Justice

Aristotle (384-322 BC) is an ancient philosopher with influential views on justice: “The notion that we identify the norms appropriate to social practices by trying to grasp the characteristic end, or purpose, of those practices is at the heart of Aristotle’s theory of justice” (98). Sandel devotes a full chapter to Aristotle’s views.

Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) is a powerful and influential philosopher who offers a theory of rights that “depends on the idea that we are rational beings, worthy of dignity and respect” (103). He “emphasizes the distinction between persons (worthy of respect) and mere objects or things (open to use) as the fundamental distinction in morality” (97). His first major book, The Critique of Pure Reason, challenged the empiricism of Hume and Locke. He then published Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morals, a critique of utilitarianism that also provided a basis for the modern idea of universal human rights. Sandel devotes a full chapter to Kant’s views.

John Rawls (1921-2002) is an American political philosopher. He is a “member of the freedom camp who rejects the libertarian account of justice” (96). In his book, A Theory of Justice, he argues that “the way to think about justice is to ask what principles we would agree to in an initial situation of equality” (140).He also argues for the liberal conception of neutrality of government on moral issues, but he later “recast his theory in some respects” in a 1993 book called Political Liberalism (247). Sandel devotes a full chapter to Rawls’s views.

John Stuart Mill (1806-1873) was a disciple of Jeremy Bentham. He tried to “reconcile individual rights with the utilitarian philosophy” (49). In his book On Liberty, he argued that “people should be free to do whatever they want, provided they do no harm to others” (49).

Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832) was an English moral philosopher and legal reformer who founded the doctrine of utilitarianism. He proposed the Panopticon, a prison that would be run from a central tower where a supervisor could watch the inmates without being seen. He also proposed a workhouse for the poor, which he argued would maximize happiness by reducing the number of poor on the street, even if they would be happier on the street than in the workhouse.

Friedrich A. Hayek (1899-1992), an Austrian economist and philosopher, wrote The Constitution of Liberty, in which he argued that the welfare state “was bound to be coercive and destructive of a free society” (61).

In his book Capitalism and Freedom, Milton Friedman (1912-2006), an American economist, argued, that “many widely accepted state activities are illegitimate infringements on individual freedom,” including Social Security and minimum-wage laws (61).In his book Free to Choose, he argued in favor of laissez-faire principles but also conceded that those who “grow up in wealthy families and attend elite schools have an unfair advantage over those from less privileged backgrounds,” as do those who “inherit talents and gifts” (164).

The author of Anarchy, State and Utopia, Robert Nozick argued for limited government on the basis of individual rights. 

Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778) was an Austrian Enlightenment political theorist. He argued, in The Social Contract, that “turning a civic duty into a marketable good” undermines freedom (86).

John Locke (1632-1704) was a proponent of property rights and limited government. His theory of inalienable rights relied on religion.