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Formal vs. Substantive Equality: Understanding Fairness in Practice Study Guide

Explore the philosophical underpinnings of Natural Law Theory, its core tenets, and its role in shaping our understanding of justice, rights, and the legitimacy of law. This guide delves into the contrast with legal positivism, the concept of natural rights versus legal rights, and historical applications.

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Foundations of Rights

Social Contract Theory

Hobbes and the State of Nature

Examining the 'war of all against all' and the necessity of a strong central power (Leviathan).

Legal Positivism

Understanding the idea that law validity depends on its source rather than its moral quality.

Locke and Natural Rights

Exploring the view that individuals have inherent rights to life, liberty, and property even without government.

Natural Law Theory

Analyzing the concept that justice is rooted in moral/natural rights that constrain government power.

  • objective moral principles
  • human nature
  • reason
  • universal yardstick
  • constraining government power
  • fundamental rights
  • positive law
  • natural law
  • inherent feature
  • binding law
  • human dignity
  • arbitrary execution
  • perversion of law
  • separation thesis
  • morality
  • legal validity
  • human rights
  • civil disobedience
  • constitutionalism

The Problem of Self-Serve Justice

Critique of why individuals cannot be the sole judges in their own cases.

Classifications of Justice

The Institutes of Justinian

Studying the classical definition of justice as the constant will to render to each his due.

Corrective Justice

Focusing on bilateral relationships and rectifying wrongs between two parties (e.g., criminal law, torts).

Distributive Justice

Focusing on multilateral allocation of resources like wealth, land, and opportunities across society.

Procedural vs. Substantive Justice

Evaluating whether justice lies in the fairness of the process or the fairness of the outcome.

Perfect, Imperfect, and Pure Procedural Justice

Advanced distinctions regarding how much a procedure guarantees a just outcome.

Normative Justice Theories

Utilitarianism and Justice

Analyzing the goal of maximizing overall happiness and the inherent conflicts this creates with individual justice.

Utilitarian Challenges

Understanding the 'currency of justice' problem and the conflict between backward-looking and forward-looking reasoning.

The Social Contract

Studying the modern contractarian approach to social justice.

The Veil of Ignorance

Learning how to use impartiality to design fair social rules by stripping away personal biases.

The Maximin Rule

Understanding the principle of maximizing the minimum position to ensure the least well-off are protected.

Nozick and Entitlement Theory

Exploring the view that justice is a matter of the historical sequence of how property was acquired.

Equality and Social Justice

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