Question

*Justice - fulfillment of legitimate expectations.

* Paul Heyne

Justice Example: Society has a legitimate expectation that you will study in school and graduate from high school, etc.

Unjust Act Example: Not washing one's hands after using the bathroom.

Legitimacy: Society determines what is legitimate via its institutions.

How would you define "justice?" (Do not use any words that you cannot define.) Comment of Heyne's definition.

(Note: Heyne did not have a degree in economics, but a Doctorate of Divinity from the University of Chicago. He devoted much of his life trying to define justice.)

Answer 1

Ans) Paul Theodore Heyne promoted economics through his interest in justice, free market, social issues and religion.

Justice is something talked about by many without knowing the real meaning of it. It is because they assume that others will also understand justice in their words.

Main question of justice that has been debated over centuries is inequality. In economics inequality of income is most debated.

Inequality in income simply do not reflect the poor living conditions as income inequality exist in rich countries but still people can afford cars, houses and other luxuries in contrast to poor countries where income inequality may mean subsistence crisis.

Next if we consider old age, obviously the income of an old man will be less , cetrius paribus. It is no doubt inequality but not injustice.

Rather it would be unjust to ask a highly skilled worker to do less skilled job due to low current income.

Size of family also affects the income and significance of welfare. This can be considered as inequality but again it is not injustice.

If one wants to address the problem of inequality, one should know the limit, simply "less" is not enough.

The other question that arises is the "need" . Distribution of income is not enough. Poverty is the consequence of low productivity and not unequal distribution. No amount of redistribution can address the problem of need in a poor country. Whereas in rich country the definition of need is ever evolving and include many things available at that time apart from just food and shelter.

Other is the ground of entitlement, what should be the grounds to allocate different services or positions or other things in an economy.

According to Heynes, Justice is fulfilment of legitimate expectations and injustice will be served if promise of fulfilling legitimate expectations is broken.

Accordingly, Justice is a relative term. Its meaning changes from one sphere to the other and same rules cannot be applied in all the situations. What is just for me may not be just for someone else. Hence, it is best to serve the legitimate rights of people. This definition of justice can be largely applicable.

Justice can hence be called as a moral concept that thrives to serve larger good according to the prevailing conditions.

No concept can be completely just or unjust. It depends upon the perception and its applicability.