Theories of Justice
THEORIES OF JUSTICE
INTRODUCTION
Justice is action in accordance with the requirements of law. It is suppose to ensure that all members of society receive fair treatment. Issues of justice arise in several different spheres and often play a significant role in causing, enabling, and addressing discord. The goal of the Justice System is to try to resolve and satisfy all these issues for the members of society. Injustice can lead to dissatisfaction, and/or rebellion. The different spheres express the principles of justice and fairness in their own way resulting in different types and concepts of justice. This paper will take a closer look at three justice theories based on our textbook "Moral Issues in Business", by William H. Shaw and Vincent Barry. I will then use these various theories to create an argument for a topic that will later be defined. (Shaw, Barry, 2004) (Beyond Intractability, 2003)
Utilitarian Justice
As suggested by philosophers Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill.
The Utilitarian theory of justice promotes social well-being or happiness. It's a system that wants to bring more good to society than any other system. However, it depends on various social, economic, and political facts. A utilitarian must understand the various possibilities, then determine their consequences and assess what options may be available. (Shaw, Barry, 2004)
Utilitarianism is a moral theory which claims that the right action is whatever action brings about the most utility of all the possible actions. Utility is a measure of what is valuable, and John Stuart Mill claims that the only thing which has inherent value is the happiness of individuals. Happiness is defined by Mill as pleasure minus pain, but this is not limited to physical pleasure and pain. Every person's happiness counts equally. So, the right action in a situation is the action whose consequences contain the greatest sum of future happiness that it is possible to create from that
INTRODUCTION
Justice is action in accordance with the requirements of law. It is suppose to ensure that all members of society receive fair treatment. Issues of justice arise in several different spheres and often play a significant role in causing, enabling, and addressing discord. The goal of the Justice System is to try to resolve and satisfy all these issues for the members of society. Injustice can lead to dissatisfaction, and/or rebellion. The different spheres express the principles of justice and fairness in their own way resulting in different types and concepts of justice. This paper will take a closer look at three justice theories based on our textbook "Moral Issues in Business", by William H. Shaw and Vincent Barry. I will then use these various theories to create an argument for a topic that will later be defined. (Shaw, Barry, 2004) (Beyond Intractability, 2003)
Utilitarian Justice
As suggested by philosophers Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill.
The Utilitarian theory of justice promotes social well-being or happiness. It's a system that wants to bring more good to society than any other system. However, it depends on various social, economic, and political facts. A utilitarian must understand the various possibilities, then determine their consequences and assess what options may be available. (Shaw, Barry, 2004)
Utilitarianism is a moral theory which claims that the right action is whatever action brings about the most utility of all the possible actions. Utility is a measure of what is valuable, and John Stuart Mill claims that the only thing which has inherent value is the happiness of individuals. Happiness is defined by Mill as pleasure minus pain, but this is not limited to physical pleasure and pain. Every person's happiness counts equally. So, the right action in a situation is the action whose consequences contain the greatest sum of future happiness that it is possible to create from that
References: Shaw, W. H, Barry, V. Moral Issues in Business, Ninth Edition. Wadsworth, 2004 Maiese, M. Beyond Intractability Types of Justice, 2003. Retrieved on 4/4/05 from http://www.beyondintractability.org/m/types_of_justice.jsp UTLITARIANISM. John Stuart Mill. Retrieved on 4/9/05 from http://www.utilitarianism.com/mill1.htm Lamont, J. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Libertarian Principles Sept. 8, 2003. Retrieved on 4/10/05 from http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/justice-distributive/ Jedicke, P. John Rawls Theory of Justice, 1997 Retrieved on 4/11/05 from http://infotech.fanshawec.on.ca/faculty/jedicke/rawls.htm