This essay will talk about the meanings of freedom, equality and justice. It will also address that why these ideas are matter, by exploring the context of these meanings. . The word liberalism comes from a Latin word `liber`, which means a class of free men (Heywood, 2012). According to Hoffman and Graham (2015), liberalism became the world`s dominant ideology (Hoffman & Graham, 2015). Liberalism gives priority to `the right` over `the good` (Heywood, 2012). The concept of political freedom is sharply relevant to the concept of civil liberties and human rights. The base of democratic society is that the state has to stand for every citizen`s freedom with any available resource, such as institutional, legal or moral.
Liberalism has a set of
Justice is about giving someone what he deserves (Heywood, 2012). According to Heywood(2012), “Justice is a moral standard of fairness and impartiality…” (Heywood, 2012, p. 33). Liberal theory of justice is based on a belief of equality (Heywood, 2012). Equal opportunity means that employment and services should be equally accessible for everyone. The two principles of justice are stand for to match society`s judgements about what is just and unjust (Farrelly, 2004).
One of the leading political philosophers, John Rawls` foundational idea was that justice is a demand of fairness. Fairness is a demand for impartiality (Sen, 2010). His work, Theory of Justice (1970) is based on the idea of justice and fairness, and he argues that it is the basic structure of society (Hoffman & Graham, 2015). Rawls presents justice as fairness as a `political conception of justice` (Farrelly, 2004). In his Theory of Justice there are two main principles of justice. The first is equal liberty, means that each individual has the right to free speech, to vote or fair trial. The second ones are equal opportunity, and difference principle (Hoffman & Graham, 2015). It is also known as distributive economic justice. Rawls argued that however every human beings are born equal, sometimes they end up being unequal because of the social circumstances they grow up in, and the different opportunities they get (Boucher & Kelly, 2009). These different circumstances can result in unequal earnings and wealth distribution. Income inequality undermining the aim of equal opportunity. Child poverty is a global issue, according to the National Equality Panel report (Child Poverty Action Group,
Equality in American Democracy American democracy changed drastically after the Civil War. One of the major changes in American democracy was equality. Today, American citizens are more equal than the Americans before the Civil War. Major movements, events, and government decisions changed the way people view equality today. Some of these changes improved the equality between American citizens, but others only increased the inequality.
John Rawls is considered one of the most important political philosophers of the 20th century. His most famous work is on his theory of justice, which was later made into the book Justice as Fairness edited by Erin Kelly. In his work, Rawls sets out to discover what set of principles would best govern a just society. Rawls looks at the idea of a social contract, a concept first developed by philosophers John Locke and Kean Jacques Rousseau. Rawls, however, sets out to revive the social contract to create a realistic utopia that embodies the fair principles of justice. This approach holds that the society is in some sense an agreement among all those within the society on what constitutes a just society. Rawls believes that the fairest society would agree on his two principles of justice. Through his work, Rawls illustrates how and why a fair society would come to agree on these fair principles of justice, and at exactly what restrictions and presuppositions.
Why does it matter? Why do humans harp on the topics of justice and equality consistently? The answers to above mentioned questions aren’t easy to formulate, and they open up a door to greater questions about morality, humanity and so forth. Humans live in a cooperative society. The aim of this body of organization is to advance as a whole and individually simultaneously. John Rawls’ states this goal of human society in Distributive Justice published in 1979: “We may think of the human society as a more or less self-sufficient association regulated by a common conception of justice and aimed at advancing the good of its members.” Hence, our society is shaped by an idea of justice – one that is applicable to all members of this society, and this set conception of justice promotes the advancement of the society and the individuals living in
John Rawls most famous work, A Theory of Justice deals with a complex system of rules and principles. It introduces principles of justice to the world, principles which Rawls argues, are meant to create and strengthen equality while remove the inequality which exists within society. These principles are both meant as standalone laws and regulations but they can be joined as well. The main function of the first principle is to ensure the liberty of every individual while the second principle is meant to be the force for the removal of inequality through what Rawls calls distributive justice.
The Ferguson vs. Missouri caught the attention of U.S. It was all over the social media, to be exact Twitter. After the fatal shooting of an unarmed African-American, Michael Brown, there was a peaceful protest for the incident. According to McGraw-Hill dictionary of American Idioms “step up” means to increase on something. The peaceful protest was a step up for Brown’s supporters. David Banner, a rapper, tweeted “The men and women on the front line have done their jobs. It’s time for teachers, politicians, and the elite to step up.” The local community stepped up in the case of Brown by peacefully protesting but later became a tragic event of looting and destroying property. It was the alleged reason that caused the
In a truly just society, justice would lead to a heightening of the vulnerable patients making their health perhaps the only position of their life that is no longer vulnerable. Until social justice is applied to our geopolitical stage, gender and ethnicity differences will continue to limit work opportunities and fair pay. But, if we were to get the health component right, their health would not be a compounding factor in their vulnerability. Instead, good health can help to establish one’s capabilities to explore opportunities and better their lives. Whether it is Nussbaum’s (2000) exhaustive list of 10 essential capabilities or liberalism’s primary good (Almgren, 2013, p. 35), good health and well-being enables a person to fulfill their
Freedom is having the right to own, act, think, and speak without any restrictions from the outside. Ever since the New World was discovered, people have been fighting for their independence till this day. People of other colors and race have been forced to do labor without their consent. Today, those same people have been blamed or accused of crimes that were not committed by them despite of being free. Freedom has different meanings and those meanings change overtime; however sometimes the significance of freedom does not change.
The Charter of Rights and Freedom is bill of rights that was added in Constitution of Canada. The Charter of Rights and freedom became a law on April 17th in 1982, and it was signed by Queen Elizabeth II. Firstly, The Charter of Rights and Freedoms has positive effects on Canadian society, for example people have more freedom. However, the Charter also has some negative effects for example judges were given the power to break the laws that does not apply on them. Furthermore, the “Charter of Rights and Freedoms” are important for multiculturalism in Canada. The Charter of Rights and Freedoms is important in Canadian society and has many positive and negative effects.
John Rawls’ Theory of Justice attempts to establish a fair and reasonable social account of social justice. To do this, he discusses two fundamental principles of justice, which if implemented into society, would guarantee a just and fair way of life. Rawls is mostly concerned with the social good (what is good and just), and his aim with the Theory of Justice is to provide a way that society could be one that is fair and just, while taking into consideration, a person’s primary goods (rights and liberties, opportunities, income and wealth, and the social bases of self-respect). The usage of these principles will lead to an acceptable basis of self-respect. That saying, if the two principles are fair and just, then the final primary good,
John Rawls’ A Theory of Justice presents an ideal society based on several simple principles. While the system Rawls suggests is well constructed, it is not without its flaws. I will now attempt to explain Rawls’ idea of Justice as Fairness and explain where the system fails.
Social Justice, according to the Department of Government and Justice Studies, means that “all people share a common humanity and therefore have a right to equitable treatment” (“What is Social Justice?”). For me, social justice is a willingness to understand that every person has needs, which include safety, security, health, and equality opportunity for learning. Providing affordable housing to every person in the United States is something social justice advocates have always striven for, but we still have such a long way to go.
“Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness” a well-known phrase from the Declaration of Independence puts forth the idea that the United States of America was built, partially, on the idea of “happiness” for all Americans. This idea of happiness, however, has no set definition, to some happiness comes from power, wealth, emotion, helping, to others it comes in the form of achievement of a major or minor goal they have set in their lives. Designed by those who strive for it, happiness takes on the life and purpose that a particular person strives for, provided that it follows lawful means of attainment. Personally, I believe that true happiness stems from contentment, fellowship with others and belief.
Liberal philosopher, John Rawls, has been credited as being one of the largest contributors to the field of social justice of the twentieth century. In his book `Justice as Fairness', Rawls describes his views on the issue of justice in a social sense and outlines the major features of his theory of justice. From his discussions on this topic, one could derive a legitimate assumption of how Rawls' would apply his views on justice to the question of how we should respond to poverty, this I have done in the final segment of my essay.
John Rawls’ A Theory of Justice holds that a rational, mutually disinterested individual in the Original Position and given the task of establishing societal rules to maximise their own happiness throughout life, is liable to choose as their principles of justice a) guaranteed fundamental liberties and b) the nullification of social and economic disparities by universal equality of opportunities, which are to be of greatest benefit to the least advantaged members of society , . Rawls’ system of societal creation has both strengths and weaknesses, but is ultimately sound.
Women have fought for equal rights since the early 1820s and 1830s. There is a strong commitment to equality between women and men in the law. Equality among men and women has gone on for several centuries and nothing has been done about it. Providing equal rights within men and women may decrease pressure on both men and women of what their stereotypical jobs should be. If equal rights would release pressure on all humans, then why are women treated as the subdominant sex? Women should have the same rights as men and to do this it is up to the entire human race to work together to fight for equality between men and women.