more from this thinker
|
more from this text
Single Idea 21041
[filed under theme 25. Social Practice / D. Justice / 1. Basis of justice
]
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.
Gist of Idea
Justice concerns not natural distributions, or our born location, but what we do about them
Source
John Rawls (A Theory of Justice [1972], 17)
Book Ref
Rawls,John: 'A Theory of Justice' [OUP 1978], p.102
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?
The
42 ideas
with the same theme
[grounds for correcting unfairness in society]:
259
|
Justice is granting the equality which unequals deserve
[Plato]
|
21044
|
For Aristotle, debates about justice are debates about the good life
[Aristotle, by Sandel]
|
23916
|
The best cure for mutual injustice is friendship
[Aristotle]
|
22527
|
Justice is the order in a political community
[Aristotle]
|
22547
|
Justice is equality for equals, and inequality for unequals
[Aristotle]
|
2825
|
The good is obviously justice, which benefits the whole community, and involves equality in some sense
[Aristotle]
|
22573
|
The virtue of justice may be relative to a particular constitution
[Aristotle]
|
21392
|
People change laws for advantage; either there is no justice, or it is a form of self-injury
[Carneades, by Lactantius]
|
23179
|
People differ in their social degrees, and a particular type of right applies to each
[Aquinas]
|
21087
|
Human life is pointless without justice
[Kant]
|
21057
|
The highest ideal of social progress is a universal cosmopolitan existence
[Kant]
|
2911
|
True justice is equality for equals and inequality for unequals
[Nietzsche]
|
23164
|
Modern justice is seen as equality, apart from modest extra rewards for exceptional desert
[Russell]
|
23757
|
The spirit of justice needs the full attention of truth, and that attention is love
[Weil]
|
23761
|
Justice (concerning harm) is distinct from rights (concerning inequality)
[Weil]
|
23813
|
Only people who understand force, and don't respect it, are capable of justice
[Weil]
|
20543
|
'Social justice' is a confused idea, and inequalities need no justification
[Hayek, by Swift]
|
21229
|
If everyone is treated with equal injustice, at least that is fair
[Morgenbesser]
|
21018
|
The social contract has problems with future generations, national boundaries, disabilities and animals
[Rawls, by Nussbaum]
|
21041
|
Justice concerns not natural distributions, or our born location, but what we do about them
[Rawls]
|
21009
|
Capabilities: Life, Health, Safety, Mental life, Love, Planning, Joining in, Nature, Play, Control
[Nussbaum, by PG]
|
21010
|
Justice requires that the ten main capabilities of people are reasonably enabled
[Nussbaum]
|
21013
|
Capabilities are grounded in bare humanity and agency; qualifying as rational is not needed
[Nussbaum]
|
21014
|
Rights are not just barriers against state interference; governments must affirm capabilities of citizens
[Nussbaum]
|
23411
|
Communitarians see justice as primarily a community matter, rather than a principle
[Kymlicka]
|
23412
|
Justice resolves conflicts, but may also provoke them
[Kymlicka]
|
18655
|
Justice corrects social faults, but also expresses respect to individuals as ends
[Kymlicka]
|
23108
|
Justice combines consistency and desert; treat likes alike, judging likeness by desert
[Kekes]
|
21027
|
Justice concerns how a society distributes what it prizes - wealth, rights, power and honours
[Sandel]
|
21028
|
We can approach justice through welfare, or freedom, or virtue
[Sandel]
|
21043
|
Distributive justice concern deserts, as well as who gets what
[Sandel]
|
21042
|
Should we redress wrongs done by a previous generation?
[Sandel]
|
21048
|
Work is not fair if it is negotiated, even in a fair situation, but if it suits the nature of the worker
[Sandel]
|
21052
|
Justice is about how we value things, and not just about distributions
[Sandel]
|
23258
|
The very concept of democracy entails a need for justice
[Grayling]
|
20534
|
Rights and justice are only the last resorts of a society, something to fall back on
[Wolff,J]
|
20980
|
You don't need a complete theory of justice to see that slavery is wrong
[Sen]
|
20978
|
Practical justice concerns not only ideals, but ways to achieve them
[Sen]
|
20985
|
Our institutions should promote justice, rather than embodying it
[Sen]
|
20994
|
We must focus on removing manifest injustice, not just try to design a perfect society
[Sen]
|
21000
|
If justice needs public reasoning, which needs democracy, then justice and democracy are linked
[Sen]
|
20533
|
Justice can be seen as fairness or entitlement or desert
[Swift]
|