The Idea of Justice

Great quality book. Even for paperback. But the author is absolutely amazing, distinctly revolutionary ideas. The new ideas in the cross section of politics and economic theory and practice is just too interesting

The book is not merely excellent, it is profound.The author, Dr Amartya Sen, is the Nobel prize laureate in Economics for 1998 but his Economics is informed with morality. This fact did not elude the Nobel Prize committee who commented that he had restored an ethical dimension to the discussion of economic problems. In addition to being imbued with morality, Amartya Sen is endowed with erudition and philosophical disposition. He is a prolific author and I mention here just two of his books:Poverty and Famines;and Development as Freedom in which he persuasively argues that Freedom is at once the ultimate goal of Economic life and the most efficient means of realizing general welfare.The present book represents the consummation of a life long effort and work by the author at humanizing economics and bringing content from the real world to ethics.The book also serves as a summation of the author's work on economic reasoning and on the elememts and measurement of human well-being.His conviction is that the mission of economists and philosophers is to improve the world which is a recurring theme in the book.The author writes with wit, a feel for history and a global perspective. He presumes that the values in play are of global, not purely Western origin.Two themes predominate in the book - economic rationality and social injustice.The author argues that economists have tended to content themselves with an overly simple picture of human motivation, rationality and well-being. The author argues that people are not purely self-interested. They care for others and observe social norms. They do not always reason mechanistically, seeking least-cost to given ends. They question the point of their aims and the worth of their wants. Well-being has no single measure but is comprehensible. Its elements are many and do not amount to just utility or some cash value equivalent.Well-being though a complex concept is not elusive. Among its diverse elements, there are important ones such as freedom from hunger, disease, indignity and discrimination which are generally observable and the author contends measurable.Unlike John Rawls who held that social justice depended on having just institutions, Amartya Sen thinks that good social outcoms are what matter.Tying the whole together is the author's confidence that, though values are complex, economics provides tools for thinking clearly about complexity.The author concludes with democracy which can take many institutional forms. But non succeds without open debate about values and principles. To that vital element in public reason, 'The Idea of Justice' is an important contribution.

Some interesting and important points made here, I found a pleasing contrast by also reading 'Freedom from the Known' by Jiddu Krishnamurti.

Amartya Sen presents the remarkable conclusion that justice is a process that never becomes absolutely perfect. He presents very convincingly the view that you need to compare many alternatives "social choice" and discuss them widely with many people from different categories, also considering what other countries have done and rank these alternatives. In ranking you should not fall in the trap of mathematical optimization procedures. It requires common sense.This does not mean you need ranking for gross injustices like racial discrimination. Sen rejects the Rawls idea of Justice as Fairness as it is one, may be the best one, of the absolute just systems. In fact all thinkers or politicians that claim to have developed an absolutely perfect system are wrong. Very important is to look not only at a system from a theoretical justice point of view but also equally important what is the reality of application at the level of all citizens.He also makes a very interesting review of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of the United Nations. His view is that the "rights" are not rights in the sense that they are all legal rights to be enforced. These rights are however very important as aspects to be considered in the ranking of alternatives.Those that might have hoped to find a system of justice that is absolutely right will be disappointed, those are looking ways to improve justice will be very enthusiastic about this book

Yes it is quite repetitive, Sen really wants you to actually understand his ideas, so repeats his key messages quite a lot. Perhaps too often. But I'll forgive this as it convincingly demolishes some of the standard ideas in political philosophy. There is a nice irony in an Economist (an academic field largely filled with irrelevant work) showing that political philosophy is an academic field largely filled with irrelevant work.Sen's Idea of Justice, isn't so much a concept of Justice, but a framework in which to think about justice. One should reject any form of transcendental institutionalism (we just need to figure out what the perfect institutions are) and instead urges us to ask "how do we change society for the better?" He doesn't so much propose an answer to this question, but that this should be the question we ask (and respond to from varying perspectives).We will often have multiple conflicting objectives but perhaps in practice this isn't a problem, after there are many banal decisions we make everyday which have multiple objectives (cost/time/hunger/thirst/...). An important book, one of the best I've read in a long time.

This is a famous book like the others of Amartya Sen.When a book is written by Amartya Sen, it does not require any comments. We are not able to judge this world-level scholar's work. I love his work.

I have not yet finished reading the book.However, I can say without any hesitation that it is the most informative and intellectual book on the subject of justice I have come across.It is absolutely brilliant.

Amartya Sen mais uma vez mostra a sua imensa capacidade de trazer à tona o que há de melhor nas mais diversas tradições, sejam do ocidente ou do subcontinente, construindo visão rica e profunda dos dilemas dos seres humanos. Embora profundamente influenciado por Rawls, mostra como a justiça não pode ser uma ideia de cunho universal e retoma Adam Smith , autores indianos e outros, para lembrar que as noções de justiça estão sempre enraizadas na nossa vida social.

Une somme sur la justice vue par un économiste philosophe (Prix Nobel 1998). L'ouvrage utilise des éléments de l'histoire intellectuelle de l'Inde, ce qui apporte des éclairages très intéressants sur la justice. Une réflexion synthétique très approfondie. Un regret toutefois : la tradition occidentale grecque, puis judéo-chrétienne se trouve quelque peu minorée, bien des éléments qu'elle contient aurait pu nourrir de riches discussions. Mais il y a déjà beaucoup dans ce livre. Incontournable !

The person I had gifted this book to, hasn't read it so far :(But I have flipped through the pages and I found it well written and interesting.

It is a good book, it is in good condition, arrived in the said time and no problem whatsoever! best, eva

Para todos aquellos que estén interesados en como se debe pensar de manera profunda y práctica sobre la Justicia hoy día: un MUST