Justice e-bog

Ronald L. Cohen Justice is a central moral standard in social life. It is invoked in judging individual persons and in judging the basic structure of societies. It has been described as akin to a "e;human hunger or thirst"e; (Pascal, Pensees, cited in Hirschman, 1982, p. 91), "e;more powerful than any physical hunger, and endlessly resilient"e; (Pitkin, 1981, p. 349). The most prominent contemporary theory of justice proceeds from the claim that justice is "e;the first virtue of social institutions, as truth is systems of thought"e; (Rawls, 1971, p. 3). However, as the following chapters demonstrate, justice has a complex and controversial history. If, as has been claimed, justice is a central category of human thought and a central aspect of human motivation, can it also be the case that to invoke justice is no more than "e;banging on the table: an emotional expression which turns one's demand into an absolute postulate"e; (Ross, 1959, p. 274)? If justice is the first virtue of social institutions, can the concept of social or economic justice at the same time be "e;entirely empty and meaningless"e; so that any attempt to employ it is "e;either thoughtless or fraudulent"e; (Hayek, 1976, pp. xi-xii)? In a formal sense, justice concerns ensuring that each person receives what she or he is due.