Is Equality More Just Than Inequality

Chap16
Justice is the highest goal of political life which dominates political debate. It is easier to identify to explore injustices than to define precisely what is lacking in an unjust situation or what an ideally just situation might be like. Justice is said to be the property of a distribution of something of goods but also of evils, some form of social justice is ultimate aim of political ideologies. Many people associate the term primarily with justice in the legal system the punishment of malefactors. Legal justice will be treated as a concept parallel to that of social justice concerning the distribution of pains and penalty to the guilty. Both concepts have in common are the idea of due process impartiality and distribution ccording to appropriate criteria. Also social justice operates in the context of scare goods which have to be appropriately distributed, what economics call free goods such as air and sunshine do not have to be distributed accoding to just principles.
Different ideologies produce different theories of justice. Plato – justice was not based on giving every man his due but signified a just proportion between the various parts of society. Aristotle – proposed a definition which rested on individual desert nd departed from platos more holistic view. Conservatives regard hierarchical distribution of goods and privellages as just or divinely ordained. Liberals – distribution according to merit based on equality of opportunity is the ideal Socialists strive for justice based on need and fundamental equality. Bentham, mill defined justice as impartial application of rules they an other utilitarians considered that in principle justice should be treated as a secondary rule and subordinated to utility. Rule utilitarians see justice as an end in itself.

As this wide variety of definition suggests justice is a flexible term wich is stretched to fit almost any idea of good. Any analysis intended to produce authoritative definition of the idea therefore doomed to fail, or be challenged or superseded. The intention here is to assess merits of various theoriesof justice and to examine the conceptual problems which surround the ideal itself, no matter what content we give to it.

Equal distribution, each person gets same quantity of good irrespective of personal characteristics. This is the least problematic method of distribution but not allways applicable ie scares rescources, hence unequal distribution where sum individs favoured or privelleged.
Selected distribution or random ie winning lottery can be justified if approp criteria been observed. Unequal distributons more just than equal distributions nobody would dispute health care should go to the sick rather than the healthy but if wrong criteria chosen outcome is unjust. Such as nepotism irrelevant and wrong criterion among top jobs such as social statuesand wealth are irrelevant for allocation of medical care or uni degree.

The criteria for justice