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Towards a Hermeneutics of Justice: Reflections on Amartya Sen’s Philosophy |
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Roberto Alejandro |
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Sen’s philosophy of justice concentrates on social realizations and not on the quest for perfect
institutions. It is also a philosophy that welcomes incompleteness instead of looking for allencompassing
answers. This philosophy calls into question the social contract tradition as one
more interested in defining an institutional arrangement than in reaching actual outcomes in
the domain of justice. An examination of Thomas Hobbes', and John Rawls' respective theories
suggests that their focus is on urgent problems, which are a condition of war in Hobbes' analysis
and illegitimate inequalities in Rawls' arguments. Sen’s philosophy advocates a careful scrutiny
of public reasons in order to justify public policies. In light of the distortions that prejudices and
economic power introduce in public debates, an accountability index is needed to act as a moral
dam against the prejudices that may derail the formulation of public policies. |
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