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justice,
principle of
Commonly described
as fairness, but more closely aligned to the concept of "desert"
-- pronounced like, but not to be confused with, the ice-cream
sense of "dessert." One has acted justly toward
a person when one gives that person what is due or owed, and
therefor what is deserved.
Common to all definitions
of justice is the minimal principle that relevantly similar
cases (persons) are to be treated alike. Unfortunately, the
definition of "relevantly similar" is not always
self-evident. Some of the most intractable questions about
justice arise over how to specify and prioritize among the
relevant characteristics by which people are to be considered
equal or unequal.
Moreover, the principle
of "treat equals equally" leaves unanswered the
question of appropriate differences in treatment, when relevant
dissimilarities are found to exist.
More
exactingly, "distributive justive" refers to the
distribution of social benefits and burdens,"retributive
justice" applies to issues of correction and punishment
(most familiarly, in the judicial system) and "procedural
justice" refers to social processes
Egalitarian theories
of justice stress equal access to primary social goods. Libertarian
theories of justice give primacy to social and economic freedom.
Marxist theories emphasize need ("to each according to
his needs; from each according to his abilities"). Utilitarian
theories are focused on criteria to maximize well-being. And
so on.
See also:
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