Justice and Fairness PDF

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JUSTICEandFAIRNESSJustice Justice means giving each person what he or she deserves or, in more traditional terms, giving each person his or her due. Justice usually has been used with reference to a standard of rightness. Justice is the moral fabric that binds modern societies and civilizations. It ...

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Justice • Justice means giving each person what he or she deserves or, in more traditional terms, giving each person his or her due. • Justice usually has been used with reference to a standard of rightness. • Justice is the moral fabric that binds modern societies and civilizations. It is a concept based upon morals and ethics and what is morally correct is seen as just. “Justice for all”

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Fairness • Fairness often has been used with regards to an ability to judge without reference to one's feelings or interests; 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.

• Fairness is defined in the dictionary as ‘impartial and just treatment or behavior without favoritism or discrimination.’

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Justice vs. Fairness Justice

Fairness

• An ability to judge without • Usually used with reference to one's reference to a feelings or interests. standard of rightness. • Freedom from prejudice • Moral application of and the quality of treating the law where we can people equally see how fairness influences morality.

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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. - when the institutions of a society distribute benefits or burdens in unjust ways, there is a strong presumption that those institutions should be changed.

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Retributive or Corrective Justice - refers to the extent to which punishments are fair and just. - in general, punishments are held to be just to the extent that they consider relevant criteria such as the seriousness of the crime and the intent of the criminal, and discount irrelevant criteria such as race. It would be barbarously unjust Compensatory Justice - refers to the extent to which people are fairly compensated for their injuries by those who have injured them. 6

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TWO PRINCIPLES OF JUSTICE Equal Liberty Principle - society ought to safeguard the greatest liberty for each person compatible with an equal liberty for all others. Difference Principle - society ought to promote the equal distribution of wealth, except for inequalities that serve as incentives to benefit everyone (including the least advantaged group) and are open to everyone on an equal basis. 7

John Rawls •

Models what we generally believe and hope for when we think about justice for a democratic society-in other words, our normative beliefs on this subject

Veil of Ignorance - the knowledge of the parties which shields them from knowledge of particular facts that they could use to favor members of society, while at the same time, allowing them knowledge of general facts that are helpful for thinking about justice in general. - Covered by this veil, people will choose the manner of distribution without them knowing what will be their position in the society. 8

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ENTITLEMENT VIEW (Robert Nozick) • Libertarian (rejecting positive rights in favor of negative ones) and the sharpest critic of Rawl’s difference principle. • States that “whatever you earn fairly, through hard work and just agreements, is yours.” • Schemes (like a progressive income tax) that force a redistribution of wealth are wrong, because they violate your right to property.

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Three Principles Principle of Acquisition • How an individual first came to own an item that had no prior ownership Principle of Transfer • How you can acquire holdings from another through various methods of exchange Principle of Rectification of Injustice • Judge whether the transaction is right and just.

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Egalitarianism • Promotes equality among people. This system rests on the premise that every individual is equal and deserves respect as having the same intrinsic worth. ✓ Equal: depend on the focus of what should be equal. ✓ Distributive Justice: ensures that everybody will be made equal.

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CAPITALISM • Values individual freedom over the state. The state defends the right of the citizens subject to a minimum level of intervention from the state. • Freedom is seen as the absence of constraint. • Liberty is given to an individual to make choices even if these choices might be foolish. • Pluralism promotes capitalism.

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Individuals are given free-reign on how to deal and distribute their resources. • Distributive justice: majority of the decisions is in the hands of the individuals. • Competition is present, the state shall serve as its referee. • Seen as fair and just despite inequalities because the individual is rewarded based on merits. • Distribution is fair as long as the manner is appropriate, regardless of outcome. 13

SOCIALISM • Social Democracy: freedom is accorded to individual with respect to the playing field. Marx (1875): “From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs.” • Society is expected to distribute these fair chance and opportunities to individual. • Distribution is unequal since they will receive according to their needs and abilities

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SOCIALISM • Shift from individualism to socialism. • It is considered as most just if individuals are given the share commensurate to what the person has contributed to the production of the goods.

• Argument: giving in to individual rights often results in damaging the community. • Individual freedom is limited to promote the good of the state 15

What is Just ✓Egalitarians: equal distribution of wealth. ✓Capitalists: given the right and venue to live their lives according to how they see fit. ✓Socialists: shift from individualism to communalism

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Thank You!

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