5 Theories of Justice

1. Justice
borrowed from
Michael Sandel’s
discussion guide

2. We study
Justice in
order to
understand
why people
believe what
they believe.

3. Utilitarian Concepts of Justice

4. 1) Torture, as a matter of
principle, is always
morally wrong.
True or false?

5. 2) The right action is the
one that helps the most
and hurts the least.
True or false?

6. 3) It is always, and
everywhere, wrong to
cause another person's
death - assuming they
wish to stay alive - if this
outcome is avoidable.
True or false?

7. 4: If you can save the lives of
innocent people without
reducing the sum total of
human happiness, and
without putting your own life
at risk, you are morally
obliged to do so.
True or false?

8. A moral philosophy which
states that a particular action
is moral if it results in the
greatest UTILITY for the
greatest number compared to
the alternatives.
Utilitarianism

9. Number
who
Experience
Pleasure
What is Utility?
Number
who
Experience
Suffering
—
Jeremy
Bentham

10. Number
who
Experience
Pleasure
What is Utility?
Number
who
Experience
Suffering
—
John Stuart
Mill

11. What is Utility?
Reduction
in total
Suffering
Negative

12. Consequentialist Ethics
A moral philosophy which
states that a particular action
is moral if it results in the
greatest utility for the greatest
number compared to the
alternatives.

13. Suppose ten thousand innocent
civilians live next to a munitions
factory in a country at war. If you
bomb the factory, all of them will die.
If you don’t bomb the factory, it will
be used to produce bombs that will be
dropped on fifty thousand innocent
civilians in another country. What’s
the right thing to do? Does
utilitarianism get the right answer?

14. Suppose a man has planted a
bomb in New York City, and it will
explode in twenty-four hours
unless the police are able to find it.
Should it be legal for the police to
use torture to extract information
from the suspected bomber? Does
utilitarianism get the right
answer?

15. When is utilitarianism correct and
when is it not? Why? Can
something be for the “greater
good” and still be wrong?

16. `Kantian concepts of Justice
Immanuel Kant

17. `
Imagine a storekeeper
who could cheat a young
child who comes to her
shop but decides not to
because she’s worried
her customers find out.
Is she acting morally?

18. `
Imagine a teacher who
loves helping children
because it makes him
feel good.
Is he acting morally?

19. `
Suppose someone
rescues a child from
drowning because he
wants a reward.
Is he acting morally?

20. `
What should we consider as a law of
morality?
The Categorical Imperative--
"Act only according to that maxim
whereby you can, at the same time,
will that it should become a
universal law.

21. `
Deontological Ethics
A moral philosophy that
holds that people have a
duty to follow all moral
principles derived by
human reason.

22. `
What about freedom and its
connection to justice?
•Is a person who is addicted to
cigarettes free?
•Is a person who eats a boatload of
pistachio ice cream free ?
•If the government tries to stop
people from buying large sodas are
they restricting freedom?

23. `Libertarian concepts of Justice

24. `
A moral philosophy that states
that liberty is the highest good and
all actions should attempt to
maximize it for the greatest
number of people.
Libertarianism

25. `
Is taxation for redistribution forced
labor?
Imagine you are Bill Gates and you are
taxed for two hours and the money is
given to a poor person. Are you now
being forced--against your will--to work
for that person? Does this make you a
temporary slave?

26. `
Does taxation for redistribution violate
historical definitions of justice?
Imagine you worked very hard
becoming a heart surgeon. Now, you
make a lot of money saving lives.
Should the government have the right
to take your money and give it to
someone else who watches TV all day?

27. `
Under what conditions does a
government have the right to take money
from you and give it to someone else?
What situations don’t qualify.
• If you got the money illegally
• If the other person needed it to survive
• If the government wanted to make society
more equal
• If enough people voted to take it from you.
• If the government were going to war and
needed it to buy weapons

28. `Liberal concepts of Justice

29. `
Imagine the
veil of ignorance:
Choose any Society
but you will be
randomly placed
within it.
John Rawls

30. `
1st principle:
Everyone should
have the same rights
and liberties.

31. `
2nd principle:
There should be
equality of
opportunity.

32. `
3rd principle:
There should be no differences in
income and wealth, except those
differences that make even the
least advantaged members of
society better off.

33. `
Should the children of rich parents
be allowed to get very expensive,
private math lessons, or singing
lessons, or basketball lessons? What
if such lessons give them a huge,
unearned advantage in the race for
jobs, careers, and wealth? Is it just
for poor children to have much lower
prospects as a result?

34. `
1. Is it true that you can’t really claim
credit for your upbringing? Surely, your
habits and temperaments today are
partly the result of your upbringing. Does
this mean that you don’t really deserve
what you get from making an effort?
2. Think of some of the advantages that
you have in your life. Do you deserve
them more than other people who lack
them? If so, why? If not, should these
advantages be provided to everyone?

35. `
3. Do you think it’s unjust if some
people do not get to vote in
elections merely because they are a
woman or merely because of the
color of their skin?
4. Do you think it’s unjust if some
people earn much less money and
are much worse off than others
merely because they are a woman
or a member of a racial or ethnic
minority?

36. `
5. If you answered “yes” to the
last two questions, do you think
it’s also unjust if some people
are much worse off than others
merely because they were born
with fewer talents or with a
debilitating disease and the
need for expensive medicines?
Why should people be worse off
merely because of the way they
were born?

37. `
Liberalism
Among other things, a
moral philosophy that
holds equality as the
highest good.

38. `Conservative concepts of Justice

39. `
Canons of Conservatism
1. "Belief in a transcendent order, or body of
natural law, which rules society as well as
conscience.”
2. "Affection for the proliferating variety and
mystery of human existence, as opposed to
the narrowing uniformity, egalitarianism,
and utilitarian aims of most radical
systems;”
3. "Conviction that civilized society requires
orders and classes, as against the notion of a
'classless society'."

40. `
Canons of Conservatism
4. "Persuasion that freedom and property are
closely linked"
5. “…Distrust of 'sophisters, calculators, and
economists' who would reconstruct society
upon abstract designs."
6. "Recognition that change may not be salutary
reform: hasty innovation may be a devouring
conflagration, rather than a torch of progress."

41. `
…or
Among other things, a moral
philosophy that holds
actions are moral if they
conform to legal, traditional
or religious laws.
Conservatism

42. What would all
5 philosophies
say about these
scenarios?
TEST CASES

43. The Mayor
wants to levy a
tax on the rich
to pay for
smaller class
sizes in
Kindergarten.
TEST CASES

44. Shorewood
High School
wants to ban all
Honors and AP
classes.
TEST CASES

45. A mother wants
to have a new
child to provide
bone marrow
for another
child who is
sick.
TEST CASES

46. Mr. Dunbar
wants to
require all
students to
stand for the
Pledge of
Allegiance
TEST CASES

47. Batman wants
to kill the Joker
to stop him
from destroying
Gotham.
TEST CASES