Overview

Justice as Right Actions presents an original theory of justice anchored in the analytical philosophical tradition. In contrast to many contemporary approaches, the theory provides normative guidance, rather than focusing solely on political structures and institutions, as the question of justice is seen to comprise both a moral inquiry concerned with questions of good and bad, right and wrong, and a political inquiry, concerned with the nature of the polity and how individuals relate to it. Presenting a relational account of justice, rather than a distributive account - the latter, so much more prevalent in current studies - communications are seen as the key to the theory, both in the substantive sense as a discursive method of resolving disputes, as well as instrumentally, in the transmission of concepts, especially values through time. Rule-oriented in approach, justice as right actions attempts to be value-neutral, acknowledging, however, an underlying thin theory of the good, including concepts of rationality, autonomous moral agency, equal concern and respect for others, as well as plurality of values. Its political context is liberalism, with components of negative liberty and equality of concern and respect, while underscoring as well, the concepts of tolerance and social diversity. In this study, the original theory of Justice as Right Actions is also contrasted with and situated among contemporary accounts of justice, including the most important theoretical works on the topic in the past half-century. Thus, the study also serves as a valuable review and critique of such major contemporary accounts of justice.

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9781498516518

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Reviews

Young Kim provides a new theory of justice as right action, based on a grand synthesis of some of the most important contemporary moral and political philosophers. He insists that justice is first and foremost a moral concept but one that has political dimensions. This classical view runs counter to many contemporary attempts to separate the right from the good or to define justice as a political virtue and value. His conception of justice as right action shifts attention back to specifying the nature of morally right action within diverse moral contexts. In working through his argument students and scholars will confront some of the most important questions of moral and political philosophy. This an ambitious and thought provoking book. -- Paul Kelly, London School of Economics

Author Information

Young Kim is adjunct professor at Northwestern University School of Law and a practicing lawyer.

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