Callista wrote:
Adamantium wrote:
Davvo7 wrote:
'Justice' doesn't necessarily have to be about criminal matters, indeed I am usually more concerned about social justice, or more accutately social injustice.
Justice for the 96. YNWA.
A concern for fairness and egalitarianism is also rational.
Very rational.
I am reminded of... I can't remember the philosopher's name now, but it was somebody famous... It's this idea that, if you want to create a fair society, then you need to create it without knowledge of which position you'll occupy in that society. You want to make a world where you could land anywhere--as anyone--and still get respect, fair treatment, and human rights, whether you're a highly skilled worker, a criminal, a child, illiterate or well-read, religious or not, man or woman, majority or minority race and culture.
The point of the argument is that, in a realistic world, everybody can't have everything, because there's scarcity--but there are arrangements that are fairer than others. (By the way--just dividing physical resources equally doesn't work; it doesn't take into account motivation. But dividing opportunity equally--or equally enough that everyone is given enough to reach the bottom rung of a ladder where he can start to pull himself up--is a much more workable proposition.)
After all, nobody really knows what may happen to them tomorrow. We are injured; we grow old; we become unpopular; we become poor. Even from the most selfish perspective, it makes sense to insist on equal rights for everyone, because the rights you protect today may be the rights you depend on tomorrow.
I don't see it like that. Even if I was never going to be poor, wronged, minority, etc and knew it (so not be in position of needing the rights I am defending) I would still fight for justice.
for me justice is rational because things like fairness and equal rights are actually complicated concepts and complex philosophies. If you stop to think about it, those are not obvious concepts either. They require reason. And the most prominent thinkers of every society pondered about those things (what is moral? How should we behave? What is fair?), usually not much the average person. (but it depended on other things as well, like free time) So yes, it is a matter of reason.
also about the penultimate paragraph, this equal opportunity thing is my idea of society. Something that can actually be done, it is giving everyone equal rights and opportunities like good public schools. So there is still the competition but those that have the talents and work hard may succeed (everyone with the minimal and receiving same level of education), but if you can't for some reason there is some help from the State. Societies like western civilization is walking in this path but it is still far, specially for people not acknowledging gay rights, the religious extremists, clash with immigrants etc
13 Apr 2014, 4:57 am
