Preview

Rawls vs. Nozicks

Satisfactory Essays
Open Document
Open Document
302 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Rawls vs. Nozicks
Entitlement Theory. Stated simply, the theory states that "any distribution of “holdings,” as he calls them, no matter how unequal, is just if (and only if) it arises from a just distribution through legitimate means. One legitimate means is the appropriation of something that is un-owned in circumstances where the acquisition would not disadvantage others. A second means is the voluntary transfer of ownership of holdings to someone else. A third means is the rectification of past injustices in the acquisition or transfer of holdings. According to Nozick, anyone who acquired what he has through these means is morally entitled to it. Thus the “entitlement” theory of justice states that the distribution of holdings in a society is just if (and only if) everyone in that society is entitled to what he has."

Any distribution is only just if it arises from a distribution of legitimate means. 1) The act of taking something (with no disadvantage to others) that is un-owned a. 2) The voluntary transfer of an object to someone else. (an agreement is setup) b. You sell someone your car with an agreement of monthly payments. 3) the rectification of past injustices in the attainment or transfer of holdings. c. You agree to sell your car to someone with an agreement of monthly payments setup. The purchaser fails to pay the payments so you take back the car. You are considered morally allowed to own that car.

According to Nozick, anyone who acquired what he has through these means is morally entitled to it.
Also, distribution of holdings is allowed only if everyone in that society is entitled to what he has.

Principle of Justice: each person is to have an equal right to the most extensive basic liberty compatible with a similar liberty for others.

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    around the principle that all people are created equal and are deserving of equal rights and…

    • 585 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    There are also those who argue that the mini al state is too small and dos not facilitate the redistribution of resources and as such cannot address inequalities between citizens. The too small argument follows that if some people have more wealth than others do, those who lack resources will have an unjust limit of living good lives. Nozick’s reply is that this kind of distributive justice is unjust. The resources are not initially distributes and are acquired or created by individuals who can exchange them. Therefore, any distribution by the state would be redistribution, which would violate the rights of the individuals. To replace this account of distributive justice, Nozick provides the entitlement theory where he argues that for any possession of property to be just it must have been acquired through a just means. This argument advances the position held by Locke that individuals are entitled to claim property rights in free resources when they mix the resources with their labor. The transfer of the property must also be just and voluntary. If the current property holder created the property or received the property through a just transfer then they are entitled to the property. If all the individuals in a society are entitled to the property they hold then the distribution of property is just and any forcible redistribution would be unjust. Justice does not demand redistribution but demands respecting the distribution that exists when the conditions of the entitlement theory…

    • 891 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Morris describes that justice is generally seen as being owed to us or something that everyone deserves to have. He explains that humans generally have what he calls "circumstances of justice" which adults have moral obligations are owed certain moral considerations to each other. Justice consists of three basic moral rights: life, liberty, and property. When a person sacrifices there moral obligations (committing a crime) he or she must also sacrifice there rights (punishments). In his opinion, wrongdoers must lose some of there right by there acts.…

    • 282 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Distributive Justice Robert Nozick From Anarchy, State, and Utopia, 149-182, with omissions. Copyright @ 1974 by Basic Books, Inc. Reprinted by permission of Basic Books, a subsidiary of Perseus Books Group, LLC. The minimal state is the most extensive state that can be justified. Any state more extensive violates people's rights. Yet many persons have put forth reasons purporting to justify a more extensive state. It is impossible within the compass of this book to examine all the reasons that have been put forth. Therefore, I shall focus upon those generally acknowledged to be most weighty and influential, to see precisely wherein they fail. In this chapter we consider the claim that a more extensive state is justified, because necessary (or the best instrument) to achieve distributive justice; in the next chapter we shall take up diverse other claims. The term "distributive justice" is not a neutral one. Hearing the term "distribution," most people presume that some thing or mechanism uses some principle or criterion to give out a supply of things. Into this process of distributing shares some error may have crept. So it is an open question, at least, whether redistribution should take place; whether we should do again what has already been done once, though poorly. However, we are not in the position of children who have been given portions of pie by someone who now makes last minute adjustments to rectify careless cutting. There is no central distribution, no person or group entitled to control all the resources, jointly deciding how they are to be doled out. What each person gets, he gets from others who give to him in exchange for something, or as a gift. In a free society, diverse persons control different resources, and new holdings arise out of the voluntary exchanges and actions of persons. There is no more a distributing or distribution of shares than there is a distributing of mates in a society in which persons choose whom they shall marry. The total…

    • 5663 Words
    • 23 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    share pay for the necessities of life. As a result of this status, Ab and his…

    • 817 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    John Rawls bases his Theory of Justice on the intuitive conviction that justice as fairness is the first virtue of social institutions. He argues that in order to ensure fair distributions of advantages in society, a workable set of principles are required in order to determine how institutions ought to distribute rights and duties and to establish a clear way to address competing claims to social advantages. The second principle that Rawls develops stipulates that economic and social inequalities are justifiable so long as the requirements of fair equality of opportunity have been met and if they benefit the worst off in society. Rawls argues that the requirement of improving the conditions of the worst off, known as the Difference Principle,…

    • 786 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    The “principle of justice” itself is a law of the society we live in. In today’s world, every individual is born with various scenarios of what his or her life may become, and an individual starts to choose what he wants and needs for his/her scenario. It is like in a buffet, go and take what you want, but follow the rules. Nobody is allowed to steal from another plate, or kill in order to take somebody else’s plate, or take somebody’s plate by means of unlawful schemes and manipulation. People are still very unpredictable creatures. There are no strict laws that can predict human behavior without mistakes, like in math or physics. That is why people are responsible for the choices they make and can be punished for…

    • 1021 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Shaw and Barry

    • 932 Words
    • 4 Pages

    According to our text there are three basic principles that are the basis for Nozicks entitlement theory. The first of these states that a person who acquires a holding, in according with the principle of justice, in acquisition is entitled to that holding (Shaw & Barry, p.114).…

    • 932 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Business Ethics

    • 943 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Robert Nozick’s entitlement theory explains that people are entitled to their belongings only if they obtained…

    • 943 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Theory of Justice

    • 1209 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The theory of justice is a work of political philosophy and ethics by John Rawls. According to Gomez, philosopher John Rawls who lived between 1921- 2002, argued the notion of social justice as fairness in his book "A Theory of Justice." He used foundations of utilitarian and Kantian philosophy to create a possible technique to estimate the ethics of social and political institutions. The principles of justice theories was Rawls 's theory and it is dependent on two important and central principles of social justice that, according to Rawls, assures a just and morally acceptable society. The first principle of social justice states “every person has a right to the most basic liberties, same as any other person who has a right to the same liberties.” The second principle of social justice states “all people should have access to the same social and economic positions and be able to take advantage of them”.…

    • 1209 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    John Rawls Vs Nozick

    • 950 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Therefore, both philosophers judge a society is just by how thoroughly its laws and policies follow their respective models rather than whether those laws and policies achieve morally acceptable outcomes. A primary difference between the two philosophies is the legitimacy of wealth distribution. According to Nozick, the possession of economic and social goods is only justified if it was made by means of just acquisitions or voluntary transfer. As a result, any form of taxation of the rich to, in turn, improve the prospects of the impoverished is unjustified and a violation of natural rights because it was involuntarily taxed from the rich. Therefore, Nozick believes there should be no safety net or welfare programs in a just state because such programs represent a fundamental violation of natural rights. In addition, Nozick finds it impossible to suggest that merely because society benefits from social cooperation, the impoverished deserve a fraction of the earnings rightly made by the rich. However, Nozick does more or less retain Rawls’ first principle of justice. Both philosophers believe that everyone in a just society deserves equal basic liberties such as the freedom of speech, the freedom of religion, and the right to…

    • 950 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    What is Justice? Justice is a concept of moral rightness based on ethics; rationality, law, religion or fairness, as well as taking into account the inborn rights of all human beings and citizens, the right of all people and individuals to equal protection before the law of their civil rights, without discrimination. Justice is one of the great concerns of humankind. It is something for which people over centuries have been willing to struggle and even die. Examples of Justice are novels 12 Angry Men and The Green Mile.…

    • 510 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Justice is central to our law. Most would agree the law should be just, but justice is not easy to define. The concept has been studied by many philosophers all of whom have their own theories of what a just society should be.…

    • 3979 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    As American citizens, we withhold freedoms like no other country. When we begin to abuse these freedoms, that’s when injustice occurs. The definition of Injustice is lack of fairness. The late Dr. Martin Luther King, JR. stated that “Injustice anywhere is a threat to Justice everywhere.” There are many categories’ that can fall into Injustice.…

    • 729 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The concept of justice involves fair, just and equal treatment. These facets are found in a person’s personal, moral courage and integrity however fairness and equality can often be limited by prejudice and discrimination. This means that those who fall victim to injustice are not subjects because of their own actions but are rather victims of a system, society or collective action.…

    • 1309 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays