1 - Part I of A Theory of Justice – Theory

Summary

SOCIAL JUSTICE

The first section of A Theory of Justice is called “The Role of Justice,” and it begins with a bold assertion of the centrality of the virtue of justice: “Justice is the first virtue of social institutions, as truth is of systems of thought.” (TJ, 3/3) The claim is that while there may be other virtues of social institutions, they may not be achieved by sacrificing justice. If we must face a choice between justice and efficiency, for example, we are required to select justice. Justice and efficiency need not always conflict, however, and as long as we do not infringe on the requirements of justice, we may choose efficient institutional arrangements. It is important to notice that this initial announcement also indicates that the theory will primarily be a theory of the justice of social institutions. To be sure, there will be implications for individual conduct, but there are good reasons to start by considering social justice.

Having asserted the central importance of social justice, Rawls makes a further, even more dramatic claim concerning the content of social justice:

Each person possesses an inviolability founded on justice that even the welfare of society as a whole cannot override. For this reason justice denies that the loss of freedom for some is made right by a greater good shared by others. It does not allow that the sacrifices imposed on a few are outweighed by the larger sum of advantages by many.

(TJ, 3–4/3)