On Justice
Philosophy, History, Foundations

This unifying proposal for understanding distributive justice discourse across cultures sheds light on how best to understand political philosophy.

Mathias Risse (Author)

9781108481977, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 10 September 2020

446 pages
23.5 x 15.8 x 3 cm, 0.76 kg

'Those musing on whether a single idea of justice could transcend the limits of tradition and social context will find this book an invaluable resource.' J. E. Herbel, Choice

Though much attention has been paid to different principles of justice, far less has been done reflecting on what the larger concern behind the notion is. In this work, Mathias Risse proposes that the perennial quest for justice is about ensuring that each individual has an appropriate place in what our uniquely human capacities permit us to build, produce, and maintain, and is appropriately respected for the capacity to hold such a place to begin with. Risse begins by investigating the role of political philosophers and exploring how to think about the global context where philosophical inquiry occurs. Next, he offers a quasi-historical narrative about how the notion of distributive justice identifies a genuinely human concern that arises independently of cultural context and has developed into the one we should adopt now. Finally, he investigates the core terms of this view, including stringency, moral value, ground and duties of justice.

Acknowledgments
Introduction
1. Apologia for Justice
Part I. Political Philosophy: 2. Political Philosophy as a Vocation: Seven Approaches
3. Political Philosophy as a Vocation: Seven Approaches, Continued
4. Global Thought: Political Philosophy in the World Society
5. Global Thought: World Society, Cultural Imperialism, White Ignorance
6. Half a Century after Malcolm X Came to Visit: Reflections on the Thin Presence of African Thought in Global Justice Debates
Part II. Distributive Justice: 7. Distributive Justice and the Great Tale of Humanity
8. Origins
9. Antiquity and Beyond
10. Approaching the Present
11. Global Justice
12. Pluralist Internationalism
Part III. The Grounds of Justice: Philosophical Foundations: 13. Engaging Immanuel Kant and Ernst Tugendhat
14. Value, Stringency, and the Frame-of-Human-Life Conception of the Political
15. The Ontology of Grounds of Justice: Elaboration and Comparisons
16. Grounds of Justice and Public Reason, Domestic and Global
17. Duties of Justice
Epilogue on Justice, Politics, and the Meaning of Life: Confronting Carl Schmitt
Bibliography
Index.

Subject Areas: International human rights law [LBBR], Jurisprudence & philosophy of law [LAB], Human rights [JPVH], Political science & theory [JPA], Social & political philosophy [HPS]