We explain what distributive justice is, its origin and examples. Also, which are retributive justice and commutative justice.
Distributive justice
In right, is known as distributive justice to a form of Justice which deals specifically with the correct distribution of goods and loads in a society determined. That is, it refers to the way in which a society distributes benefits, duties and opportunities, in the face of the economic activity.
Distributive justice studies the way in which, at one point in time history, the assets of a society are distributed, to determine is fair or acceptable. It is a very common concept in the philosophies of egalitarianism, which defend the need for society to grant each individual exactly the same, although these positions have been criticized for stripping the individual of all responsibility about your financial decisions.
However, in every society, instances of distributive justice are required, which ensure the equitable distribution of goods, and thus avoid the brutal construction of societies. uneven, in which precisely social peace is impossible. There are many ways of understanding this model of justice, not all focused on the distribution of material goods.
Distributive justice was dealt with in classical antiquity by the Greek philosopher Aristotle (384-322 BC), but his most prominent theorist in history was the American John Rawls (1921-2002), for whom the notion of justice was inseparable from the notion of equity.
Examples of distributive justice
Some simple examples of the application of distributive justice are as follows:
- The appraisal systems and taxes, which require contributions from all citizens of the country, according to the percentage they are capable of facing: the poor, less, the rich, more. In this way, an attempt is made to balance the socioeconomic balance.
- Social opportunity programs, in which the Condition or private organizations offer free and quality study and training opportunities to individuals from lower social strata, as a way to help them move up socially.
- The system of public health, designed to serve the poor, the rich and the middle class alike, in such a way that access to medical solutions and health information is not exclusive to some social class.
Retributive justice
Retributive justice is a conception of justice that focuses on the retribution provided before the crime, that is, in imparting the just and deserved punishment to those who violate the law.
For this there are beginning proportionality of the sentence applied, which obey an idea moral of justice, rather than a utilitarian sense that sees in the application of justice something capable of producing concrete benefits or damages. This justice focuses on the punishment of the crime, with the purpose of mitigating or eliminating the crime through exemplary sanctions, that is, of making the punished criminal an example for the whole of society.
Commutative justice
For its part, commutative justice (from the Latin I will commute, "Exchange"), is the one that focuses on commercial relationships and transactions, with the purpose of making them a fair, equitable and peaceful exercise.
It differs above all from distributive justice in that it does not take into account at all the particularities of each individual involved, but rather focuses on the justice of the transaction itself, that is, that it is done in accordance with the law and without violating to neither party.
According to Thomas Aquinas (1224-1274), this last difference is explained because distributive justice regulates the relationship of the community with each of its members, while commutative justice regulates the relationship of one individual to another.