POLITICAL SCIENCE

ASSIGNMENT

TOPIC :

JUSTICE : DIMENSIONS

& RAWLS CONCEPT

SUBMITTED BY :

PRAJJWAL BARANWAL

B.A.LL.B.(Reg.)1st sem.

INTRODUCTION

Justice is the highest good of political life yet it is injustice which dominates
political debates. It is easier to identify and deplore injustice than to define
precisely what is ‘just’. Different ideologies have produced radically different
theories of justice. It is a kind of ultimate concept, a value to which either
other values are sub-ordinated or the value which synthesizes other political

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values like rights, liberty, equality and property. In everyday language, ‘justice’ is
used so imprecisely that it is taken to mean ‘fairness’, ‘rightness’ or simply that
which is morally correct. Without doubt, justice is a moral or normative
concept, that which is ‘just’ is certainly morally ‘good’, and to call something
‘unjust’ is to condemn it as morally ‘bad’. But justice does not simply mean
‘moral’. Rather, it denotes a particular kind of moral judgement, in particular,
one about the distribution of rewards and punishments. In short, justice is about
giving each person what he or she is ‘due’. However, it is much more difficult
to define what that ‘due’ might be.

JUSTICE AS A DYNAMIC IDEA

The term justice implies the quality of being ‘just’, right’ or ‘reasonable’. It is
opposed to what is ’unjust’, ’wrong’ or ‘unreasonable’. It embodies an ideal
which is a kin to the absolute truth yet it is a dynamic idea because our
realization of that ideal and our comprehension of that absolute truth is a
continuous process. Our progress in this direction depends upon the
development of our social consciousness, so that what was regarded as ‘just’
some centuries ago is not so regarded today. Slavery and Serfdom were widely
‘justified’ in ancient and medieval Europe; untouchability was ‘justified’ in
India a few decades ago; the inferior status of women was taken for granted
the world over not so long ago; racial discrimination was justified till recently
in some parts of the world. But these conditions are now widely regarded as
‘unjust’. Our changing outlook about these problems and changing public
opinion in favour of human liberty and equality are ample proof of the
dynamic character of the idea of justice.

RAWLS CONCEPT OF JUSTICE

A thorough going attempt to formulate a general theory of justice is that of

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professor John Rawls of Harvard University. He writes mainly from the angle
of philosophy and political science rather than of law1 since its publication in
1971, it has received wide attention.

Professor Rawls assumed that society is a more or less self sufficient

association of persons, who in their mutual relations recognise as binding
certain rules of conduct specifying a system of cooperation. Principles of Social
Justice are necessary for making rational choice between various available
systems2. He makes a number of assumptions about these individuals such as –
i) all of them are mutually indifferent, as long as they satisfy their own
interest.

ii) they do not suffer from envy, in agreeing to form a society.

iii) they all seek to maximize satisfaction of their own interests like rights,
liberty, opportunities, income or wealth.
iv) they will be under a ‘veil of ignorance’ which prevents them from knowing
the full details of others’ talents.
This situation in which people find themselves is called by Rawls as ‘original
position’ in which everyone has ‘particular wisdom’ and ‘general ignorance’.
Rawls’ believe that the society chosen on these impartial grounds would be a
just society and the concept of justice arrived at would be ‘justice as fairness’.

At social and economic level, Rawls is in favour of redistributive justice. He

considers the proper function of government as not only to maintain a social
order but the achievement of distributive justice by placing the highest social
value on the need of the neediest. However, he does not believe in complete
egalitarian distribution. He advocates privileges and inequalities – not in the
utilitarian sense of maximization of social good – but in order to improve the
plight of the least advantaged. This is because according to Rawls, natural
abilities and circumstances of birth foster privileges and inequalities and since
such inequalities cannot be eliminated, a just society will seek to compensate

1
Rawls, John. A Theory of Justice. 1971
2
Rawls, John. A Theory of Justice. 1971, p. 4

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for the resulting privileges by investing its resources including the abilities of
the most talented in efforts assigned to improve the plight of the least
fortunate. To reward those endowed with superior ability would be arbitrary
justice. Justice properly understood calls not for rewarding those with superior
ability but for compensating those endowed with lesser ability. In short, justice
is not an ‘ethics of reward’ but an ‘ethics of redress.’3

DIMENSIONS OF JUSTICE
Concept of justice is not static as it varies from person to person. Keeping in view
the various concepts of justice., it may be classified into certain kinds, namely natural
justice, social justice, economic justice, political justice, legal justice, distributive justice
and corrective justice.,etc.

Social Justice :
Social Justice may be regarded as an important factor of social transformation. It
implies the absence of discrimination on the basis of caste, colour, religion etc. It also
prohibits forces creating artificial social barriers like those of untouchability. Social
justice demands equality along with liberty. Besides these, protection and improvement
of the weaker and downtrodden sections of the people, equitable distribution of the
necessities of life, etc. constitute Social Justice.

Political Justice:

Political justice prevails in a society where everyone has a share in the political
process. The essence of political justice as enshrined in the Constitution of India, is
the opportunity to all for taking part in the government of the state. The makers of
the Indian Constitution say that political justice involves Universal Adult Franchise
and no distinction be made on the grounds of religion, sex, caste, colour, etc. It also
ensures reasonable reservations and safeguards for the betterment of the minorities and
other weaker sections of the society.

3
Vermani, R.C. . An Introduction to Political Theory. Gitanjali Publishing House, p. 238

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Economic Justice :

The very concept of economic justice involves the idea of a socialistic pattern
of society. The idea of Indian Constitution is to establish a welfare state.
Therefore, economic justice has been accepted as one of the basic principles.
Nehru said, "I trust this Constitution itself will lead us to the real freedom that
we have clamoured for and that real freedom in turn, will bring food to our
starving people, clothing for them, housing for them and all manners of
opportunity of progress"4.

Legal Justice :
Justice must be supported by law. Legal justice implies justice given according to law
which again implies equality before law. It means no one can be above the law and
everybody should be equally punished for equal crimes. Barker says that law ought to
have both validity and value. Validity stands for sanction of law and law draws its
value from justice. The Courts of Law can give legal justice.

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Constituent Assembly Debates, Vol. II, p. 302