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This is an accepted version of this page This is the latest accepted revision, reviewed on 13 January 2025. Concept in political philosophy For the early-20th-century periodical, see Social Justice (periodical). For the academic journal established in 1974, see Social Justice (journal). Social justice is justice in relation to the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a ...
Rawls belongs to the social contract tradition, although he takes a different view from that of previous thinkers. Specifically, Rawls develops what he claims are principles of justice through the use of an artificial device or thought experiment he calls the Original position; in which, everyone decides principles of justice from behind a veil of ignorance.
In Principles of Social Justice Miller proposes a pluralist account of social justice, arguing that there can be no single measure of justice.This puts him in opposition to theorists such as Robert Nozick or John Rawls, who both argue for some sort of 'unifying theory' in understandings of justice.
The second principle, the difference principle, addresses how the arrangement of social and economic inequalities, and thus the just distribution should look. Firstly, Rawls argues that such distribution should be based on a reasonable expectation of advantage for all, but also to the greatest benefit of the least advantaged in society.
The principle is part of justice that established distributive justice.Rawls awards the fair equality of opportunity principle lexical priority over the difference principle: Society cannot adjust inequality to maximize the proportion of those who are most vulnerable without providing positions and the opportunities that are necessary for the worse-off to achieve them.
Furthermore, it entails embodying the qualities of a law-abiding citizen or member of society, upholding principles of social equality. Justice encompasses the formulation of laws that can be substantiated by valid justifications, leading to a society where actions align with these laws.
The social contract theory of political philosopher John Rawls, developed in his work A Theory of Justice, was influenced by Kant's ethics. [54] Rawls argued that a just society would be fair . To achieve this fairness, he proposed a hypothetical moment prior to the existence of a society, at which the society is ordered: this is the original ...
Rawls held that these principles of justice apply to the "basic structure" of fundamental social institutions (such as the judiciary, the economic structure and the political constitution), a qualification that has been the source of some controversy and constructive debate (see the work of Gerald Cohen). Rawls's theory of justice stakes out ...