The Idea of Justice

In this week’s reading, the idea of justice itself is at the fore. In an excerpt from a chapter of Amartya Sen’s book, we read about two separate lines of reasoning for trying to understand the meaning of justice. One such line of reasoning is called “transcendental institutionalism”. This idea concentrates on getting the institutions of our society to be “right” in terms of justice and focuses less on the actual societal outcomes of participating within those institutions. The second line of reasoning that Sen discusses to set up his example is a “realization-focused comparison”. This concept takes a more literal look at the emergent society to see if the existing institutions have created justice

Sen reasonably points out flaws in both ideas as he departs from those lines of reasoning. The larger question being asked is essentially about the possibility of justice at all because in reality, human nature dictates that people will react differently to different ideas of justice. What is fair for one is not fair for all.

This is illustrated in the example of Anne, Bob and Carla and a flute. There is one flute and each child has an individual claim to it based on what is deemed fair. Anne knows how to play the flute, Bob has no other toys to play with and Carla made the flute herself. Viewed individually, the claims to the flute are each legitimate and therein lies the struggle for justice.

The sentiment of these different and highly individualized perspectives is echoed in the article by John Authers about the impact of the coronavirus on morality. He examines a Rawlsian perspective, based on the philosophy of John Rawls, that those in most need should be “a criterion for social action”. Some religious leaders, according to Authers, have taken this perspective, while others focus on utilitarianism or liberalism.

The Authers article and The Flute Problem end similarly: there is not one decided “right” idea of justice and an argument can be made for just about any approach toward justice. Just as one might sympathize with Bob, they could just as easily see Anne as the rightful user of the flute or Carla as the true owner. Justice, in these readings, is not defined, but discussed and the discourse serves as our answer.

Works Cited

Authers, J. (2021, September 9). How Coronavirus is Shaking up the Moral Universe. The Economic Times News. Retrieved September 18, 2021.

Sen, A. (2010). The idea of Justice. Penguin Books.

3 thoughts on “The Idea of Justice”

  1. Great summary, Sarah! You highlight all the central takeaway points, which is not easy to do with this reading. What did you think yourself, particularly about the different moral approaches to the pandemic in the Authers article? In class, we had an engaging discussion that updates that article to the present (since it was written before COVID vaccines were available).
    One minor point: list the two pieces you cite at the end of the reflection.

    1. Thank you for the feedback, professor and I am sorry to have missed the class discussion. I was wondering what an updated take on the pandemic would look like as well. For me, the idea that “we are all Rawlsian” rings true, but I truly wish that a larger segment of the population would adopt the idea that what protects the community protects the individual as well. Thank you again for reaching out and I will add citation to my last post.

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