PHM-Exch> The Idea of Justice - A. Sen

[Claudio Schuftan]

From: Ruggiero, Mrs. Ana Lucia (WDC) <ruglucia at paho.org>
forwarded from: EQUIDAD at listserv.paho.org


 *The Idea of Justice*

*Amartya Sen*

The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press

Cambridge, Massachusetts – 2009



Excerpt PDF [19P.] at: http://www.hup.harvard.edu/pdf/SENIDE_excerpt.pdf

Website: http://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog/SENIDE.html?show=reviews

“….A major critical analysis and synthesis. Sen's inclusive approach
transcends the many important scholars and viewpoints that he analyzes. *The
Idea of Justice* presents a set of considerations on justice of importance
to both the academic community and to the world of policy formation….”
   --*Kenneth Arrow, Nobel Laureate in Economics, Stanford University*

“……justice is not a monolithic ideal but a pluralistic notion with many
dimensions. Yet Western philosophers have seen justice largely in singular,
utopian terms. Hobbes, Locke and Kant, for example, wove their notions of
justice around an imaginary "social contract" between the citizens and the
state. A "just society" is produced through perfectly just state
institutions and social arrangements and the right behaviour of the
citizens.

Sen identifies two serious problems with this "arrangement focussed"
approach. First, there is no reasoned agreement on the nature of a "just
society". Second, how would we actually recognise a "just society" if we saw
one? Without some framework of comparison it is not possible to identify the
ideal we need to pursue.

Furthermore, this approach is of no help in resolving basic issues of
injustice. How would you reason, for example, that slavery was an
intolerable injustice in a framework that concerned itself with right
institutions and right behaviour? How would we ensure that well-established
and cheaply producible drugs were available to the poor patients of Aids in
developing countries? When faced with stark injustice, the contractual
approach turns out to be both redundant and unfeasible. …”
*The Independent –UK
<http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/book-of-the-week-the-idea-of-justice-by-amartya-sen-1774900.html>
Book
Of The Week: The Idea of Justice, By Amartya Sen  - Reviewed by Ziauddin
Sardar*

*Contents*

*Introduction An Approach to Justice *

*
Part i*

*The Demands of Justice*

1 Reason and Objectivity

2 Rawls and Beyond

3 Institutions and Persons

4 Voice and Social Choice

5 Impartiality and Objectivity

6 Closed and Open Impartiality

*Part ii*

*Forms of Reasoning*

7 Position, Relevance and Illusion

8 Rationality and Other People

9 Plurality of Impartial Reasons

10 Realizations, Consequences and Agency

*Part iii*

*The Materials of Justice*

11 Lives, Freedoms and Capabilities

12 Capabilities and Resources

13 Happiness, Well-being and Capabilities

14 Equality and Liberty

*Part iv*

*Public Reasoning and Democracy*

15 Democracy as Public Reason

16 The Practice of Democracy

17 Human Rights and Global Imperatives

18 Justice and the World
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