Download Chapter 4: What Makes Society Just?

Chapter 4: What Makes
Society Just?
Introduction
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Political philosophy – concerned with
justification of governmental authority to rule
and the nature of government of the state
Social philosophy – concerned with who gets
what and how
Anarchism – the position that governments are
by nature immoral and should not be established
Democracy – rule by the people
Types of Justice
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Compensatory justice – provides benefits to persons
who have suffered undeserved hardships or have been
denied benefits they deserved
Retributive justice – placing burdens on people who
have enjoyed benefits they did not deserve or who are
guilty of failing to fulfill their responsibilities
Distributive justice – fair distribution of both burdens
and benefits to persons in situations of conflict of
interest and relative scarcity
Egalitarians – argue that all persons should share
equally in the distribution of all benefits and burdens
God and Justice
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Theocracy – theory that only God has
the right to rule
Theocracy is found in ancient Judaism,
Christianity, and Islam
Islam
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Allah – God of Islam
Muhammad (570 – 632) was a prophet of Allah
Muslim – one who submits to the will of Allah
Five pillars of Islam –
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Witnessing that there is no God but Allah and that
Muhammad is his Apostle
Mandatory prayers (salat)
Mandatory alms (zakat)
Fasting during month of Ramadan
Pilgrimage to Mecca (hajj)
Islam
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Sunni and Shi’l sects of Islam agree that
since God does not rule human society
directly, humans must devise governments
that strive to realize divine ideal of justice
The Sunni believe that a caliph (successor
to the Prophet) should be selected to
provide political and military leadership
Islam and Democracy
Khaled Abou El Fadl
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Argues for the compatibility of Islamic
traditions and democracy
Democracy is the most effective form of
government that is compatible with Islam
God is still sovereign but allows men to
have some decision making power
The Shari’ah, which is “God’s way,” is a
symbolic construct of the perfection that is
not achievable by humans
Capitalism and Exploitation
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Laissez-faire capitalism – economic philosophy of a
free competitive market. Proposed by Adam Smith
(1723-90)
John Locke (1632-1704) argued for the concept of
private property
Socialism – all citizens own the means of production
and there is rational planning of economic investment
and growth. Proposed by Karl Marx (1818-83) and
Friedrich Engels (1820-95)
Communism – ideally, equality of individuals who share
universal prosperity without class distinctions or the
need for a government
Totalitarian states – socialist, one-party states that
were centrally planned and unsuccessful
Manifesto of the Communist Party
Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels
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Views the bourgeois society as essentially
exploitive
Encourages the proletariat to revolt
Argues for the socialist ideals of the
Communist party in order to bring equality
The Original Position
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What is the role of justice in society?
Material principle of justice –
particular trait that is used as a basis for
distributing benefits and burdens
Formal principle of justice – requires
that benefits and burdens be distributed
fairly according to relevant differences and
similarities
What is relevant or fair?
A Theory of Justice
John Rawls
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Justice is the first virtue of social
institutions
Primary subject of justice is the way that
major social institutions distribute
fundamental rights and duties and
determine the division of advantages from
social cooperation
Justice as fairness
A Theory of Justice
John Rawls
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Two principles of justice:
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Each person is to have an equal right to the
most extensive basic liberty compatible with a
similar liberty for others
Social and economic inequalities are to be
arranged so that they are both (a) reasonably
expected to be to everyone’s advantage, and
(b) attached to positions and offices open to
all
Our Obligation to the State
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Social contract theory – the authority of
government derives from a voluntary agreement
among all people to obey the laws passed by a
government they collectively select
Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679) wrote about the
need for a “sword of sovereignty” to secure
peace and order
Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778) argued that
human nature is basically good, but evil arises
with society
Crito
Plato
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Crito tries to convince Socrates to escape
from prison after he has been condemned
to death
Despite Socrates’ innocence and
disagreement with the sate, he chooses to
obey the law and therefore accept his
unjust punishment of death
Civil Disobedience
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Is disobeying the law ever morally
justified?
Why do we need laws?
Does the right of civil disobedience
undermine the law?
Henry David Thoreau used civil
disobedience in America to oppose slavery
Letter from Birmingham Jail
Martin Luther King, Jr.
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Written while serving a sentence for civil
disobedience
Justifies the use of nonviolent civil disobedience
“injustice anywhere is a threat to justice
everywhere”
Just law – man-made code that fits within the
moral law of God
Unjust law – code that is out of harmony with
moral law
Sovereignty and Justice: An
Indigenist’s Viewpoint
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The existence of oppression is the sign of
an unjust society
Oppressors attempt to justify their position
morally and legally
Perversions of Justice
Ward Churchill
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Seeks justice for the descendants of the
first people to inhabit North America
The “Doctrine of Discovery” enabled
European states to make formal treaties
with native nations and therefore obtain
property from them
The “Norman Yoke” proposed that land
rights were dependent upon the extent to
which one would develop the land
Perversions of Justice
Ward Churchill
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“Marshall Doctrine” illegitimately justified
U.S. pursuit of territory acquisition from
the Native Americans
Churchill claims that the U.S. does not
have any legitimate right to at least half of
the land that it now claims because it was
unjustly taken from the Native Americans
Marshall Doctrine should be reversed in
U.S. and in the world