Chapter 11: A Theory of Justice
Chapter 11: A Theory of Justice
Amazon Reference:
Quote:
“…the guiding idea [of the Social Contract] is that the principles of justice for the basic structure of society are the object of the original agreement.”
What I expect to learn:
I expect to learn about why the notion of justice came to be and the justifications why it is held as such.
Review:
It would come as no surprise that the people who thought up the notions of ethics and rights are also experts on law and governance. The Ancient Greek philosophers were essentially the ones who laid the foundation for the creation of most of the Western world. They exercised reason to find out that people weren’t ordinary beings in this world; that being human entailed something special. They thought of ways to allow this specialness of humans to be manifested fully but with precautions so as to have no one person be more special than others. They taught themselves new forms of governance to answer this based on notions of freedom and equality. The Greeks were the first to acknowledge that the general population held the real power in a society and that politicians should only seek to serve the needs of the former. The Greeks went from monarchial city-states to democratic, anarchic, oligarchic, and totalitarian. All of these forms of government had their own unique characteristics but all of them sought to serve their constituents but not always with desirable results.
The point is you cannot separate ethics and rights from law and governance because they are fundamentally linked to one another. The former cannot survive very long and prosper without the other, while the latter would not have been created if not for the former. Laws and governments were created to enforce justice in society. That people have rights that should be respected by others. Justice entails equality among the people and their access to basic liberties while also acknowledging that not all people are equal in an economic and social perspective. Some are richer than others, while some could also hold more power and influence than others. Justice seeks to preserve a person’s exercise of their basic liberties (rights) while also making considerations concerning a person’ economic or social status if they interfere with the basic liberties of others. For example, a President of a country who is proven to have been extensively corrupt is charged with Plunder (which is punishable with life imprisonment, with executive clemency the only way out) while a thief who manages to steal millions of pesos from other people might not be sentenced to life imprisonment and could still get their sentence commutated. Governments are the agencies that make sure that people’s dignities are upheld and that rights are not violated. Thus, rights, governments, and the notion of justice are inherently linked to one another.
What I learned:
- The inherent connection between rights, governments, and justice.
- The underlying principles on the basis of the notion of justice.
- The role of governments in the enforcement of justice and preservation of human rights.
Integrative Questions:
- How are rights, governments, and justice connected?
- What are the bases for our notion of justice?
- Why can’t rights survive long if there is no government?
- Why can’t governments exist if there are no human rights?
- What are the role/s of governments when it comes to dealing justice?
