Combining Philosophers

Ideas for Anaxarchus, Anon (Bhag) and John Rawls

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2 ideas

25. Social Practice / D. Justice / 1. Basis of justice
The social contract has problems with future generations, national boundaries, disabilities and animals [Rawls, by Nussbaum]
     Full Idea: Rawls saw four difficulties for justice in the social contract approach: future generations; justice across national boundaries; fair treatment of people with disabilities; and moral issues involving non-human animals.
     From: report of John Rawls (A Theory of Justice [1972]) by Martha Nussbaum - Creating Capabilities 4
     A reaction: These are all classic examples of groups who do not have sufficient power to negotiate contracts.
Justice concerns not natural distributions, or our born location, but what we do about them [Rawls]
     Full Idea: The natural distribution is neither just nor unjust; nor is it unjust that persons are born into society at some particular position. These are simply natural facts. What is just and unjust is the way that institutions deal with these facts.
     From: John Rawls (A Theory of Justice [1972], 17)
     A reaction: Lovely quotation. There is no point in railing against the given, and that includes what is given by history, as well as what is given by nature. It comes down to intervening, in history and in nature. How much intervention will individuals tolerate?