Jiya Antony
2021/360
Ba (hons) political science
POLITICAL THEORY CONCEPTS & DEBATES
Critical essay on John Rawls theory of justice
Abstract
The concept of justice has been central role in political theory and behaviour since prehistoric
times.Justice is a dynamic idea which transform according to social awareness and reason. In
this assignment i tried to included the idea of justice, dimensions of justice which include
legal,political ,socio-economic justice. Distinction between substantive justice and procedural
justice,the former is closely related with tradition of liberalism and latter is associated with
socialism.Then John Rawls of theory of justice Which is an theoretical program to form political
structure to preserve social justice and individual liberty. And it's critique including
communitarian, feminist libertarian and Marxist critique.
Introduction
Justice is one of the important Moral and political concept.The word comes from Latin "
jus" meaning"right or law".The Oxford English dictionary defines the "just"person as one
who generally "does what is morally right". Ernest Barker in his book 'principles of
social and political theory' notes the term 'justice' which includes the idea of joining or
fitting, the Idea of bond or tie .(principle of social and political theory,p102). However,
the meaning of justice has been understood differently during different times and
contexts.
Idea of justice
The concept of justice has been transformed especially under the influence of the principle of
democracy and socialism with the help of modern consciousness. 'Just' ,'right' and 'reasonable'
are firstly moral features ,so justice can be considered as Moral and ethical concept.justice as a
moral concept is at once a dynamic idea. We accept that justice includes an ideal and
symbolises perfectness and it is reflected in an 'absolute truth' but this absolute truth is a
continuous process and the progress and direction depends upon our social consciousness.For
example salvery and untouchability was widely accepted and justified in early times but now it is
considered as unjust.
According to Ernest Barker the justice is connected with an organized system of human
relations.barker identifies 3 different values as necessary for this organised human relations that
is the 'value of cooperation', value of Liberty, equality and fraternity and justice itself a value
which represents a synthesis of different values. That means the function of justice may be said
to be that of adjusting, joining different political values. To find out the origin of the idea of
, justice, Barker stays on four sources; they are religion, nature, economics and ethics.And ethics
is the potent source of the modern idea of justice. He said the proper source of justice is
'reason.'Man develops his faculty of reasoning according to the social consciousness of his
age.
Plato in his work Republic , justice is a part of proper state of the human soul and human
nature.He believed 3 main elements of the human soul- wisdom, courage and temperance
according to him there is 3 classes in society philosophers,soldiers,traders.plato theory is based
on morality.But Aristotle the father of political science in his work 'Ethics' considered justice the
principle important for state he is one of the main proponents of substantive justice.The idea of
justice is difficult to understand and it is a complex concept Aristotle divides justice into two parts
● General justice
● Particular justice
According to general justice he refers to social morality he used the term righteousness for
general justice by this he means all goodness done to the neighbour he considered all virtues
as general justice
Particular justice motivates man to behave fairly and equitably with other human beings he
takes in the sense of proportional equality.he again divided this into two part
● Rectificatory justice: to regulate and regulate and regulate the reciprocal relation of
citizens it includes the voluntary and involuntary the former says one person to another
by various treaties and agreement and the latter the state hears the victim and punish
the guilty
Distributive justice the distribution of honour and wealth that gives every citizen his due place in
the political community.apart from this Aristotle also indicate the existence of universal law
which beyond the law of any country and it relation to the entire human race
Dimensions of justice
The modern concept of justice is different from traditional concept.The traditional concept of justice
focused on the' just man' it concerned with the virtues in keeping with man for enhancing his moral worth
that performing his duties attached to his status Plato's theory of justice is a typical example for traditional
concept of justice . According to him the ruling should be handed over to philosophers who have more
knowledge and wisdom.The modern concept of justice focuses on creating a just society. The modern
view is considered to have progressive ideas.
Legal justice is concerned with the principles laid down by the law of state.Two facts are important in
legal justice. First is the creation of fair law and second the availability of justice according to law. This
idea is based on 'rule of law'. That a good law is known by its efficiency in attaining its purpose and also
law ought to have both validity and value. That the justice in legal aspects consist not only in an efficient
administration of law but law itself include human merits according to prevailing social consciousness
Political justice means every person getting a post in the states without any discrimination .Civil rights,
adult suffrage are among the necessary conditions for the setting up of political justice.socio-economic
justice is another dimension of justice.it is the combination of social justice and economic justice.Social
justice refers to the concept that wants to stop discrimination on the basis of birth,caste,religion
gender.Economic justice means the end of economic exploitation and the proper distribution of material
resources.
Substantive justice & procedural justice
The modern debates on the nature of justice emphasize on the difference between procedural justice
and substantive justice.The belief of procedural justice is closely related to the tradition of
2021/360
Ba (hons) political science
POLITICAL THEORY CONCEPTS & DEBATES
Critical essay on John Rawls theory of justice
Abstract
The concept of justice has been central role in political theory and behaviour since prehistoric
times.Justice is a dynamic idea which transform according to social awareness and reason. In
this assignment i tried to included the idea of justice, dimensions of justice which include
legal,political ,socio-economic justice. Distinction between substantive justice and procedural
justice,the former is closely related with tradition of liberalism and latter is associated with
socialism.Then John Rawls of theory of justice Which is an theoretical program to form political
structure to preserve social justice and individual liberty. And it's critique including
communitarian, feminist libertarian and Marxist critique.
Introduction
Justice is one of the important Moral and political concept.The word comes from Latin "
jus" meaning"right or law".The Oxford English dictionary defines the "just"person as one
who generally "does what is morally right". Ernest Barker in his book 'principles of
social and political theory' notes the term 'justice' which includes the idea of joining or
fitting, the Idea of bond or tie .(principle of social and political theory,p102). However,
the meaning of justice has been understood differently during different times and
contexts.
Idea of justice
The concept of justice has been transformed especially under the influence of the principle of
democracy and socialism with the help of modern consciousness. 'Just' ,'right' and 'reasonable'
are firstly moral features ,so justice can be considered as Moral and ethical concept.justice as a
moral concept is at once a dynamic idea. We accept that justice includes an ideal and
symbolises perfectness and it is reflected in an 'absolute truth' but this absolute truth is a
continuous process and the progress and direction depends upon our social consciousness.For
example salvery and untouchability was widely accepted and justified in early times but now it is
considered as unjust.
According to Ernest Barker the justice is connected with an organized system of human
relations.barker identifies 3 different values as necessary for this organised human relations that
is the 'value of cooperation', value of Liberty, equality and fraternity and justice itself a value
which represents a synthesis of different values. That means the function of justice may be said
to be that of adjusting, joining different political values. To find out the origin of the idea of
, justice, Barker stays on four sources; they are religion, nature, economics and ethics.And ethics
is the potent source of the modern idea of justice. He said the proper source of justice is
'reason.'Man develops his faculty of reasoning according to the social consciousness of his
age.
Plato in his work Republic , justice is a part of proper state of the human soul and human
nature.He believed 3 main elements of the human soul- wisdom, courage and temperance
according to him there is 3 classes in society philosophers,soldiers,traders.plato theory is based
on morality.But Aristotle the father of political science in his work 'Ethics' considered justice the
principle important for state he is one of the main proponents of substantive justice.The idea of
justice is difficult to understand and it is a complex concept Aristotle divides justice into two parts
● General justice
● Particular justice
According to general justice he refers to social morality he used the term righteousness for
general justice by this he means all goodness done to the neighbour he considered all virtues
as general justice
Particular justice motivates man to behave fairly and equitably with other human beings he
takes in the sense of proportional equality.he again divided this into two part
● Rectificatory justice: to regulate and regulate and regulate the reciprocal relation of
citizens it includes the voluntary and involuntary the former says one person to another
by various treaties and agreement and the latter the state hears the victim and punish
the guilty
Distributive justice the distribution of honour and wealth that gives every citizen his due place in
the political community.apart from this Aristotle also indicate the existence of universal law
which beyond the law of any country and it relation to the entire human race
Dimensions of justice
The modern concept of justice is different from traditional concept.The traditional concept of justice
focused on the' just man' it concerned with the virtues in keeping with man for enhancing his moral worth
that performing his duties attached to his status Plato's theory of justice is a typical example for traditional
concept of justice . According to him the ruling should be handed over to philosophers who have more
knowledge and wisdom.The modern concept of justice focuses on creating a just society. The modern
view is considered to have progressive ideas.
Legal justice is concerned with the principles laid down by the law of state.Two facts are important in
legal justice. First is the creation of fair law and second the availability of justice according to law. This
idea is based on 'rule of law'. That a good law is known by its efficiency in attaining its purpose and also
law ought to have both validity and value. That the justice in legal aspects consist not only in an efficient
administration of law but law itself include human merits according to prevailing social consciousness
Political justice means every person getting a post in the states without any discrimination .Civil rights,
adult suffrage are among the necessary conditions for the setting up of political justice.socio-economic
justice is another dimension of justice.it is the combination of social justice and economic justice.Social
justice refers to the concept that wants to stop discrimination on the basis of birth,caste,religion
gender.Economic justice means the end of economic exploitation and the proper distribution of material
resources.
Substantive justice & procedural justice
The modern debates on the nature of justice emphasize on the difference between procedural justice
and substantive justice.The belief of procedural justice is closely related to the tradition of
