VIII – JUSTICE AND FAIRNESS:

PROMOTING THE COMMON GOOD

THEORY OF JUSTICE AND FAIRNESS

EGALITARIAN
SOCIAL JUSTICE
STATE AND CITIZENS:
RESPONSIBILITY

Giselle Mae Garcia

CAS-DSSH, Political Science Instructor
 THEORY ON JUSTICE AND FAIRNESS
 Justice means giving each person what he or she deserves
or, in more traditional terms, giving each person his or her
due. It is a reference to a standard of rightness, fairness often
has been used with regard to an ability to judge without
reference to one’s feelings or interests.
 “Individuals should be treated the same, unless they differ
in ways that are relevant to the situation in which they are
involved.”
 Fairness has also been used to refer to the ability to make
judgments that are not overly general but that are concrete
and specific to a particular case.
 DIFFERENT KINDS OF JUSTICE
 Distributive justice refers to the extent to which society’s
institutions ensure that benefits and burdens are distributed
among society’s members in ways that are fair and just. It is
concerned with the fair allocation of resources among
diverse members of a community.
 Retributive/Corrective justice refers to the extent to which
punishments are fair and just.
 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.
 EGALITARIAN

 Egalitarianism is a political doctrine that holds that all

people should be treated as equals from birth, usually
meaning held equal under the law and in society at large.
 TYPES OF EGALITARIAN
1. Economic Egalitarianism (or Material Egalitarianism) is where
the participants of a society are of equal standing and have equal
access to all the economic resources in terms of economic power,
wealth and contribution.
2. Moral Egalitarianism is the position that equality is central to
justice, that all individuals are entitled to equal respect, and that
all human persons are equal in fundamental worth or moral status.
3. Legal Egalitarianism – the principle under which each individual
is subject to the same laws, with no individual or group or class
having special legal privileges, and where the testimony of all
persons is counted with the same weight.
4. Political Egalitarianism is where the members of a society are of
equal standing in terms of political power or influence. It is a
founding principle of most forms of democracy.
5. Luck Egalitarianism is a view about distributive justice (what is just or
right with respect to the allocation of goods in a society) espoused by a
variety of leftwing political philosophers, which seeks to distinguish
between outcomes that are the result of brute luck (e.g. misfortunes in
genetic makeup, or being struck by a bolt of lightning) and those that are
the consequence of conscious options (e.g. career choices, or fair gambles).
6. Gender Egalitarianism (or Zygarchy) is a form of society in which power
is equally shared between men and women, or a family structure where
power is shared equally by both parents.
7. Racial Egalitarianism (or Racial Equality) is the absence of racial
segregation (the separation of different racial groups in daily life, whether
mandated by law or through social norms).
8. Opportunity Egalitarianism (or Asset-based Egalitarianism) is the idea
that equality is possible by a redistribution of resources, usually in the
form of a capital grant provided at the age of majority, an idea which has
been around since Thomas Paine (1737 - 1809).
9. Christian Egalitarianism holds that all people are equal before God and
in Christ, and specifically teaches gender equality in Christian church
leadership and in marriage.
 Capitalist, is one who uses money to invest in trade and
industry for profit in accordance with the principle of
capitalism.
 Theory of Capitalism is a system of largely private
ownership that is open to new ideas, new firms and new
owners
 On capitalist justice, “that everybody should be
rewarded equally to their productivity, effort or
contribution”.
 Social justice is a concept of fair and just relations
between the individual and society.
 STATE AND CITIZENS:
RESPONSIBILITY TO EACH OTHER
 Functions of the State
a. To defend human’s basic needs and security
b. To support human’s quest for natural well being
c. To see the administration of justice on fair basis
for all
d. To help in the education and cultural life of the
people
e. To defend and advance freedom of the citizens.
 RESPONSIBILITIES OF CITIZENS TO THE STATE
a. Support and defend the Constitution.
b. Stay informed of the issues affecting the community.
c. Participate in the democratic process.
d. Respect and obey state rules, local laws, and ordinances.
e. Respect the rights, beliefs, and opinions of others.
f. Participate in the various affairs of local community.
g. Pay income and other taxes honestly, and on time, to the
state, and local authorities.
h. Serve as reliable witness when called upon.
i. Defend the country if the need should arise.