"Justice is the first virtue of social institutions, as truth is of systems of thought"
- John Rawls, 1971
Karl Marx looked at justice and equality through his philosophy that focused on workers and their relationship to their work, profit, and ownership. He also felt that the free market did not show itself capable of solving dire social problems in England like poverty and income inequality.
Justice appears to be concerned w/ two different types:
retribution or punishment for wrongdoing,
distributive (sometimes called
social) justice that focuses on the distribution / arrangement of goods, benefits and responsibilities of society - this latter justice Marx concerned himself with. He felt that industrial workers did not receive enough of benefits (salaries and bonuses for hard work and education and medical care for the public). He had been quoted as saying, "
from each according to his
abilities,
to each according to his
needs," which seems to mean that despite how hard you work, you are only allowed to get what you need.
"Life is not fair, and it is a good thing, for most of us that it is not" - Oscar Wilde
Questions (please answer both):
1. What aspects of our society make it a just society? Explain why.
2. What aspects of our society make it an unjust society? Explain why.
250 words total for your entire answer. Due Friday February 18 by class.
