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Complex Justice for Complex Problems: Comments on Johannsen’s A Conceptual Investigation of Justice

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 January 2020

PHIL SMOLENSKI*
Affiliation:
Queen’s University

Abstract

Kyle Johannsen’s conceptual investigation of justice urges us to think of justice as a simple value, which is independent of the exigencies of practice. In what follows, I highlight two methodological issues as a way to raise concerns over whether Johannsen is operating with the ‘correct’ understanding of justice, and to persuade Johannsen that complex problems, such as those of social justice require understanding justice as a complex value. So, while contextualists about justice should embrace the distinction between justice and rules of regulation, justice must be more than an input in our deliberation, and instead constitutes an output.

L’enquête conceptuelle sur la justice de Kyle Johannsen nous incite à considérer la justice comme une simple valeur, indépendante des exigences de la pratique. Dans ce qui suit, je soulève deux questions méthodologiques afin de déterminer si Johannsen fonctionne avec la compréhension ‘correcte’ de la justice et de le convaincre que des problèmes complexes, tels que ceux concernant la justice sociale, nécessitent que la justice soit comprise comme une valeur complexe. Ainsi, les contextualistes de la justice devraient embrasser la distinction entre la justice et les règles de régulation. En outre, la justice, davantage qu’une valeur parmi d’autres à considérer dans nos délibérations, doit plutôt être conçue comme leur résultat.

Type
Book Symposium: Kyle Johannsen’s A Conceptual Investigation of Justice
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Philosophical Association 2020 

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