.
John Rawls: (Distributive) Justice is a form
of fairness.
“Justice consists….in treating
equals equally and unequals
unequally… and giving each
person his due.”
- the Principle of Justice.
 Justify Justice..

Example 1: Maria works as a therapist in a

massage parlor. She has 10 customers that
night, all for 1hour service massage. Ning
also has 10 customers that night, for the
same service and duration. Maria takes
home P1,500 but Ning takes home P2,000.
Is it just for Maria?
Example 2: During the riot, the secret police
arrested Hans, dragged him off the street, and
threw him into a small cell. That night he was
taken to a room where three angry men
questioned him for ten minutes. Just as he
began to realize that they were trying him, the
man in the center banged a gavel on the table
and declared, “Guilty of rebellion against the
government. Sentenced to death by firing squad
at once!” They took Hans outside, stood him
against a wall, and shot him.
civiced.org/womenshistorymonth/downloads/lesson1_m2.pdf
Example 3: Ruther was arrested
because he was carrying two
armalites, one bazooka, and 3 hand
grenades. He was charged with illegal
possession of firearms because he
could not show any license to carry
those. Mando was arrested for the
same offense because he was caught
carrying a .38 caliber. Was it just for
Mando?
Example 4: A plunderer was
imprisoned for corrupting 100M from
the government. Juan Dela Cruz was
imprisoned for theft because he stole a
loaf of bread to feed his family.
Categories of
Justice

Velasquez et.al., Ethics V3 N2 (Spring 1990).

COMPENSATORY JUSTICE. refers to the extent to
which people are fairly compensated for their injuries by
those who have injured them; just compensation is
proportional to the loss inflicted on a person.

PROCEDURAL JUSTICE. Issues of procedural justice

concern the fairness of how information is gathered or
how a decision is made (fairness in the imposition of
punishment and penalties); also known as Retributive
Justice.

DISTRIBUTIVE JUSTICE. Issues of distributive

justice concern the fairness of the distribution of
something among several people or groups.
 The Compensatory
Justice
Concerns the fairness when restoring to a
person what the person lost when he or she
was wronged by someone else.
There is no absolute rule as to determining the
amount of compensation the wrongdoer owes
to the victim.
Losses that are hard to measure: reputation
Losses that cannot be restored: life, sight
Three conditions for obligation to compensate
injured party:

(1) The action inflicted was wrong and

negligent.

(2) The action was the real cause of the injury

(3) The act was voluntarily inflicted.

 Procedural or Retributive
Justice
Concerns the fairness when blaming or punishing persons
for doing wrong.
3 Conditions:
(1) Knowledge
(2) Certitude that the person was the one who did the
wrong act.
(3) Punishment: consistent and proportionate to the wrong
act. If the purpose of a punishment is to deter others from
committing the same wrong or to prevent the wrongdoer
from repeating the same wrong, then punishment should not
be greater than what is consistently necessary to achieve
these aims”. Hence, death penalty is a wrong punishment.
The Distributive Justice

This category of justice answers 3 salient

questions:
1. What goods are to be distributed?
2. Between what entities are they to be
distributed?
3. What is the proper distribution?
 Theories of
Distributive Justice

1. Justice as Equality
2. Justice based on Contribution
3. Justice based on Needs and Abilities
4. Justice as Freedom
5. Justice as Fairness
Justice as Equality: (Egalitarianism)
All burdens and benefits should be distributed
according to the formula:
“Every person should be given exactly equal
shares of a society’s or a group’s benefits and
burdens.”
Critique 1: Humans are not equal in terms of
abilities, values, needs, desires, physical
characteristics.
Critique 2: Egalitarians ignore some characteristics
that should be taken into accounting in the
distribution of goods: need, ability, effort.
Justice based on Contribution: (Capitalism)
Capitalist Justice says: “Benefits should be
distributed according to the value of the
contribution the individual makes to a society, a
task, a group, or an exchange.”
How the value of the contribution is to be measured?
1. By work effort: the harder you work, the
greater the benefits accrued to you.
2. Productivity: the greater the quantity the
person contributed, the greater the gains of the
person.
 Justice based on Needs and Abilities: (Socialism)
“Work burden should be distributed according to
people’s abilities, and (but) benefits should be
distributed according to people’s needs.”
Acts 2:45,11:29, “From each according to his
ability, to each according to his need.”
Bases of Socialist Principle:
1. People realise their human potential by
exercising their abilities in productive work.
2. Benefits of work should be used to promote
human happiness and well being, by distributing
them to meet basic needs.
 Justice as Freedom: (Libertarianism)
“From each according to what he chooses to do, to
each according to what he makes for himself and
what others choose to do for him and choose to give
him of what they’ve been given previously and have
not yet expanded or transferred.”
“From each as they choose, to each as they are
chosen.”
Critique:
(1)Freedom from coercion at the expense of other
rights and values.
(2) It will generate unjust treatment for the
disadvantaged.
Justice as Fairness:
The distribution of benefits and burdens in a society
is just, if and only if:
(1) Each person has an equal right to the most
extensive basic liberties compatible with similar
liberties;
(2) Social and economic inequalities are arranged
so that they are both (a) to the greatest benefits of
the least advantaged people and (b) attached to
offices and positions open to all under conditions of
FAIR and EQUALITY of opportunities.
Thank you

This presentation is made by:

Dr. Madeleine M. Co
CHED GET UE-ETHICS