Description

Introduction: Historical Account of the Concept of Social Justice In this chapter, I would like to give a historical account of the concept of justice and trends of philosophy which influenced Rawls in formulating his concept of justice. The word 'justice' has been originated from the Latin word 'Jus', which means 'bond' or 'tie.' Justice is a system in which men are tied in a close relationship. A man living in a society is attached to another man in one way or the other and their mutual relationship is subject to certain rights and duties. When a man while enjoying his rights also fulfils his duties and behaves in an appropriate manner with others; then he is said to be doing justice. There are different dimensions of justice such as legal, political, social and economic dimensions of justice and all the dimensions are not isolated from one another and are rather interlinked. Generally, the legal dimension of justice says that justice and laws have a close relationship with each other. The state makes laws and implements them in order to establish justice in the society. Just laws, equality before law and uniform legal system, impartial and independent judiciary are necessary conditions for ensuring legal justice. The political dimension of justice holds that nobody should be denied of equal political rights. The universal adult franchise, right to contest elections, right to form political parties, right to protest and the existence of a democratic system - are the necessary parts of ensuring political justice. The social justice is to give proper opportunities to every citizen in every sphere of life, to develop his/her personality and to put an end to all types of social inequalities. Equality before law, a just distribution of wealth, a democratic government and the provision of equal