Justice In Life And Society: How We Decide What Is Fair

If somebody asked you whether life was fair, how would you respond? In this book you will learn how to critically think about this question of justice in our lives. You will learn that people mean many different things when they talk of a just or fair outcome. For instance, have you gotten what you deserve? Have you been listened to and treated with respect? Have your rights been protected? Have you been fairly or unfairly privileged? Were you sufficiently rewarded for your contributions? Did you receive just or unjust punishment if you broke the law? Were you given a raw deal by the government? These are tremendously important topics to consider in the contentious times in which we live. Turn on any TV or follow any debate on social media, and soon you will find that people are arguing about what is just in a particular situation. In this book you will be given new ways of thinking about these justice debates. In addition to getting quickly up to speed on the research and literature in the area, you will also have a chance to practice applying what you learn by analyzing topics like the right to free universal health care or the morality of the death penalty. This book could be used as a main text in a seminar on social justice or fairness in life, or each chapter could serve as a standalone module. The text could also be supplemented with other original source material for those who want to go deeper into any of the presented subjects. In Chapter 1 the topic of distributive justice is reviewed. Distributive justice concerns how to fairly allocate resources in society. Procedural justice, or the fairness of the processes we use to make decisions, is discussed in Chapter 2. In Chapter 3 the topic of retributive justice, or the fairness of our assignment of punishment to those who violate society's rules, is taken up. And, finally, in Chapter 4 the subject of societal justice, or ideas about human rights and the necessary relationships that should exist between individuals and the governing state in a just society, is discussed. This book is a must read for anyone who wants to be able to thoughtfully reflect on the important and complex justice questions of our times.

• | Author: Virginia Murphy-Berman
• | Publisher: Momentum Press
• | Publication Date: Nov 30, 2016
• | Number of Pages: 180 pages
• | Language: English
• | Binding: Paperback/Psychology
• | ISBN-10: 1606507796
• | ISBN-13: 9781606507797