- Parineeta Sharma (HOD, Political Science)

CH- 4 (JUSTICE)
1. What was the meaning of justice in ancient India?
In ancient Indian society, justice was associated with dharma and to maintain dharma or a
just social order, was considered to be a primary duty of kings.

2. How was justice maintained in ancient China?

In China, Confucius argued that kings should maintain justice by punishing wrong doers
and rewarding the virtuous.

3. How does Plato discuss the issue of justice in ancient Greece?

In fourth century B.C. Greece, Plato discussed issues of justice in his book ‘The
Republic’. Through along dialogue between Socrates and his young friends, Glaucon and
Adeimantus, Plato examined why we should be concerned about justice. The young
people question Socrates why should they be just when it is more beneficial to be unjust.
Socrates tries to answer these questions.

4. What was Socrates’ viewpoint on justice?

According to Socrates, it is in our long term interest to obey the laws and be just. He
explained that justice does not only mean doing good to our friends and harm to our
enemies, or pursuing our own interests. Justice involves the well-being of all people. Just
as a doctor is concerned with the well-being of his patients, similarly the just ruler or the
just government must be concerned with the well-being of the people. Ensuring the well-
being of all includes giving each person his due.

5. Discuss the dimensions of Justice.

Till now we have tried to understand what the term justice means. After considering this, we
need to know different dimensions of justice which may help us in establishing a just society.
Legal, social, political and economic justice are the key dimensions of justice. Here, we will
try to understand these dimensions in some details.
1. Legal Justice: It is a narrow concept of justice which is associated with the legal
system and legal procedure existing in a society. The court of law interprets the law
and applies it after hearing the partners involved in a dispute. Here, justice is what
administered by the court of law and the interpretation of the judge is considered to be
an embodiment of justice.
2. Political Justice: In any democratic society political justice means providing equal
political rights. Political justice stands for a free and fair participation of people in the
political sphere. Universal adult franchise is the expression of political justice.
Equality of opportunity in getting elected and in holding public offices, freedom of
expression and association are important pillars of political justice.
3. Social Justice: It means to end all types of social inequalities and to provide proper
opportunity to every citizen in every sphere of life, to develop her/his personality to
ensure equality of law, prohibition of discrimination, social security, provision of
equal political rights, etc. The concept of social justice is based on the belief that all
human beings are equal and no discrimination should be made on the ground of race,
religion, caste, gender and place of birth.
4. Economic Justice: It means to provide equal opportunities to everyone to earn her/his
livelihood. It also means to help such people who are not able to work and earn their
livelihood. The basic need of every person such as food, cloth, shelter and education
should be fulfilled. It stands for by assuring adequate means of livelihood to all, by
making provisions for equal pay for equal work, fair distribution of resources, equal
economic opportunity to all, etc.
While the concept of political justice is closely linked with the ideal of “liberty”, economic
and legal justice with “equality” and social justice with “fraternity”, a just combination of all
these four dimensions will help in achieving justice in life.

6. Discuss the principles of justice.

i) Equal treatment for equals
ii) Proportionate justice
iii) Recognition of special needs (Each point must be explained and
at least one example given)

7. Explain with examples the term ‘Equal treatment for Equals’.

 This principle is based on the consideration that because all individuals share
certain characteristics as human beings, therefore they deserve equal rights and
equal treatment. These rights include civil rights, political and social rights.
 Apart from equal rights, this principle also requires that people should not be
discriminated against on grounds of class, caste, race or gender. They should be
judged on the basis of their work and actions and not on the basis of the group to
which they belong.
 Example- If two persons from different castes perform the same kind of work, like
delivering Pizzas; they should receive the same kind of reward/payment. There should be
no difference in payment on the basis of caste.

8. What do you mean by Proportionate justice?

Justice here would mean rewarding people in proportion to the scale and quality of their
effort, provided everybody starts from the same base line of equal rights. If we take into
account factors like effort required, the skills required, the possible dangers involved in
that work, etc. then for justice in society, the principle of equal treatment needs to be
balanced with the principle of proportionality.
Example- In an exam, all students are not given equal marks. Rather the students are
awarded marks according to the quality of their answer papers and the degree of effort
they had put in.

9. What do you mean by Recognition of Special needs?

 This principle of justice takes into account special needs of people while
distributing rewards or duties.
 The principle of taking account of the special needs of people does not contradict
the principle of equal treatment so much as extend it because the principle of
treating equals equally could imply that people who are not equal in certain
important respects could be treated differently.
 People with special needs or disabilities could be considered unequal in some
particular respect and deserving of special help.
 Physical disabilities, age or lack of access to good education or health care, are
some of the factors which are considered grounds for special treatment in many
countries.
 In India, Constitution allows for reservations of government jobs and quotas for
admissions to educational institutions for people belonging to the Scheduled Castes
and Tribes.

10.Write a short note on John Rawls theory of justice.

 John Rawls’ argues that the only way we can arrive at a fair and just rule is if we
imagine ourselves to be in a situation in which we have to make decision about
how society should be organized although we do not know which position we
would ourselves occupy in that society.
 Rawls argues that if we do not know who we will be and what options would be
available to us in the future society, we will be likely to support decision about the
rules and organization of that future society which would be fair for all members.
  Rawls describes this as thinking under a ‘veil of ignorance’. This would be a
situation of complete ignorance about our position and status in the society.
 In this situation each will imagine the future society from the point of view of the
worst off.
 The merit of the veil of ignorance position is that it expects people to just be their
rational selves.
 Rawls argues that rational thinking and not morality, can lead us to be fair and
judge impartially regarding how to distribute the benefits and burdens of a society.

11.What are the basic minimum conditions of life needed by people?

In general it is agreed that the basic amount of nourishment needed to remain healthy,
housing, supply of clean drinking water, education and a minimum wage would
constitute basic minimum conditions. Providing people with their basic needs is
considered to be one of the responsibilities of a democratic government.

12.Give any two arguments in favour of free market?

i) Gives us more choices- The market system gives us more choices as consumers.
However, we have real choices only if we have the money to pay for them.
ii) Quality of services they provide is superior- It is far better than those provided in
government institutions. Though the cost of such services may be out of reach of poor,
but the privileged definitely are at an advantage.

13.Differentiate between free market and state intervention as policies to ensure social
justice.
Free market- individuals should be free to own property and enter into contracts and
agreements with others regarding prices and wages and profits.
 They should be free to compete with each other to gain the greatest amount of
benefit.
 Supporters believe that if markets are left free of state interference the sum of
market transactions would ensure overall a just distribution of benefits and duties
in society.
 Those with merit and talent would be rewarded accordingly while the incompetent
would get a lesser reward. They would maintain whatever be the outcome of
market distribution it would be just.
State intervention- State should step in to ensure a basic minimum standard of living to
all people so that they are able to compete on equal terms.
 Private agencies should be encouraged to provide such services while state policies
should try to empower people to buy those services.
 It might also be necessary for the state to give special help to the old and sick that
cannot compete on equal terms.