---
title: "Distributive justice"
chunk: 2/4
source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distributive_justice"
category: "reference"
tags: "science, encyclopedia"
date_saved: "2026-05-05T03:57:46.338543+00:00"
instance: "kb-cron"
---

==== Basic principles of a just distribution ====
In this original position, the main concern will be to secure the goods that are most essential for pursuing the goals of each individual, regardless of what this specific goal might be. With this in mind, Rawls theorizes two basic principles of just distribution.
The first principle, the liberty principle, is the equal access to basic rights and liberties for all. With this, each person should be able to access the most extensive set of liberties that is compatible with similar schemes of access by other citizens. Thereby, it is not only a question of positive individual access but also of negative restrictions so as to respect others' basic rights and liberties.
The second principle, the difference principle, addresses how the arrangement of social and economic inequalities, and thus the just distribution should look. Firstly, Rawls argues that such distribution should be based on a reasonable expectation of advantage for all, but also to the greatest benefit of the least advantaged in society. Secondly, the offices and positions attached to this arrangement should be open to all.
These principles of justice are then prioritised according to two additional principles:

=== Utilitarianism ===

In 1789, Jeremy Bentham published his book An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation. Centred on individual utility and welfare, utilitarianism builds on the notion that any action which increases the overall welfare in society is good, and any action that decreases welfare is bad. By this notion, utilitarianism's focus lies with its outcomes and pays little attention to how these outcomes are shaped. This idea of utilisation maximisation, while being a much broader philosophical consideration, also translates into a theory of justice.

==== Conceptualising welfare ====
While the basic notion that utilitarianism builds on seems simple, one major dispute within the school of utilitarianism revolved around the conceptualisation and measurement of welfare. With disputes over this fundamental aspect, utilitarianism is evidently a broad term embracing many different sub-theories under its umbrella, and while much of the theoretical framework transects across these conceptualisations, using the different conceptualisation have clear implications for how we understand the more practical side of utilitarianism in distributive justice.
Bentham originally conceptualised this according to the hedonistic calculus, which also became the foundation for John Stuart Mill's focus on intellectual pleasures as the most beneficial contribution to societal welfare. Another path has been painted by Aristotle, based on an attempt to create a more universal list of conditions required for human prosperity. Opposite this, another path focuses on a subjective evaluation of happiness and satisfaction in human lives.

=== Egalitarianism ===

Based on a fundamental notion of equal worth and moral status of human beings, egalitarianism is concerned with equal treatment of all citizens in both respect and in concern, and in relation to the state as well as one another.  Egalitarianism focuses more on the process through which distribution takes place, egalitarianism evaluates the justification for a certain distribution based on how the society and its institutions have been shaped, rather than what the outcome is.  Attention is mainly given to ways in which unchosen person circumstances affect and hinder individuals and their life opportunities. As Elizabeth Anderson defines it, "the positive aim of egalitarian justice is...to create a community in which people stand in relation of equality to others."
The main issue with egalitarian conceptions of distributive justice is the question concerning what kind of equality should be pursued. This is because one kind of equality might imply or require inequality of another kind. Strict egalitarianism, for instance, requires the equal allocation of material resources to every person of a given society. The principle of strict equality therefore holds that even if an unequal distribution would make everyone better off, or if an unequal distribution would make some better off but no one worse off, the strictly egalitarian distribution should be upheld. This notion of distributive justice can be critiqued because it can result in Pareto suboptimal distributions. Thus, the Pareto norm suggests that principles of distributive justice should result in allocations in which it is no longer possible to make anyone better off without making anyone else worse off.  This illustrates a concern for the equality of welfare, which is an ex post conception of equality as it is concerned with the  equality in outcomes. This conception has been critiqued by those in favour of ex ante equality, that is equality in people´s prospects, which is captured by alternative conceptions of equality such as those that demand equality of opportunity.
While much academic work distinguishes between luck egalitarianism and social egalitarianism, Roland Pierik presents a synthesis combining the two branches. In his synthesis, he argues that instead of focusing on compensations for unjust inequalities in society via redistribution of primary goods, egalitarianism scholars should instead, given the fundamental notion upon which the theory is built, strive to create institutions that creates and promotes meaningful equal opportunities from the get-go. Pierik thus moves egalitarianism's otherwise reactive nature by emphasising a need for attention to the development of fundamentally different institutions that would eradicate the need for redistribution and instead focus on the initial equal distribution of opportunities from which people then themselves be able to shape their lives.

=== Marxism ===
The slogan "From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs" refers to distributive justice in Marxism according to Karl Marx. In Marxism-Leninism according to Vladimir Lenin the slogan "He who does not work, neither shall he eat" is a necessary approach to distributive justice on the path towards a communist society.

== Application and outcomes ==