Spheres of Justice

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Spheres of Justice : a defense of pluralism and equality (German: Sphären der Gerechtigkeit. A plea for plurality and equality) is a work by the philosopher Michael Walzer from 1983. Walzer is considered a representative of communitarianism , who as a political philosopher a social Represents liberalism . The work is his contribution to the discussion about political justice , which was initiated by the works “ A Theory of Justice ” by John Rawls and “ Anarchy, State and Utopia ” by Robert Nozick in the 1970s. The starting point for Walzer was a seminar held together with Nozick in 1970/71 on the subject of “Capitalism and Socialism” at Harvard .

Human society is characterized by the fact that goods are produced and distributed in it. The universalistic concepts of distributive justice of the simple egalitarianism of Rawls and the libertarianism of Nozick rejects waltz. Justice is not determined by pre-political values. Goods therefore have no objective value. On the other hand, he argues that there is a multitude of spheres of social life that do not require a uniform principle, but rather separate standards of justice. The value of goods is produced socially. The distribution must be different depending on the property, culture and living situation ( particularism ). There is no such thing as universal justice by objective standards. Rather, it is culturally relative. “Justice is a human construct [...]” (SdG, 30). A concept of complex equality is therefore required , in which distribution is not made in an egalitarian manner but rather according to relevant reasons.

Against critics who turn against relativism in particular , Walzer emphasizes in the prefaces to the German editions that he did not want to make any contribution to metaethics . Rather, his book is a political contribution in which concrete political questions in the various social spheres are in the foreground.

As principles of justice, Walzer differentiates between human rights and distributive justice. He addresses the question of human rights in the preface. This is followed by an introductory chapter in which Walzer develops the idea of ​​complex equality as well as the different spheres. Then he discusses the individual spheres 1. Membership and belonging, 2. Security and welfare, 3. Money and goods, 4. Offices, 5. Hard work, 6. Leisure time, 7. Upbringing and education, 8. Kinship, in eleven separate chapters and love, 9. Divine grace, 10. Recognition and 11. Political power. To conclude, he deals with the question of the tyranny of individual goods, for example money, in relation to other spheres and examines the notions of justice in the 20th century. The final sentence of his work sums up:

"Mutual respect and mutual self-esteem are each individually the great strengths of complex equality - together they enable its permanent continuation." (SdG, 452)

expenditure

  • Spheres of Justice: a defense of pluralism and equality. Basic Books, New York 1983, ISBN 0-465-08189-4
  • Spheres of justice. A plea for plurality and equality. Translated from Hanne Herkommer. Campus, Frankfurt 1992, new edition with a current foreword, ibid. 2006, ISBN 978-3-593-38035-3

Extracts

literature

  • Michael Haus: The Political Philosophy of Michael Walzers. Criticism, fellowship, justice . Westdeutscher Verlag, Wiesbaden 2000, ISBN 3-53113-512-0 , (also: Heidelberg, Univ., Diss., 1999/2000).
  • Skadi Krause, Karsten Malowitz: Michael Walzer for an introduction . Junius, Hamburg 1998, ISBN 3-88506-970-9 , ( Introduction 170).
  • Angelika Krebs : Michael Walzer - Spheres of Justice (1983) . In: Manfred Brocker (Ed.): History of political thinking. A manual . Suhrkamp, ​​Frankfurt am Main 2007, ISBN 978-3-518-29418-5 , ( Suhrkamp-Taschenbuch Wissenschaft 1818), pp. 697-712.
  • Manuel Knoll, Michael Spieker (eds.): Michael Walzer: Sphären der Gerechtigkeit: A cooperative commentary . Steiner, Stuttgart 2014, ISBN 978-3-51510916-1