Philosophical Conceptions of Justice Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Philosophical Conceptions of Justice - Essay Example However, justice, in a universal definition, entails the knowledge of doing right from wrong and making sure people live in the right way together. It is this ‘right’ way of living that brings controversies in describing social justice among nations. This paper discusses a variety of philosophical conceptions of justice with regard to famous philosophers in their definitions of social justice (Ackerman, 1980). John Locke and Thomas Jefferson John Locke lived in the mid seventeenth century as an English Enlightenment philosopher. He argued that our ancestors once lived in a state of nature that had no government or laws. However, as life advanced and civilization came up, people became stratified into various social classes that required the formulation of laws and regulations in order to cater for the less disadvantaged. This also prohibited the oppression of the less fortunate by the more fortunate. He called this idea of the social contract that enabled all citizens ac quire fundamental rights of life, property, and liberty. However, this depended on people’s consent that he said are an active part of the social contract in which they take part depending on their own accord (Chaffee, 2004). Consequently, a twenty first century philosopher, Chaffee, analyses Locke’s writings in addition to other various ancient philosophers. He says that Locke’s theory is political in that he took up Hobbe’s opinion of human equality and the social contract. Furthermore, he also puts Aristotle’s arguments forward that man is naturally a social creature who cannot survive alone. This means that humanity is fundamentally a social identity and that there is no need to put up a system to control our way of life. However, Hobbes described how this natural socialism could lead to relinquishment of certain rights by high status individuals, hence, leading to oppression and injustice. On the other hand, Thomas Jefferson, the third preside nt of the United States was a profound follower of Locke’s arguments. He believed that every human being is equal and that God gave each unique rights, including liberty, life, and the right to be happy and content. He created his government on the basis that it enabled his people to secure these rights. However, the people still held the right to overthrow the government if they felt that its constitution was not in favor of their happiness and safety. As a result, I believe in Locke’s way of thinking that nowadays life requires a body, like the government, that controls the provision and use of resources on the basis that we are all equal regardless of an individual’s social status. This is because it defines true independence (Marx, 1938). Conceptions of justice Liberalism denotes a free way of acting and thinking in public and private life. It focuses on the role of an individual to possess the power to think and act in whatever way that he or she likes. It is a philosophical view based on Aristotle and Plato’s arguments on justice as was recommended by Locke as the key to a just way of life. It rejects state religion, hereditary privilege, and absolute monarchy as notions that favor inequality among the public and private. In the 19th, liberalism advanced to a political ideology called classical liberalism. This liberalism was still based on the initial liberalism ideas although it advocated for political freedom and civil liberties while opposing how the government interfered with economic freedom. On the other hand, socialism describes an economic ideology that entails social possession of resources, including the ways of production of these resources. It also entails mutual organization of the economy that focuses on benefiting the public as a whole instead of