Fair's fair

Our friend arleen asks what are fairness, justice and love.

I'm not sure anyone has ever found an answer to any of those three questions that satisfies. Rawls came close to one for justice.

I believe fairness is equity on the whole, and justice is the administration of equity. Fairness is a state, I feel, and justice is an action. Justice rectifies what is not fair.

Love is a whole nother thing. In part it is the belief that fairness should exist even when you will suffer for it personally.

These are just the beginnings of what justice and fairness are. I know that many of the people I know do not agree with the definition of fairness I use. They would say that it is not necessarily "fair" to bring about equality (to which I would say that equity and equality are not entirely the same thing). They have a rather different idea of justice, which allows them to believe that some things are just that I do not. But for me, equity is the basis of fairness, and fairness is the aim of justice. However, even they probably realise that equity is a posh word for a level playing field, and that the level playing field is fair. They may not feel that the world has to be fair, but we will at least be reasonably in agreement about what fairness is.

I know that justice is something I strive to do, and often fail miserably in doing. I don't beat myself up over it. Trying is the main thing. I admire those who try to do justice, and deplore those who overturn it. If the programme of the government of the day does justice, I support it. If not, I do not. This notion is far more important to me than the colour of the rosette (although if I voted, it would not be for a conservative, because conservatives on the whole wish to conserve inequalities -- thence the name -- and maintain societies without justice in the sense I'm defining it).

It boils down, I suppose, to the belief that you ought not to give to one what you would not to another, or have given to one what another will not be given. How you build a world from that is not something I have easy answers to, but I think as a policy for my own life, it will do fine.

posted by Dr Zen @ 9:09 pm