THE IDEA OF JUSTICE

by Amartya Sen
Belknap Press

$29.95

Nobel laureate Amartya Sen writes a critique on the theory of social justice that takes into consideration practical realities and differences in the understanding of a just society. He argues that society inevitably faces a choice between what is “more” or “less” just.

Mr. Sen is winner of the 1998 Nobel Prize in Economics. He is Lamont University Professor at Harvard University.

“Two themes predominate: economic rationality and social injustice. Mr. Sen approaches them alike. He can, when he wants, theorize without oxygen at any height. But he believes that theory, to be of use, must keep its feet on the ground. Modern theorists in his view have drifted too far from the actual world.” —The Economist

“The most important new intellectual notion here is a working through of the fundamental distinction between two competing approaches to justice. Most modern political philosophers are concerned with finding the right rules, institutions and social contracts for a just society. This school of thought—dubbed ‘transcendental institutionalism’ by Sen—found its greatest 20th-century exponent in John Rawls, who built on foundations laid by Kant and Rousseau… The competing vision of justice Sen prefers is a ‘comparative’ one, which examines ‘what kind of lives people can actually lead.’ The heroes of the comparative pantheon are Condorcet, Wollstonecraft and Mill. For them, as for Sen, abolishing slavery or giving women the vote would free people to lead lives of their own choosing, even without creating a perfectly just society.”—The Sunday Times

“In showing why those who pursue justice do not need an ideal of a perfectly just society, only a view about what would make the world a more just place, The Idea of Justice deserves to be acclaimed as a major advance in contemporary thinking.” —John Gray, Literary Review •