Why Justice? Which Justice? Impartiality or Objectivity?

By Douglas B. Rasmussen, Douglas J. Den Uyl

Nobel laureate economist Amartya Sen has written one of the most highly acclaimed works of political philosophy since John Rawls’s famous treatise. In The Idea of Justice (2009), Sen attempts to derive the norms of a just political-legal order, but this effort is undermined by his confusion of impartiality with ethical objectivity.

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Douglas B. Rasmussen
is professor emeritus at St. John’s University.
Douglas J. Den Uyl
taught philosophy and was department chair and full professor at Bellarmine University before coming to Liberty Fund, where he is now vice president emeritus and Benjamin A. Rogge Resident Scholar.

Civil Liberties and Human Rights Government and Politics Law and Liberty Political Theory Political Theory