Doing the right thing - Justice and the common good

5 important questions on Doing the right thing - Justice and the common good

Why should justice and rights accommodate conceptions of 'the good life'? (2)

1 It's not always possible to decide questions of justice and rights without resolving substantive moral questions
2 Even where it's possible, it may not be desirable.

Explain the 3 approaches to justice? (vwf) Belangrijk!

1 Maximizing utility/welfare: the greatest happiness for the greatest group
2 Freedom of choice: either the actual choices people make in a free market (libertarian view) or the hypothetical choices people would make in an original position of equality (liberal egalitarian view)
3 Cultivating virtue: reasoning about the common good (Sandel).

Describe the 2 objections to maximizing utility?

1 It makes justice and rights a matter of calculation, not principle
2 Trying to translate all human goods into a single, uniform measure of value flattens them, and takes no account for the qualitative differences among them.
  • Higher grades + faster learning
  • Never study anything twice
  • 100% sure, 100% understanding
Discover Study Smart

Describe Sandels opinion regarding a just society:

A just society can't be achieved simply by maximizing utility or securing freedom of choice. We have to reason together about the meaning of the good life, and to create a public culture hospitable to the disagreements that will inevitably arise. Justice is inescapably judgmental, independent where we're talking about (f.e. military service or same-sex marriage).

How does Sandel describe justice?

Justice is not only about the right way to distribute things. It is also about the right way to value things. A politics of moral engagement is not only a more inspiring ideal than a politics of avoidance. It is also a more promising basis for a just society.

The question on the page originate from the summary of the following study material:

  • A unique study and practice tool
  • Never study anything twice again
  • Get the grades you hope for
  • 100% sure, 100% understanding
Remember faster, study better. Scientifically proven.
Trustpilot Logo