The Idea of Justice

Social justice: an ideal, forever beyond our grasp; or one of manypractical possibilities? More than a matter of intellectual discourse,the idea of justice plays a real role in how—and how well—people live.And in this book the distinguished scholar Amartya Sen offers apowerful critique of the theory of social justice that, in its grip onsocial and political thinking, has long left practical realities farbehind.

The transcendental theory of justice, the subject of Sen’sanalysis, flourished in the Enlightenment and has proponents among someof the most distinguished philosophers of our day; it is concerned withidentifying perfectly just social arrangements, defining the nature ofthe perfectly just society. The approach Sen favors, on the other hand,focuses on the comparative judgments of what is “more” or “less” just,and on the comparative merits of the different societies that actuallyemerge from certain institutions and social interactions.

At the heart of Sen’s argument is a respect for reasoneddifferences in our understanding of what a “just society” really is.People of different persuasions—for example, utilitarians, economicegalitarians, labor right theorists, no­-nonsense libertarians—mighteach reasonably see a clear and straightforward resolution to questionsof justice; and yet, these clear and straightforward resolutions wouldbe completely different. In light of this, Sen argues for a comparativeperspective on justice that can guide us in the choice betweenalternatives that we inevitably face.