17 - Duties of Justice

Summary

From the standpoint of the universe, all grounds are on a par. However, we must ask not only what duties they generate for agents, but also how agents should prioritize principles of justice that apply to them. The multiplicity of grounds might be problematic at the level of assignments of duties. With a focus on the state as duty bearer, I introduce a general approach to conceptualizing duties of justice within the grounds-of-justice approach. A theory of global justice that recognizes multiple grounds requires a complex view of duty bearers. It takes a differentiated vocabulary to outline duties of diverse agents. Key themes are “refraining” from injustices and “respecting” and “supporting” justice. For agents, not all principles are on a par. For institutions, their own concerns of justice get top priority by default. Adjudication principles help us to consider how the remaining principles apply to the agent.