''Spheres of Justice: A Defense of Pluralism and Equality'' is a 1983 book by the philosopher

Michael Walzer Michael Laban Walzer (born March 3, 1935) is an American Political theory, political theorist and public intellectual. A professor emeritus at the Institute for Advanced Study (IAS) in Princeton, New Jersey, he is editor emeritus of the left-win ...

Summary

Walzer explores the concept of

distributive justice Distributive justice concerns the Social justice, socially just Resource allocation, allocation of resources, goods, opportunity in a society. It is concerned with how to allocate resources fairly among members of a society, taking into account fa ...

, which concerns the fair allocation of goods and resources in society. He argues against the idea of a single universal principle of justice that can be applied uniformly across all spheres of life. Instead, he suggests that different social goods should be distributed according to different principles, taking into account the specific characteristics and values of each sphere. Walzer argues in favour of an idea he calls "

complex equality Complex equality is a theory of justice outlined by Michael Walzer Michael Laban Walzer (born March 3, 1935) is an American Political theory, political theorist and public intellectual. A professor emeritus at the Institute for Advanced Study ( ...

", and against the view that

goods In economics, goods are anything that is good, usually in the sense that it provides welfare or utility to someone. Alan V. Deardorff, 2006. ''Terms Of Trade: Glossary of International Economics'', World Scientific. Online version: Deardorffs ...

with different meaning and content can be lumped together into the larger category of ''primary goods'', as is advocated by

John Rawls John Bordley Rawls (; February 21, 1921 – November 24, 2002) was an American moral philosophy, moral, legal philosophy, legal and Political philosophy, political philosopher in the Modern liberalism in the United States, modern liberal tradit ...

, in his ''

A Theory of Justice ''A Theory of Justice'' is a 1971 work of political philosophy and ethics by the philosopher John Rawls (1921–2002) in which the author attempts to provide a moral theory alternative to utilitarianism and that addresses the problem of distribu ...

'' (1971). According to Walzer, each sphere has its own internal logic and should be governed by distinct principles of distribution that reflect the particular goods and values at stake.

Reception

''Spheres of Justice'' has, together with ''

Just and Unjust Wars ''Just and Unjust Wars: A Moral Argument with Historical Illustrations'' is a 1977 book by the philosopher Michael Walzer. Published by Basic Books, it is still in print, now as part of the Basic Books Classics Series. A second edition was publish ...

'' (1977) and ''

Interpretation and Social Criticism ''Interpretation and Social Criticism'' is a 1987 book about political philosophy by Michael Walzer. Reception ''Interpretation and Social Criticism'' has, together with ''Just and Unjust Wars ''Just and Unjust Wars: A Moral Argument with Histor ...

'' (1987), been identified as one of Walzer's most important works by the philosopher Will Kymlicka. Kymlicka 2005, p. 952.

References

Bibliography

External links

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(large images) 1983 non-fiction books Basic Books books Books by Michael Walzer Books in political philosophy English-language non-fiction books {{Poli-philo-book-stub