Justice and Fairness

Justice and Fairness
Is Justice Part of the Central Core of Morality?

Justice means giving each person what he or she deserves.
Justice and fairness are closely related terms, they are often used interchangeably
"Justice” and “Fairness" are not the Same Thing.

Justice should be defined as adherence to rules of conduct
(behavior). An example of justice is someone being set free from
prison after DNA evidence shows they are innocent.
Fairness should be defined as individuals' moral evaluations of this
conduct.
Ex: Treating all people equally and applying reasonable
punishments only when rules are broken is an example of fairness.
A useful distinction is that justice is objective, while fairness is
subjective. A judge's sentence may be just, because it is based on a
law that is the same for all, and yet not seem fair because it fails to
take circumstances into account.
Why questions of justice or fairness arise?

When people differ over what they believe should be given, or when decisions
have to be made about how benefits and burdens should be distributed among a
group of people, questions of justice or fairness inevitably arise.
In fact, most ethicists today hold the view that there would be no point of talking
about justice or fairness if it were not for the conflicts of interest that are created
when goods and services are scarce and people differ over who should get what.
When such conflicts arise in our society, we need principles of justice that we can
all accept as reasonable and fair standards for determining what people deserve.
How to determine what people deserve?
Principles of Justice
Aristotle: “equals should be treated equally and unequals unequally”
Today it is expressed as follows:
“individuals should be treated the same, unless they differ in ways that are
relevant to the situation in which they are involved
For example,
if Jack and Jill both do the same work, and there are no relevant differences
between them or the work they are doing, then in justice they should be paid the
same wages. And if Jack is paid more than Jill simply because he is a man, or
because he is white, then we have an injustice—a form of discrimination—because
race and sex are not relevant to normal work situations.
There are, however, many differences that we deem as justifiable criteria for
treating people differently.
- For example, we think it is fair and just when a parent gives his own
children more attention and care in his private affairs than he gives the
children of others;
- we think it is fair when the person who is first in a line at a theater is given
first choice of theater tickets;
- we think it is just when the government gives benefits to the needy that it
does not provide to more affluent citizens;
- we think it is just when some who have done wrong are given punishments
that are not given to others who have done nothing wrong; and
- we think it is fair when those who exert more efforts or who make a greater
contribution to a project receive more benefits from the project than others.
On the other hand, there are also criteria that we believe are not justifiable
grounds for giving people different treatment.
- In the world of work, for example, we generally hold that it is unjust to give
individuals special treatment on the basis of age, sex, race, or their religious
preferences.
- If the judge's nephew receives a suspended sentence for armed robbery when
another offender unrelated to the judge goes to jail for the same crime,
- or the brother of the Director of Public Works gets the million dollar
contract to install sprinklers on the municipal golf course despite lower bids
from other contractors, we say that it's unfair.
- We also believe it isn't fair when a person is punished for something over
which he or she had no control, or isn't compensated for a harm he or she
suffered.
Different Kinds of Justice

Distributive Justice: refers to the amount to which society’s institutions ensure
that benefits and burdens are distributed among society’s members in ways that
there are fair and just, if not, those institutions should be changed.
Retributive or corrective Justice: refers to the extent to which punishments are
fair and just (crimes):
- It is unjust to chop off a person’s hand for stealing.
- To impose death penalty on a person who accidently injured another
person.
- when blacks murder whites, they are much more likely to receive death
sentences than when whites murder whites or blacks murder blacks.
Compensatory Justice: refers the extent to which people are fairly compensated
for their injuries by those who have injured them.
John Rawls:
The stability of a society or any group depends upon the extent to which the
members of that society feel that they are being treated justly.
When some of the society’s member feel that they are subject to unequal treatment,
the foundations have been laid for social unrest, disturbances, and strife.
Conclusion
Justice is an expression of our mutual recognition of each other’s basic dignity, and
an acknowledgement that if we are to live together in an interdependent
community we must treat each other as equals

Justice and Fairness

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Justice and Fairness

Is Justice Part of the Central Core of Morality?

"Justice” and “Fairness" are not the Same Thing.

Why questions of justice or fairness arise?

Different Kinds of Justice

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