JUSTICE

Justice: What’s the right thing to do?

Frankly, I wanted to read this book from 2013. I have heard about this book while preparing for CSE exams but never managed to do so. The sudden desire at that time was due to an interview of the author Michael Sandel which was published in The Economic Times then and some of the thoughts in the discussion by expressed by Sandel were really fresh.

So, having gifted the book to myself this new year, it took really long time to finish it and compose the blog.

The book as the title suggests in discussion on the certain notions which are often discussed in polity and public life and society at large like Justice, Values, Ethics.

The first chapter “Doing The Right Thing” discusses the dilemma faced by people while deciding the situations. Here, Sandel by citing various situations like market greed at the time of crisis like hurricanes and how businesses behave. His insistence that government should stay away from deciding the virtues and vices is interesting as many time it convinces the reader that the arguments about profit and morality are vague and situation specific. He frankly uses the wisdom of Aristotle and those of modern philosophers like Rawls and Kant and concludes that the ancient theories of Justice focused on virtue while modern theories focus on freedom. One interesting discussion is on the meanings and symbolism attached with “medals” which are awarded for military acts. One very interesting example of moral dilemmas he quote is of “The Runway Trolley” which is very apt while taking decision in public life where contrary claims exists. He discusses the three approaches to Justice and applies the 3 parameters to identify whether the society is “Just” or not. They are Income And Wealth, Duties And Rights, Powers And Opportunities, Offices And Honors. He adds that a Just society distributes these in right way as per his/her due and the three approaches of distribution of goods are welfare, freedom and virtue. In subsequent chapters, Sandel has discussed these 3 approaches.

In chapters like “The Greatest Happiness Principle” which is also known as utilitarianism has been discussed with the help of Bentham and Mills. One interesting fact which I came to know through the book is that Dead body of Bentham is still preserved in London as per his wish to inspire future generations of thinkers and he should be present everywhere when philosophers meet so the minutes record it as “present but not voting”.

In “Hired Helps: Markets and Morals”, the same old question “whether free markets are fair” and “are there some goods that money can’t buy” resurfaces. Here he cites morality of paying persons vis-à-vis 2 specific issues namely fighting wars through private armies and bearing children through surrogacy as paying money to obtain certain goods and services may not be virtuous and free. Sandel offers a crash course on Immanuel Kant in chapter 5 named “What Matters is the Motive”. The views of Kant are discussed in detail vis-s –vis subject matters of the books and I must accept that his views on Honesty, Sex, Politics, Morality, Utilitarianism were bit new and different.

An interesting discussion arises in chapter titled “Who Deserves What?” in which questions of Fairness and Honour & Resentment. Citing the example of cheerleading, it adds that most of the social practices have instrumental and honorific purpose and the proceeds to discuss Aristotle’s Theory of Justice. The best phrase in the chapter is while discussing moral virtues, he adds that the challenge is to do the right thing “to the right person, to the right extent, at the right time, with the right motive, and in the right way.” In later parts of the chapter the “Practical Wisdom”, Aristotle’s view on Slavery, politics find mention.

The book touches the sensitive topic of “Public apologies” which have become trend these days and amid demands of Indians for public apology on Jallianwala Bagh tragedy from Britain. The author offers very plausible explanation for the same and moves to discuss “Is Patriotism a Virtue?”

In final chapter “Justice and the Common Good”, Sandel asserts that “…it was mistake, for progressives to “abandon the field of religious discourse” in politics. He adds that “the discomfort of some progressives with any hint of religion has often prevented us from effectively addressing issues in moral terms.” Hence, the politics and morality in society are intertwined with religion and hence it is not possible to resolve legal questions without taking up the underlying moral and religious questions.

The book concludes by saying that the politics of moral engagement is need of hour and it’s not only inspiring but also more promising for a just society.

As a book, it is a must read for the students venturing into studies of Law, Philosophy, Economics and also those having in Polity. It offers some arguments, some counter narratives as those popular these days. The examples cited in the book are huge USP is otherwise heavy topics dealt in the book. I have enjoyed the book due to its interesting insights and containing my favorite topics.