The concept of justice has always played a very important role in any human society, being one of the fundamental ethical categories. Indeed, various social groups make an unequal contribution to the economic and social life of society and play a different role in it, but a certain minimum of economic resources should be guaranteed to everyone without exception. The theory of justice is designed to analyze this rather complex concept, which, on the one hand, requires proportionality, and on the other - equality.
This inconsistency in the definition of social justice has been criticized by right-wing liberal economists and ideologists. They considered the social ideal incompatible with market principles, and also stated that it opposes competition and freedom. The theory of justice, which originated in the 70s of the last century, was an attempt to combine and balance these seemingly irreconcilable concepts. It became the basis of such a phenomenon in political and social philosophy as left liberalism.
The main components of justice are honesty, understood as a disinterested and honest procedure for distributing necessary goods on the basis of the modern version of the good old theory of social contract, and the so-called “veil of ignorance”. The latter term means that decision-makers on fair distribution should first of all strive to protect the most disadvantaged people, for this they must be put in such a situation that they do not know what public position they will occupy and what benefits they will receive. The author of this concept was John Rawls. “Theory of justice” is the name of one of the most striking books of this thinker. "The desire for equality is not only rational, it is the most natural instinct of a rational person," the philosopher believes, "inequality can be tolerated only if it eases the burdens of the poorest."
The book of John Rawls gave impetus not only to the discussions of scientists, but also to the development of new theories in the field of human rights. In particular, human rights defenders began to pay more attention to social rights and their enforcement. The theory of justice, reconciling the concepts of freedom and social equality, led to a clearer definition of freedom as such. “Freedom for” has come to be understood not only as freedom to choose a government, religious beliefs or join one or another group, but also have economic rights. And the concept of “freedom from” included not only such components as freedom from slavery and torture, but also from hunger.
The theory of justice also very toughly raises the question of whether individual rights can be limited by the public good, and answers negatively. John Rawls believes that a person, as Immanuel Kant said, cannot be a means, but only an end, and therefore his rights and freedoms cannot be reduced for the sake of social well-being or peace. On the other hand, the rights to a decent standard of living, which must be ensured by the state, are also included in the list of individual rights.
With all the flaws and conventions of the Harvard scholar's concept, its main findings were picked up by the most famous international lawyers and human rights defenders. Human rights are indivisible, they argue, and therefore people living in fear of the suppression of freedom, and people living without social protection, are equally victims of human rights violations. Their many years of experience proves how right Rawls was. The theory of justice has been largely confirmed by practice - human rights violations constantly raise the problem of poverty, and poverty leads to further violations and violence. After all, each of us deserves the same level of opportunity, and the same standard of living.