...Justice as Fairness Harvard philosopher John Rawls (1921-2002) developed a conception of justice as fairness in his now classic work A Theory of Justice. Using elements of both Kantian and utilitarian philosophy, he has described a method for the moral evaluation of social and political institutions. Thesis: While John Rawls theory of Justice as Fairness argues that all social values are to be distributed equally unless an unequal distribution of these values is to everyone’s advantage, his argument is flawed by his reliance on the veil of ignorance and his two principles of justice that are difficult to apply in society. Imagine that you have set for yourself the task of developing a totally new social contract for today's society. How could you do so fairly? Although you could never actually eliminate all of your personal biases and prejudices, could you take steps at least to minimize them? In his book, A Theory of Justice, Rawls attempts to argue a position to do this very thing. He asks us to imagine a fantastic scene: a group of people are gathered to plan their own future society, hammering out the details of what will basically become a Social Contract. Rawls calls this the “Original Position.” In the Original Position, the future citizens do not yet know what part they will play in their upcoming society. They must design their society behind what Rawls calls the Veil of Ignorance. Rawls says in his book titled the A Theory of Justice, “No one knows...
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...© Michael Lacewing Ra wls a nd No zick on jus tic e RAWLS: JUSTICE AND THE SOCIAL CONTRACT John Rawls’ theory of distributive justice (A Theory of Justice) is based on the idea that society is a system of cooperation for mutual advantage between individuals. As such, it is marked by both conflicts between differing individual interests and an identity of shared interests. Principles of justice should ‘define the appropriate distribution of the benefits and burdens of social co-operation’. (p. 4) Justice is the most important political value and applies to the ‘basic institutions of society’ – the political constitution and the institutions that regulate the market, property, family, freedom, and so on – because it is intimately connected to what society is and what it is for. If society is a matter of cooperation between equals for mutual advantage, the conditions for this cooperation need to be defended and any inequalities in social positions must be justified. And so the principles of justice, Rawls thinks, must be ‘the principles that free and rational persons concerned to further their own interests would accept in an initial position of equality as defining the fundamental terms of their association’ (p. 11). Justice, then, is fairness. What are the terms of the ‘social contract’? What principles of justice would we agree to in this situation? For our agreement to secure a fair, impartial procedure, we need to eliminate any possible bias towards, say...
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...distinguish two different forms of utilitarianism. What are these two forms. Briefly describe each and use examples. Act and Rule Utilitarianism are two forms referenced by Shaw and Barry. Act utilitarianism states that we must ask ourselves what the consequences of a particular act in a particular situation will be for all those affected. This is the most basic form of utilitarianism. If the outcome brings more good than any other action, then that action is the right one. Rule utilitarianism states that the utilitarian standard should be applied not to the individual action but to the moral codes as a whole. The only rule is to maximize happiness and every action should be judged according to how well it lives up to this rule. 2. What do economists mean by the "declining marginal utility of money"? The declining marginal utility of money means that successive additions to one’s income produce less happiness or welfare than did earlier additions. This means that as one continues to add goods and/or services, those things will begin to net less happiness. 3. Robert Nozick presents his entitlement theory as a function of three basic principles. What are these three basic principles? Nozick’s three basic principles are as follows: 1. A person who acquires a holding in accordance with the principle of justice in acquisition is entitled to the holding 2. A person who acquires a holding a accordance with the principle of justice transfer...
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...A Theory of Justice Rawls In 1985, John Rawls published his essay A Theory of Justice in which he defined social justice by applying social contract approach and introducing a hypothetical state – the Original Position with veil of ignorance. First of all, Rawls believed that the principles of justice should help society to govern its structure and protect the rights of everyone in the society. Then Rawls proposed the idea that justice can be called “fairness”. Since he claimed that the principles of justice should be decided in advance in order to regulate the society more efficiently, a group of chosen people must determine the set of principles of justice. Given the importance of such task, there is no doubt that the group of chosen people ought to have the knowledge in relative fields and the capacity to think rationally in order to make the best decisions, if not for anyone else, at least for themselves. In this case, we refer to the participant with rationality a rational agent. If we assumed that every party were a rational agent, we are, in fact, acknowledging that rational agent would determine the principles of justice with the purpose of maximizing benefits for him and for people with similar background based on the given status quo and specific traits of society he is currently living in. Hence, if we only choose people who are rational, we would face two problems including constant argument, which would fail to deliver any reasonable agreement when rational...
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...Shaw and Barry distinguish two forms of utilitarianism. What are these two forms? Briefly describe each. Utilitarianism is the idea that we should always act to produce the greatest possible balance of good over bad for everyone affected by our actions. Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill, both philosophers, used the utilitarian standard to evaluate and criticize the social and political institutions of their day. And, as a result, utilitarianism has long been associated with social improvement. The two forms of utilitarianism are act utilitarianism and rule utilitarianism. Act utilitarianism, utilitarianism in its most basic version, states that we must calculate what the consequences are of a particular act in a particular situation, and what it will be for all those affected. And, if its consequences bring more total good than those of any alternative course of action, then this action is the right one and the one we should inform. Rule utilitarianism maintains that the utilitarian standard should be applied not to individual actions but to moral codes as a whole. The rule utilitarian asks what moral code, or set of morals, a society should adopt to maximize happiness. The principles that make up that code would then be the basis for distinguishing right actions from wrong actions. Same as any other theory, these theories can be thought to contain flaws- i.e. not being able to predict the future and this uncertainty can lead to unexpected results making the utilitarian...
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...from black currants. Cassis contains 15%-20% alcohol and the German standards prescribed 25%. For the Germans, the percentage of alcohol became a problem as it wasn’t their standards. This case has been very important and has been used as precedent in similar cases that have taken place in the future. Similar cases will be mentioned as well as the concequences and the principles that the case created. At last, but not least, the paper will speak about how this case influenced all the Inter-European Union trade. It allowed The European Court of Justice to clarify all the jurisdiction influencing the freedom to move goods across borders without any restrictions. 2. Cassis de Dijon In the "Cassis de Dijon" case, the European Court of Justice struck down a German import prohibition. The prohibition disallowed the import, sale and/or marketing of liquors in Germany that didn't meet minimum German alcohol standards of 25%. The ruling gave the European Commission an opportunity to develop the principle of "mutual recognition." 2.1 The Case In February 1979, the European Court of Justice struck down a German prohibition on imports from other European Union (EU) countries. The prohibition banned the importation of alcoholic beverages that did not meet minimum alcohol content requirements. The case involved Cassis de Dijon, a French liquor manufactured from black currants. Cassis contains 15%-20% alcohol and the German standards prescribed 25%. Rowe-Zentral...
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...philosopher John Rawls claims that justice is to ask what principles we individuals would agree to in an initial situation of equality. His reason for that was because different people would favor different principles depending on their interests, religious views, backgrounds and social positions. He also reasoned that the two principles which we would not choose are going to be utilitarianism and libertarian. On the contrary, he believes the two principles of justice will be from the hypothetical contract which will firstly provide equality for all the citizens in terms of speech and other factors. The other principle involves social and economic equality. To understand Rawls principles of hypothetical contract, we should know that actual contract carry moral weight insofar as they realize two ideals which are autonomy and reciprocity. The author, Michael Sandel argues consent is not a sufficient condition of moral obligation as it does not guarantee fairness of an agreement and is not enough to create a binding moral claim. Sandel further states that “despite our tendency to read consent into every moral claim, it is hard to make sense of our moral lives without acknowledging the independent weight of reciprocity.” Rawls idea of hypothetical agreement as described by the author ensures equality. The veil of ignorance ensures equality of power and knowledge and that no one can take advantage. Rawls mentions that the several theories of justice are unfair as these systems such...
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...A Theory of Justice, by John Rawls Tier III 415A Home Page A Theory of Justice, by John Rawls, The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1971. This outline of an extended book review is based in large part on notes composed by Darrell Huwe. I have attempted with limited success to understand Rawls' book - please do not regard this as being in any sense an authoritative summary of Rawls' thought. I personally find this book particularly difficult to penetrate, perhaps because my training is in the physical sciences rather than philosophy, and I generalize quite beyond the evidence when I suspect that others also find it less than accessible. I hope that this review is helpful. The Chronicle of Higher Education has published an article, "The Enduring Significance of John Rawls", by Martha Nussbaum. John Rawls died at age 81 on November 24, 2002. Dick Piccard General Conception All social primary goods - liberty and opportunity, income and wealth, and the bases of self-respect are to be distributed equally unless an unequal distribution of any or all of these goods is to the advantage of the least favored. Social Contract John Locke: Free people need to agree on some ground rules in order to live together in harmony. Utilitarianism John Stuart Mill and Jeremy Bentham: Act so as to maximize good (pleasure) in the aggregate. Later twist: minimize pain. From either perspective, your actions are judged good or bad depending on the consequences they have for you and...
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...different approach. There will always be organizations more concern about the financial interest of the shareholders than the consumer; however, there is now a growing interest among US companies to corporate social responsibility as a way to benefit both the community and the organization. This paper will briefly compare and contrast the various theories of economic Justice of Fairness, Distributive Justice, Utilitarianism, Capitalism and Morality, and Socialism; and reveal the one theory I believe to be the most practical; and the best theory of economic justice as it applies to the “fairness in hiring and promotions, and employees’ rights and duties.” Justice of Fairness includes components of the Principle of Liberty that every one deserve the right to basic liberties; and the Principle of Equality falls in line with the distributive justice for social and economic liberties to be arranged so that they are the greatest benefit of the least advantaged and fair equality of opportunity. Rawls’ point of view on the Justice as Fairness is to be fair and impartial in making decisions about fundamental principles of justice. In order to adopt this point of view is to insure impartiality of judgment, remove any knowledge of personal general...
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...Shaw and Barry distinguish two different forms of utilitarianism. What are these two forms? Briefly describe each. The first form of utilitarianism was a view by Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill. They viewed utilitarianism as that a person’s actions are right if they create the most pleasure, and wrong if they do not. Both men believed that pleasure and happiness were equal and considered it the ultimate value. They thought of utilitarianism as self-interest. An understanding of this is that if someone gets pleasure out of something or it makes them happy then it is okay for them to do something. For example, if someone gets pleasure out of driving much faster than the speed limit, then according to Bentham and Mill it must be right because it is giving this person pleasure when really this person is breaking the law and it is not okay to do. The second form of utilitarianism is known as “rule utilitarianism” or called act utilitarianism. This form is like the view of Bentham and Mill in that it is still about pleasure, but not self-pleasure. This form is on a bigger scale that it is not just one person but many people that it is for. If the overall level of happiness or pleasure is greater than the pain or unhappiness then it is considered a good action. This form is appealing for businesses since there is usually a very large amount of people. An example of this would be a company that is reconstructing its way of working. Part of the companies plan may result...
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...Principles of Natural Justice Assignment Topic On Business Law Presented By Alexander T C , IInd Semester MBA Evening Batch 2010-2012 Assignment on Business Laws - Principles of Natural Justice Presented By Alexander T C MBA 2nd Semester IMK –UoK 1. Introduction :- Why Application of Principles of Natural Justice in Managerial Decisions is important? Most Managerial decisions that affect individuals and organisations are made by primary decision makers i.e. front-line administrators and managers. Only a minority of these decisions are reviewed by internal review officers, ombudsmen, courts or tribunals. The quality of administrative justice experienced by the public depends largely on primary decision makers ‘getting it right’. Central to good decision making is decision makers’ understanding of the legal and administrative framework in which decisions should be made. In turn, this depends on whether primary decision makers have adequate knowledge of that framework. While taking a decision a manager has to have the following in his mind to have his decision justified. Procedural Fairness Lawfulness Evidence, Facts And Findings Reasons Accountability 2. Definition:Justice is of two types namely Legal Justice and Natural Justice. Legal justice refers to justice governed by the law of the state and natural Justice refers to moral justice and is governed by the Laws of Equity. Justice done to one seems not injustice to another. So the goodness of a law...
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...there are two modern theories; the theories of justice from both John Rawls and Robert Nozick. Each theory has its ups and downs and can both be argued as just, or unjust. John Rawls’ theory starts with the “original position,” in which people make decisions or legislate laws behind what is called a “Veil of Ignorance.” Behind this “veil,” Rawls deprives us of any knowledge of our own attributes under which we know everything we need to about human nature generally, but nothing about ourselves – this includes gender, position, assets, professions, etc. The “veil” allows us to be objective and impartial and choose principles of basic fairness. We choose to lessen the downside of the society as a whole. Rawls uses a thinking experiment in which one puts themselves in a hypothetical reality where one is in the “original position.” Through this, individuals can decide how to set up a society by establishing principles of justice to be governed by. His thought experiment can be translated in a way where if we didn’t know what our positions in society would be, we would be more concerned for everyone equally. Basically, if it is possible for us to be in the least-advantaged status of a society, we will be a lot more concerned for the overall general welfare. If everyone starts off in the same position, it makes agreement between everyone much easier. The “veil” is a way of eliminating bias that makes the “original position” a just way of choosing basic principles. When we...
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...Week 1 – The Concepts of Market Justice and Social Justice James R. Freehahn HSM 315 The American Healthcare System Instructor Dr. Cheryl Chance, PhD. February 27, 2015 The Concepts of Market Justice and Social Justice Introduction In this paper, I will describe the concepts of market justice and social justice, explain how the two principles complement each other and in what way they conflict in delivery of health care in the United States. Secondly, I will discuss how health care is rationed in the market justice and social justice systems. Finally, I will discuss the types of health insurance that is based on market justice and social justice principles. The Concepts of Market Justice and Social Justice The concept of market justice can be described as a distributional principle according to which health care is most equitably distributed through the market forces of supply and demand, rather than government interventions. The concept of social justice can be best described as a distribution principle, according to which health care is most equitably distributed by a government-run national health care program and is minimally affected by market forces. How Market Justice and Social Justice Ration Health Care Market justice and social justice distribution principles both compliment and conflict in the U.S. system of health care delivery. Market justice ascribes the fair distribution of health care to the market forces in a free economy including medical services...
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...Theory of Justice Analysis Conception and reality often clash when applied to everyday. In the most optimal society justice is served by punishing criminals so that law abiding citizens can live their lives in peace. The reality is that criminals receive punishments that are less than justice demands and the non-criminals are cheated. This short paper examines justice theories, the utilitarian view, modern justice view and the security based justice. It is important to consider individual justice, mob justice and societal justice as separate institutions. To better understand these institutions the next section explains justice theories. Justice Theories In this section two types of justice will be discussed: Rawl's Theory of Justice as Fairness and Libertarianism. Rawls focused on a hypothetical model in order to describe his form of justice. In this hypothetical model individuals are required to choose fundamental principles of basic institutions of a given society (Ilstu). The result choices made by the members of this society will be both fair and just. The two principles are as follows: Equal Liberty and Difference. "The Equal Liberty Principle states each person is to have the maximum civil liberties compatible with the same liberty for all (Ilstu)". These would be the principles of the United States Constitution; all American citizens are privileged to receive full civil liberties based on the laws of the land. "The Difference Principle states inequalities...
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...SOCIAL JUSTICE This is a sample paper for Dr. Matthew Robinson’s class … CJ 5150, “American Justice System and Social Justice” at Appalachian State University The paper is not be used for any purpose other than illustration for students in the class!!! Social Justice versus Criminal Justice Appalachian State University Social Justice versus Criminal Justice In this paper I will discuss how different aspects, policies, and procedures of the United States criminal justice system are inconsistent with the principles of social justice posited by John Rawls and David Miller. The criminal justice system does not promote socially just outcomes or practices. First of all, the criminal justice system is not really a system at all; it is a network. Second, criminal justice places greater emphasis on crime control, rather than due process rights. Our system encourages punishment rather than rehabilitation. Finally, criminal justice policies such as the death penalty and the war on drugs reflect prejudices within the system, resulting in unequal treatment. Before beginning to explain these flaws within criminal justice, I will first define social justice and explain the essential social justice principles suggested in Rawls and Miller’s theories. Social Justice Justice is based on two supposedly equal conceptions. First, guilty offenders are held accountable for their actions and second, that criminal justice processes...
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