The feasibility Problem in Theorizing Social Justice Cover Image

Problema fezabilităţii în teoria dreptăţii sociale
The feasibility Problem in Theorizing Social Justice

Author(s): Eugen Huzum
Subject(s): Politics / Political Sciences
Published by: Fundaţia »Societatea Civilă« (FSC)
Keywords: feasibility; social justice; G. A. Cohen; Andrew Mason; Harry Brighouse; Collin Farrelly; David Miller

Summary/Abstract: G. A. Cohen and Andrew Mason have recently argued, against many contemporary philosophers, that feasibility is not a legitimate constraint in theorizing about social justice. Their main argument is that principles of justice are logically independent of issues of feasibility and, consequently, feasibility has no bearing on the correctness of these principles. This article is a critical examination of three attempts to show that Cohen and Mason’s argument is unsound. The examined attempts are those of Harry Brighouse, Collin Farrelly, and David Miller. I argue that all these arguments are based on false, unjustified or implausible, premises and/or assumptions. Consequently, they cannot discredit the soundness of Cohen and Mason’s argument and of the thesis that feasibility is not, in fact, a legitimate constraint in theorizing about social justice.

  • Issue Year: XX/2012
  • Issue No: 171
  • Page Range: 124-135
  • Page Count: 12
  • Language: Romanian