chamberlin pubpol580 f09 lecture class9

8/9/2019 Chamberlin PubPol580 F09 Lecture Class9

1/23

Author(s): John Chamberlin

License: Unless otherwise noted, this material is made available under theterms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License :http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

We have reviewed this material in accordance with U. . Copyright !aw and have tried to maximize yourability to use share and ada!t it.

Copyright holders of content included in this material should contact o!en.michi"an#umich.edu with any"uestions, corrections, or clarification regarding the use of content.

#or more information about how to cite these materials visit http://open.umich.edu/education/about/terms$of$use.


2/23

JusticeJustice is the first virtue of socialinstitutions, as truth is to systemsof thought. % theory however

elegant and economical must bere&ected or revised if it is untrue'li(ewise laws and institutions nomatter how efficient and well$arranged must be reformed if theyare un&ust. John )awls


3/23

ome *heories of Justice

Com!rehensive$%rinci!le &ased

Contextual$Casuistical

Utilitarianism +ichael al-er

John )awls Communitarians

)obert o-ic(


4/23


5/23

7ow o e 8now what Justice

)e"uires9ntuition

1 Utilitarianism 1 atural law 5natural rights6

Choice/Consent 5social contract62;perience 5casuists6)evelation


6/23


7/23

Utilitarianism and Justice

>ut we regularly come across situationswhere it seems li(e utilitarianism may favoracts that we "uestion on grounds of &ustice5often where it seems as if an individual isbeing used as a means to a social end6


8/23

+ill?s )esponse


9/23

John )awls

*he 8antian commitment: each individual is amember of the (ingdom of ends)awls? theory is intended as a corrective to thepossibility that utilitarianism will fail to honor themoral distinctiveness of individuals*he right is defined prior to the goodocial contract theory 1 Justice as fairnessistillation of modern liberalism 1 !iberal democracy 1 +ar(et economies


10/23

)awls?s ocial Contract

!in(s up moral choice 5consent6 andrational choice: the original position andthe veil of ignorance as a way to avoid theprinciples of &ustice being infected by self$interest7ypothetical contract that identifies the

most basic principles of &usticeuch a contractarian approach could alsobe 5and has been6 used to &ustifyutilitarianism


11/23

)awls?s rinciples of Justice

2ach person is to have an e"ual right to themost e;tensive total system of e"ual basicliberties compatible with a similar system ofliberty for allocial and economic ine"ualities are to bearranged so that they are both: 5a6 to thegreatest benefit of the least advantaged 5thedifference principle6 and 5b6 attached to offices

and positions open to all under conditions of faire"uality of opportunity

1 *he le;ical ordering of the principles 5the priority of liberty6 1 Utilitarianism, )awls?s principles, egalitariansim

1 esert: defined by the principles of &ustice


12/23

*he atural and ocial !otteries

= t seems to be one of the fi;ed points of our considered &udgments that noone deserves his place in the distribution of native endowments, any morethan one deserves one?s initial starting place in society.=


13/23

)obert o-ic(

% response to )awlsJustice as historical, not patternedf we move from a &ust state of the world toanother state via voluntary transactions amongindividuals, then the new state of the world is

&ust as well. 1

t?s the transactions, not the distribution itself, that areat the root of &ustice

Justice in ac"uisition, transfer, and rectification


14/23

o-ic(

>asic moral rule: don?t violaterights/entitlements

% property rights theory % libertarian account of &ustice@overnment by unanimous agreement 1 +ar(ets plus the night watchman state

*he !oc(ean proviso concerningac"uisition: enough and as good left forothers


15/23

o-ic(

*he natural and social lotteries 1 Aou may not deserve the attributes you have as a

result of these lotteries, but you are entitled to them

5or stuc( with them6 because no one else?sentitlements were violated by the processes thatdistributed the good and bad luc( of these lotteries.

roblems

1 *he cumulative impact of asymmetric bargainingpower can be massive ine"ualityBdoes that s"uarewith basic intuitions about &ustice9

1 hat is the moral grounding for the theory9


16/23

+ichael al-er Casuist/pluralist/conte;tualist*hic( and thin accounts of &ustice


17/23

ocial @oods

ocial goods are the ob&ect of distributive &ustice.istributive criteria and arrangements are intrinsic not tothe good$in$itself but to the social good.ocial meanings are historical in character' and so

distributions, and &ust and un&ust distributions, changeover time.2very social good or set of goods constitutes, as it were,a distributive sphere within which only certain criteria andarrangements are appropriate. *his generates a theoryof comple; e"uality.pheres of Justice: citi-enship, security and welfare,money and commodities, office, hard wor(, free time,education, (inship and love, divine grace, recognition,political power


18/23

Communitarians

ot so much a theoretical enterprise as a style ofdiscourse 1 < ndividual rights and social responsibility= 1 < iversity within Unity=

>asic values 1 +oral e"uality 1 +utuality: people are (nit together by interdependence,

reciprocity, and self$interest. *his creates the moralinfrastructure of cooperation.

Community values

1 tewardship: the e;ercise of comprehensive and dedicatedresponsibility for a valued practice, institution, resource,relationship, or group.

1 nclusion: full membership in the community


19/23

Communitarians

Can morality be grounded in the status"uo 5the current moral infrastructure69+inority rightsllustrations 1 haming 1 ifference/allegiance/integration: +uslim

headscarves and veils


20/23

on$%nglo$%merican

*hin(ing about Justice

o these ways of thin(ing about &usticeresonate outside of the anglo$americanworld9

%re there intuitions/accounts of &ustice thatresonate elsewhere but are ignored by theaccounts covered today9


21/23

*he e;t everal ee(s

'hursday: oral i"hts 1 Article *+ ,ection - o the /niversal eclaration o

1uman i"hts: 2veryone has the right to a standard of livingade"uate for the health and well$being of himself and of hisfamily, including food, clothing, housing and medical care andnecessary social services, and the right to security in theevent of unemployment, sic(ness, disability, widowhood, oldage or other lac( of livelihood in circumstances beyond hiscontrol.

2ctober -3: 4uality and ducation 1 hat does &ustice re"uire9

2ctober -+: 5lobal Climate Chan"e 1 ntergenerational and cross$national &ustice 1 hose responsibility9 1 hat does &ustice re"uire of whom9


22/23

2ctober **: 5lobalization and 6ustice#ree trade and the si-e of the global


23/23

*hin(ing about Justice over thee;t everal ee(s

ot: hat would )awls/ o-ic(/ al-er do9uggested %pproach 1 tay closer to the ground than )awls and o-ic(

1 >egin with the problem at hand 1 dentify the morally relevant considerations 1 dentify your initial intuition about a resolution 1 @enerali-e your initial intuitionBcan you turn it into a general

principle9

1 *hin( about relevant analogiesBwhat other problems is this oneli(e9 hat can we learn about the moral resolution of thisproblem from our analysis of similar problems9

chamberlin pubpol580 f09 lecture class9

Documents