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Doctrines and Dimensions of Justice: Their Historical Backgrounds and Ideological Underpinnings

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 March 2018

MATTI HÄYRY
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Abstract:

Justice can be approached from many angles in ethical and political debates, including those involving healthcare, biomedical research, and well-being. The main doctrines of justice are liberal egalitarianism, libertarianism, luck egalitarianism, socialism, utilitarianism, capability approach, communitarianism, and care ethics. These can be further elaborated in the light of traditional moral and social theories, values, ideals, and interests, and there are distinct dimensions of justice that are captured better by some tactics than by others. In this article, questions surrounding these matters are approached with the hermeneutic idea of a distinction between “American” and “European” ways of thinking.

Keywords

justicehealthcarewell-beingvaluesidealsinterestsliberal egalitarianlibertarianluck egalitariansocialismutilitarianismcapabilities approachcommunitarianismcare ethics
Type
Special Section: Justice, Healthcare, and Wellness
Information
Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics , Volume 27 , Issue 2 , April 2018 , pp. 188 - 216
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2018 

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References

Notes

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61. Here again, the criticized theories were not the only American attempts to make sense of ethical issues; therefore, again, “American” and “European” have to be seen as convenient figures of speech.

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73. I acknowledge, with gratitude, that the contents of this section have been influenced by my exchanges with Heikki Ervasti. Any mistakes remain mine.

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83. Ironically, this also applies to the ideals of deliberative democracy and communicative action in the middle of the conceptual map. They can equally well be overstated, as in Plato’s conception of justice as the “harmony of the soul” and in literal interpretations of Habermas’s “Herrshaftsfreier Diskurs.”

84. I acknowledge, with gratitude, that the contents of this section have been influenced by my exchanges with Annamari Vitikainen. Any mistakes remain mine.

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