Social Justice and the Metaphor of Gaps

Abstract

"The doctrine of social justice is a rather curious name for the project of equalising the access of all citizens to whatever is valuable. It is a curious name because justice traditionally means that individuals have rights to something they are entitled to, and this is commonly defined in terms of custom and law, though justice may also be used as a moral judgement based on a less definite kind of value. Social justice however argues injustice on the mere fact of inequality. To be human is to deserve to enjoy whatever anyone else enjoys. The element of desert has dropped out, though some qualifications based on economic functionality may often be recognised. A great deal of modern political philosophy consists in variations on this theme."(...)