A Theory of Justice

A well-ordered society is “designed to advance the good of its members and [is] effectively regulated by a public conception of justice” (397). A conception of justice is strong if it has a tendency for justice and the aims it encourages prevail against injustice. This produces a stable equilibrium in which, however institutions are changed, they remain just. Inevitable deviations from justice are corrected or contained within tolerable bounds by the system.

The first stage of moral development is the morality of authority. Young members of society acquire a sense of justice gradually as they age, first from their parents and then later from other authority figures.

This authority is based in love. Children are initially motivated by rational self-interest and develop love for their parents by bonding with them over the gradual development of their own self-worth. Parental norms are constraints against which children rebel, but the love and trust children feel for their parents dispose them to eventually share their sentiments towards their transgressions.

The morality of authority in larger social arrangements can only be justified in unusual circumstances, when it is determined essential for certain individuals to have such authority, and the scope of such authority is always determined by the principles of justice.