2 APPROACHES TO JUSTICE Flashcards
What is a just society?
How it distributes resources we prize. i.e., wealth, duties & rights, powers &opportunities, office & honors. A just society will distribute evenly.
The Welfare Justice Model
Justice defined as the maximization of welfare.
A matter of utility calculus.
Welfare Defined
A measurement of economic prosperity and non-economic measurements of social well-being.
Justice as Freedom
The most obvious answer is that we think prosperity makes us better off than we would otherwise be—as individuals and as a society. Prosperity matters, in other words, because it contributes to our welfare
A Divided Camp?
There are deep and contentious issues that divide this perspective, including the role of the market and the means to ensure that the least-advantaged members of society are taken care of.
However, at base, what unites them is the position that actions and policies are ‘just’ when they respect the autonomy and agency of the individual.
The Laissez - Fair Camp
the laissez-faire camp are free-market libertarians who believe that justice consists in respecting and upholding the voluntary choices made by consenting adults
The Fairness Camp
• The fairness camp contains theorists of a more egalitarian bent. They argue that unfettered markets are neither just nor free. In their view, justice requires policies that remedy social and economic disadvantages and give everyone a fair chance at success.
Freedom is enshrined in Canadian Law
In Canada, this position is constitutionally entrenched in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. It protects citizens from the power of the state and protects minorities from discrimination even if a discriminatory practice is supported by the majority
Justice as a Virtue:
From this perspective, a policy or action is ‘just’ if it affirms important societal values, or virtues. In other words, if it promotes the common good.
Virtue is a more Nuanced Perspective
The virtue perspective is more nuanced and contextual, not easily lending itself to informing specific conduct. Often it may not give us a specific direction as to what is the right thing to do
IS there Ever a Single Virtue?
At times, there may even be competing virtues at odds with one another. Take for example, virtues as friendship and honesty.
What About Relativism?
What may be regarded as virtuous in one society may not be held in such regard as virtuous in another.
Conservative Approach to Justice
The idea of legislating morality is anathema to many citizens of liberal societies, as it risks lapsing into intolerance and coercion
