NCJ Number
129605
Journal
Capital University Law Review Volume: 18 Issue: 2 Dated: (Summer 1989) Pages: 185-199
Date Published
1989
Length
15 pages
Annotation
The requirements of justice under conditions of severe scarcity of resources are examined from the perspective of Rawls's social contract theory of justice.
Abstract
The analysis assumes that external goods are so limited that even the most judicious use of them could not provide each member of society with an acceptable minimum amount. Rawls and Hume restricted the applicability of their principles to conditions of merely moderate scarcity, but conditions of extreme scarcity also need to be considered. Possible principles of justice in conditions of severe scarcity include Rawls's difference principle, egalitarianism, and utilitarianism. A final principle is the scarcity principle, under which social and economic inequalities would be arranged so that the fewest possible people receive less than the minimally acceptable share of essential goods. Under this principle, the wealthy people of the world owe much to the poor of the world as a matter of justice. Footnotes