Harm, Property, and Justice

FAIN: FB-12604-75

Craig R. Goodrum
Illinois State University (Normal, IL 61790-0001)

To explore the thesis that a defensible theory of social justice can be developed from the moral principles governing harm and property. Several modern theories of social justice purport to assess the justness of a society ok the world simply by determining the pattern of distribution of wealth, status, power, happiness, etc. The fairness of a procedure depends in part on the resulting distribution of harms produced by the procedure. However, the justness of a whole society cannot be determined simply by considering the overall pattern of loses and benefits in the society.