In political philosophy we are now used to a distinction between Ideal Theory (theory for ideal circumstances) and Non-Ideal Theory (theory for non-ideal circumstances). I fear we now need to introduce Absolutely Atrocious Theory.
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Each theorist will define it their own way. The terminology was introduced by John Rawls but you can be an ideal theorist without being a Rawlsian: a communist or libertarian for example. Non ideal theory takes different forms. For me it’s about starting with cases of clear injustice.
But different cultures and times must define injustice in different ways - or do we have to go back to Amazonian tribes to see what they have in common? Apologies, maybe I need to read up on it properly. One more subject for my list.
All depends on your project. I’m interested in repairing injustice here and now, rather than attempting to construct a universal theory. Much easier to have a sense that something is going wrong (and how to repair the worst of it) than to have an account of what would be ideally best.
I imagine you and I have similar ideas of what is unjust, but clearly even today in the U.K. people may have completely opposing views of what is unjust. Is it unjust to own a second home, or unjust to tax second homes extra?
Property rights must be a fruitful source of assumptions about social justice, don’t you think? But some things must be universal, eg, justice delayed is justice denied. Not enough characters here to continue, but I’ll think about it, thanks.
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