NCERT Book Class 11 Political Science (Political Theory) Chapter 4 Social Justice

Chapter 4

Overview
Just as we intuitively understand what love means even if we cannot explain all its
different shades of meaning, we also have an intuitive understanding of justice even
though we may not be able to define it precisely. In that sense justice is a lot like love.
In addition, both love and justice evoke passionate responses from their advocates.
And as with love, no one hates justice, everyone wants justice for oneself and to some
extent for others also. But unlike love, which is an aspect of our relationships with a
few people whom we know well, justice concerns our life in society, the way in which
public life is ordered and the principles according to which social goods and social
duties are distributed among different members of society. As such, questions of
justice are of central importance for politics.
After going through this chapter you should be able to:
o Identify some of the principles of justice which have been put forward in different
societies and at different periods of time.
o Explain what is meant by distributive justice.
o Discuss John Rawls’ argument that a fair and just society would be in the interest
of all members and could be defended on rational grounds.