Contemporary theories of justice
A compact and personal overview
Philippe Van Parijs
14 October 2010
Lovanium Seminar in Ethics and Public Policy
(Toon Vandevelde & Philippe Van Parijs
Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Hoger Instituut voor Wijsbegeerte
Université catholique de Louvain, Chaire Hoover d’éthique économique et sociale
1. Conceptions of justice as real freedom for all
1. Egalitarian (equality as baseline: deviation needs justification)
(“equal concern”/”solidarity”)
a. Responsibility-sensitive (and hence opportunity-egalitarian)
(equal potential, capability, real freedom, etc. rather than outcome)
b. Efficiency-sensitive (and hence lax-egalitarian)
(sustainable maximin, leximin, etc. rather than equality at all cost)
2. Liberal in 2 senses
a. “moral impartiality”
(“equal respect”/”toleration”/ “neutrality”)
b. Liberty constraint
(“self-ownership”, “fundamental liberties”, “human rights”, etc.
Question: dignity constraint (social bases of self-respect, partiy of
esteem, etc.)
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Peter Singer
2. Four conceptions left out
1. Utilitarianism:
maximization of aggregate welfare
Robert Nozick
2. Libertarianism:
respect for natural rights of ownership
over oneself and external objects
Gerald Cohen
3. Marxism:
abolition of alienation and/or exploitation
Michael Sandel
Charles Taylor
4. Communitarianism:
pursuit of the common good
Michael Walzer
3. Conceptions of justice
as real freedom for all
A. Equalization of endowments
(Dworkin, Varian, Arneson, Ackerman, Sen)
B. Maximal expectations for the least fortunate
(John Rawls, A Theory of Justice)
C. Equalization of achievement across types
(John Roemer, Equality of Opportunity)
D. Maximal gift for the least indulged
(Philippe Van Parijs, Real Freedom for All)
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A. Equalization of endowments
1. Equal earning power
(Hal Varian)
2. Equal opportunity for welfare
(Richard Arneson)
6. Equal basic
capabilities
(Amartya Sen)
5. Undominated diversity
(Bruce Ackerman)
3. Equal resources
(Ronald Dworkin)
4. Counterfactual
insurance for
ordinary handicaps
(Ronald Dworkin)
B. Maximal expectations for the least fortunate
John Rawls’s Theory of Justice [1971],
as clarified in his Justice as Fairness [2001]
1. Fundamental liberties
2a. Difference principle:
maximization of expectations of social
and economic advantages for those in
the worst social position
2b. Fair Equality of Opportunity:
equal access to social positions for
given talents
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C. Equalization across types
John Roemer’s Equality of opportunity
[1999]
inspired by his earlier General Theory of
Exploitation and Class [1981]
• Types are values of discrete variables
out of people’s control (e.g. IQ, place of
birth, mother’s education)
• Equalities are equalized if one’s type
has no impact on one’s expected
achievement (e.g. educational success,
health state)
D. Maximal gift for the least
indulged
Philippe Van Parijs’s Real
Freedom for All [1995]
• Even jobs are gifts
• The value of a gift is its
opportunity cost
• Maximize the value of what is
received by those who receive
least
• For this purpose, sustainably
maximize a universal basic
income
Bibliography
Ackerman Bruce A. [1980], Social Justice in the Liberal State, New Haven et Londres, Yale
University Press.
Arneson Richard J. [1989], “ Equality and Equal Opportunity for Welfare ”, Philosophical Studies,
vol. 56, p. 77–93.
Cohen Gerald A. [1999], If You Are An Egalitarian, How Come You Are So Rich ?, Cambridge,
Harvard University Press.
Dworkin Ronald [2000], Sovereign Virtue. Cambridge (Mass): Harvard UP.
Freeman Samuel [2002] (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to John Rawls, New York, Cambridge
University Press.
Nozick Robert [1974], Anarchy, State and Utopia, Oxford, Blackwell. Trad. franç. : Anarchie,
Etat et utopie, PUF, 1988.
Rawls John [1971], A Theory of Justice, Cambridge (MA), Harvard University Press, 1972. Trad.
franç. : Théorie de la justice, Seuil, 1987.
Roemer John E. [1998], Equality of Opportunity, Cambridge (MA), Harvard University Press.
Sandel Michael [1982], Liberalism and the Limits of Justice, Cambridge, Cambridge University
Press.
Sen Amartya [1985]. Commodities and Capabilities, Amsterdam, North–Holland.
Sen Amartya [2009], The Idea of Justice, London, Penguin & Cambridge, Mass: Harvard UP..
Steiner Hillel [1994], An Essay on Rights, Oxford, Blackwell.
Taylor Charles [1992], The Malaise of Modernity, Concord (Ontario).
Van Parijs Philippe [1995], Real Freedom for All. What (if anything) Can Justify Capitalism ?,
Oxford, Oxford University Press.
Van Parijs, Philippe. 2009. « Egalitarian justice, left libertarianism and the market », in The
Anatomy of Justice. Themes from the Political Philosophy of Hillel Steiner (I. Carter, S. de Wijze
& M. Kramer eds.), London: Routledge, 145-162.
Walzer Michael [1983], Spheres of Justice, New York, Basic Books. Trad. franç. : Les Sphères de
la justice, Seuil, 1995.
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