The Elements of Justice

This book discusses what justice is and how its meaning will often depend on its context.

David Schmidtz (Author)

9780521539364, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 9 January 2006

254 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.8 cm, 0.41 kg

"...(W)hat makes Elements of Justice so rich and compelling is that Schmidtz does not follow the dominant pattern of philosophical argumentation..."
Adam Kadlac, The Hedgehog Review

What is justice? Questions of justice are questions about what people are due. However, what that means in practice depends on the context in which the question is raised. Depending on context, the formal question of what people are due is answered by principles of desert, reciprocity, equality, or need. Justice, therefore, is a constellation of elements that exhibit a degree of integration and unity. Nonetheless, the integrity of justice is limited, in a way that is akin to the integrity of a neighborhood rather than that of a building. A theory of justice offers individuals a map of that neighborhood, within which they can explore just what elements amount to justice.

Acknowledgements
1. What is justice?
2. How to deserve
3. How to reciprocate
4. Equal respect and equal shares
5. Three kinds of need
6. Separate persons and the limits of justice.

Subject Areas: Jurisprudence & philosophy of law [LAB], Political science & theory [JPA], History of ideas [JFCX], Social & political philosophy [HPS]