THE IDEA

OF
JUSTICE

SUBMITTED TO: P R E S E N T E D B Y:
DR. DEEPTI KHUBALKAR TE ENA BAT RA
 OUTLINE FOR THE
P R E S E N TAT I O N

 JUSTICE- MEANING AND CONCEPT

 T H E O RY BY A M A R T YA SEN-IDEA OF

JUSTICE

 A P P L I C AT I O N O F T H E T H E O R Y

 MERITS

 CHALLENGES
 LEARNING OBJECTIVES
To study the reasons of the essential evolution of law according to the
changing social reality in a vibrant globalized world.

 To focus on how changing social world reality creates deviations in the

idea of law and justice.

To study how Political, economic and social changes that globalization
creates sometimes disturbs the traditional norms of law reflects on the
notions of law and justice in a globalized world.
 JUSTICE-ORIGIN, MEANING
AND IMPORTANCE
• Origin- Linked with growth of Man-societies-political authorities-state
• Meaning- Not easy to explain or define
• Different things to different people/jurists
• General we can say: Justice- seeks to be good
• Tries to provide rules of reason for men to follow–for the highest good of
all
• Ideal, beautiful, true, proper
• Importance-Essential Functions of State-
• Maintaining peace and order;
MYTHOLOGY
 “THE THEORY OF JUSTICE MUST BE MORE CONCERNED WITH THE
ELIMINATION OF REMOVABLE INJUSTICES RATHER THAN DEFINING A
PERFECTLY JUST SOCIETY”
-PROF.AMARTYA SEN
 PROF.AMARTYA SEN
(ECONOMIST)
THE IDEA OF JUSTICE-2009
A critique and revision of John Rawl's ideas in A Theory of Justice (1971)

Amartya Sen makes- A Radical Break with traditional notion of homo-

economicus

Children have strong notions of fairness

Human beings-concerned with eliminating injustices where possible.

Ideal institutions are not required to force people to act fairly.

Public Reason – rational argument- Plural Grounding

 JUSTICE AS MATTER OF
DEGREE-ALONG A CONTINUUM
• Justice not to be evaluated as either ‘achieved’ or ‘not achieved’.

• Justice to be understood as existing to a matter of degree and should

correspondingly be evaluated along a continuum
• No need for an ideal institution.
COMPARATIVE APPROACH
 Sen advocates Realization-focussed Comparative
Approach
 Social Choice Theory

 San Francisco- 25th February 2010

 The Theory of Justice must be more concerned

with the elimination of removable injustices
rather than defining a perfectly just society
 Ancient Indian Thought- Niti and Nyaya
Core Human Entitlements – should be respected
A M A R T YA S E N A N D
and implemented by all governments. P HILOSOPHER MARTHA
N U S S B A U M ‘ C A PA B I L I T Y
AND WELL BEING’ IN THE
Species Of Human Rights- Open Ended List- QUALITY OF LIFE 1993
different countries can give effect differently

Goal is capability and not functioning

Approach is human rights approach and

Universal
 MERITS

 Very Simple Philosophy-No Need For An Ideal Institution..

 Capability Approach-focus on improving individuals capability.

 The Human Development Index developed by Amartya Sen and the

economist Mahbub Ul Haq in 1990 for the United Nations
Development Programme (UNDP) is considered as most influential
capability metric used presently.
 CRITICISMS
In order to remove injustices, one should have the idea/notion of what is meant by
justice

 Sen states that there is no need for any principles. He gives comparative justice. Critics
say does this not itself amount to a principal.

Capability Approach emphasis on individual effective freedom. This is criticized as

excessively individualistic.

Human Development Index- is criticized as it contains only three dimensions- longevity,

literacy, and Gross National Income per capita.

Capability Approach- is supposed to be interested in assessing how people are able to

develop in life w.r.t. capabilities.
 SOURCES
o https://socialissuesindia.wordpress.com/2013/09/06/what-is-amartya-sens-capability-appr
oach-to-development
/
o Rawls, John (1999) A Theory of Justice: Revised Edition, Cambridge, Harvard University
Press
o  Wolff, Robert Paul (1977). 
Understanding Rawls: A Reconstruction and Critique of A Theory of Justice. Princeton, New
Jersey: Princeton University Press. pp. 3–212. ISBN 0-691-01992-4.
o Amartya Sen’s Critique of the Rawlsian Theory of Justice: An Analysis, Humanities and
Social Sciences Review, Volume 7 No.2 ( 2019): March 2019
o Senses of Sen: Reflections on Amartya Sen’s ideas of Justice, Center for Transnational
Legal Studies, London, 2012, http://scholarship.law.georgetown.edu/ctls_papers/2
THANK YOU