ADefenseof

Pluralism and Equality

Michael Walzer
SPHERES OF
JUSTICE
, .
Boob by t ~ S:;II"" Author
The Rew>lulion oi th. S;,inb
Obliptiom
Political Adion
!ke;"Mlo and R","(l/ution
Ju.l .nd lJlljlUt Wm
R.adi",,1 Principles
,.
SPHERES
OF
JUSTICE
A DEFENSE OF
PLURALISM AND
EQUALITY
Michael Walzer
E1
A Member of Th. Peneu. 8ook.t Gmup
,
...... __, c ~ ...... "..__
""... NdooI
_.-
I.-dooIo> ........... "fa...............
.. DiothIIoo,.. ,..;o,. .. ~ J "--
(SocooI _1 I Tid.,
K:nl Ill,. ,'II, 110...'' 8.-,._
ISBN ~ - o I I I ...
Cq, \110I. '''J 10, __ Ioob, I""
...... ""'-_..........
0-,..- '" ~ T_
03-30292827
JOSEP" P. WAI2E"
lqOO- I98,
The ll>emory of II..: righteous
is ~ bks.sing."
CONTENTS
PREFACE

1 Complex Equality
PI".. r,m 1
II Theory of Coo<U 6
Dominance and '0
Simple Equally 11
T\",nny ."d Comple. E<t""li!y '7
Th,.., Dislribul;.., Principles , I
FON [,cM",. "
Dnm >!
,.....,/ >5
Hiccl.!chia .00 Ca'le Socidia ,6
Sdtilll 01 the A'gumrn! ,8
.2 Membership
"".....60.... 01><1 Sinn!:... l'
Analocin, Neighbo.OOods, Clubs, .nd Jj
Tmitory 4'
"W1Ijl< til. o"i", of ,.Ii
/l.rlu,m
Alien>&! and Natuf.l"l.;lhoo $I
TIl. Molin Sl
Gutst W"'.'" i6
MfflIbt"hip.nd 6.
3 Security and Welfare
Mcmbnship and NwJ 64
Communal Px....-jsioo 68
""".... in !lI. F;ftI"J F....,y, CAtv... 69
II M.J;n."I koWo a-...""itt 71
,;
xvii
3
31
6,
Contents
ir Shares 7i
11>e Ei.rnl of Provision 78
"'n Ammc.n Wdf.,e Sl>.le 8,.
1M c..., 01 Mtdic41 c... S6
A Note on cn.,iIY .nd Dependency 9'
1ME.. <n
4 Money and Commodities 95
",., Uni_.\31 Pander 95
Wt..l Moog Qn'l Buy 'l7
Co",m'pli<m i" ,86! is
Bloch<! .dtJJ1Ifn .00
Wt..l Morq un Buy '01
The M.,ketpbtt .OS
Iltr BW!! Dr"."......., SI9't "0
lI'ahi", M..dti_ srn. SJt-o. .mJ lIuto"OOhil,. '"
1JJt Delcrmill3lion of Waga ,,6
Redi.l,ibulions 119
Ciflnd InlM:,il.1ln' 11)
CIt E..""",. i" tlw W..trm P"",lic "1
"5
5 Office
SimP!< Equality ill the Sphcn: of Off><e "9
M..ilocracy '35
The Chi_ t....i_&<.... 119
'fh< Mning 01 Qualil">coli"" Ii)
1I1t.rt'. w""" wJ, N<fIOlUm? "I?
The RcKmItion 01 Office ,,.8
11K c.H 0(,1"""",,," 8J.b IS'
ProlmioNli>m.nd the Insolence 01 OfIice 'SS
n.,. Con'.inrpcnt of O/Iicc 160
Th. WodJ of tJr< l'Wtr Bo..,*,,",", ,6,
WorU,,'Co"imI ,6,
PoIiboJ p.t1On4 .6,
6 Hard Work
Eq....lily.nd H.,dna> ,605
D.ng<rQUS Work .68
Crueling Work '70
1M J.ffJdi K,bho.t< '7'
VIIl
,
Contents
Dir'y Wotk '1<4
Son Frs""'..... SaNtnllt'! in
7 free Time
The tl.k.ning 01 lmure .84
Two forI!\! 0( Rat .8,
!I Sh<M fli"orr '" \'oK1rIio", ,yo
Tlu u.. 01 lit< s.blHiIJI 0<"
197
C""'I! 0.-11'. Sdt<IOIdar> '11
AlJOCi>ltioo.oo Seg,cga,ioo .14
Pri>wu Sdlcd. d>td EJlJ<tJtio",,1 v.... , "
T1nH Too. un
'nlars!""" qnd 8.';", ."
School. n"
8 Education
11>C" Impor'.nce of Schools Hl1
71rI A.lre '1101" 01 rQ!!'l.ll M"" ,<>:>
Schooling AUlonomy .nd Equ:>li'Y .0.
Wild 90! I!<'OI '0'
1M /#<!...., ,.,.
Spi:lliZ<:<! Schools .06
9 KilUhip lind Love 227
'Il>e Di"ribu'ions of Alred
""
f'tdlo', eu.mt"'n,
9
F.mily.oo F.ronomy
11 ,
M..nc1>r".., Is... .11
f..b"ia/lc Hi
TIt, (:irk &11 ,,6
111, M", 0/ tlI, ..
'}7
'f1..e W01n.1n Qlleo';""
>19
10 Divine Grace
71rI \I'.u bnwrn CAwdI and Statr '4\
243
i,
Contents
11 Recognition
11", Struule !of J4<:t1Knition 1-49
A SonNocr of Till.. '.w
Public t\onof and Indi>1dlul Desert ,,9
'it-.l;n', <jtp'M!lYjla ,6,
1M ,,'fJbI! f'ri" in UI<"'lu" .64
,I!""",".nJ Orlwt T,;,,',,{!Iu ,66
f'1,nimffil1l' ,68
o.lorrio", in AIMOI 1;0
f'rrNoli>'< DoUt<lio<t 17'
Sc:1f-f..l
ecm
and Sc:lf.R..pcct 171
12 Political Power
s.:..'('Tcignly."d limited w'emffi('T,t 18,
BIodtd 100 of PrIwt ,8.
KnowJr:dtt:/Powtr 1t+
1M SJl;' 0{ SUI< ,85
p.dp! ....." ImIiM""" ,1.8
Propttty/P"""" 191
no. emof Pull"",... lIIint>it 1<r5
n..,.-,.tic 303
p" l.oltrrr lOS
P."ia ,nJ Prj"",,;,, J06
13 T ramlin and us! Societies J",,,,:J:o>---'>""
The Ikbli.ity .00 the Non1k h<'ily J'
in tilt Twmtielh ColtlJ'Y ;.6
Eq....lity.nd Social C'han&e ,.8
NOTJ.;5
INDEX
323
337

PREFACE
EqU3lity lilmlly undcnlood is idal ripe for betraj-,al. Committed
llw:n and ,,"Omen betray it, Of seem to do so, al soon n they Ofpnizc
a lOO\'Ctnnlt for equality and distribute po........, positions, aoo Inllucntt
among Here i5 an e''''cu!i,'c 5eCretal)' who remcmbcn the
fi", rumes of all the members; here il a attachi ,,'00 handle! re-
poflc'lS ....ith remarkable skill; here is a popular and inexhaustible
.peak.... ,"'ho lou'! the local branches and "buildslhc NSC," Such pro.
pie both nessal)' and UlIa,'Qidable, and certainly they a,c some-
thing rtlOfC than the cquab of their comrades. Arc they InilolS?
f..hyk-but maybe: 001.
The appeal of equality is oot expbirn:d by ilJ litml me;lning, Living
in an autocratic Of oligarchic state.....e may dream of a society ",'heTe
)"",..e. ihared, and e--er)"OOC hu cuetl}' the same share. But ....e koow
I},:II cqu:llily of that sort won', the first mttIing of the nt""'
mcmbe,.,. ...ill be elected chairman; someone will make a
stlng md I"'"uadc us all to follow his lead. By the end of the
day we willlwl,"C begun to Klrt one anothel out-that's "'Iwlt meetings
are for, in a capil1liststate, "'e may dream of a society "tJerc
e'fel)""'" has the same amount of monC)'. But we know that m<,>rK.")"
equally distlibuted at t,,"Cl>'e r>oon of a Sunday will been ullC<lually
redi'hibuted before Ihe Wf:Ck is out Some people will save ii, and oth-
ers will it, and still others will sJlC1ld it (and they ",11 do KI in
differenl ways). Mo"Cf cxish to make lhese ''arious activities possible;
and if it didn't the harl..r of malerial good< would lead, only a
little llt01'e dowly, to the Am<" rcoults I,.;,ing in a feudalstalc, ".., may
drcam of a society all the mcmbclS are equally hooored and
spo:ctcd. But though ""C can gi'.., everyooe the same litle, ......, know Ihal
"'I: canllot rdrnc 10 r<"CO(nizc.--inOced, ""C ,"'ani 10 be: able to r.-cog-
nize-the many differenl sorb and dcgrccs of .kill, wisdom,
\'OO[";Ig.., kindr>m, enelgr, and grace that distingui.h one
from another.
Nor """,ld many of us ....ho are committed to .-quality be happy ,"'ilh
the regime n-cc=ry 10 swtain its lil.-ral meaning; the state as PIOCIUJ
tcan bed. "Egalitarianism," rlank Palkin hu written,
,i
Preface
,nil 10 rcq"i'e po!itically$fem in .hich the stale i. able COIltin...lly
to hold in dok lhoM: socioland OlXupolionlll groop' ,,-hid., by virt"" of
thei, "" cdOC'Otion "" pno<>n>l OllTibo.,lCl, might olhawi>c ....k
cbimllo di.proportiorulte wre of oocidy'. ' ......rlh. OIOlt efFccti"e
....yof boIdill& such group' in cl-.cd is by dmj1"i them the: ,ight toorp-
nl1.( politically.l
Thi3 comes f'om a friend of cq\l;llity. Opponents arc C\'f:n quicker 10
descrihc the repression it would leqUlrc and drab aM fea,ful confor.
mity it would produce. I+. society of equals, they gr, "oold bf a \ffirld
of false appcanmccs ....here people who ....ere oot in fact the gme ...-ould
be fOlccd to \oot; and:tet a, if they w<:rc the "'nle. And the falsehoods
"oold ha\'e to be enfore! by a" elite"" a \Olnguard whos.c mcmkrs
pre!ended In turn th.t they V=I:' not really thc<<:. [t is nolan inviting
prospect.
But thal"'l101 wMt ""1: mean by equality. arc egalitarian, who
h...e adopted Pa,kin'. argument and made their pea with (XlIitical
leprcuion. but thein is grim creed and, insof.r as it is uOOcntood,
i. unlikly to attrole! many adhe,ent. Even tile advOCOltn of what I
shall all "simple equality" don't uwally ha\"c In mind. 1ev<:1cd .mi
co"f""",;" lOCitty. B"t ....h.t do they h.o,c in mind? \Vhat (:In ('<j,..lily
mean if it (:In't bf takn litC'llllly71t is not my immediate purpox to
nk tht oorl\'enlional philosophical questions; In whatlespcclS are "'I:'
one .nothe,'s equals? And by virtue of ....h.1 eh.racteristic arc "-': equ.l
In those ,espects? This entire book is an .nswer of a oomplicated sort
to the filSt oftllf:$C question,; the an.v= to the ocromil don't know,
though in my last chaptCl I shall mggest onl:' 'cle....nt ch'llICtClistie
But surely is more than olle; the second qllCltion is more plausibly
anN'ered with a li.t than ...ilh a lingle wo.-d Or phrllsc. The aos"'C1 has
to do with 001 rttOgllition of one a"oIhe' as human king., memoo.
althe .. me Jpecies,.nd ....h.t ....e rttOgnile ale bodi", aM minds and
fcelingJ aM hopes aM m.ybe evcn JOIJls, For lhe purposc:l of this book,
I assyme the rttOgnitioo. We very diffC'lC'llt, all<! ,,-e .rc also man;
fatly alike. Now.....hat (compb) JOCial arrangements follow from the
difference .nd the likeness?
The root meaning of equality is ncgati'-.:; egalitariani'm in originJ
is an abolitioni.t politics. It eliminating lIot all differcns but
3 palticylar 5Ct of diffcrcoca, and a diffe,ent set in difFcrCllttimcs and
pbccs. Il& t.rget,e always .pecific; ari.locrlllic pri,'ilcge, c.pitalist
"'ealth, byteaycr.tic ",,"'1:". ",cial Of ........, suprema<:)'. In each of these
(:ISCS. h.,w,'C"'el. IIIe ha. oo",cthing like the .. me form Wh.t
;s al st.ke is IIIe ability of. group of people to dominate theil fcllo...
'"
IfsllOllhe f:lct lhal there 3re ,ieh and poor lh3t gene'3tl.'l cgalita,ian
polilics but the f:let lhat the rich "grind the faces of the poor," impoH:
thei, upon them, comm3nd Ihei. deferential beh3vior. Similar
Iy, it's not the existence oI3,;slocra!s and commonell or of office hold-
ers and ordinary citizens hud certainly not lhe existence of diffe,enl
..ces or lhat produces the popula, demand for tl>c abolition of
JQC;al and poIitic.l1 difF.....,r>C'f:; ifs whal arisloc"ts do 10 commoners,
what office hoIdell do 10 OIdin.ary cihzens, ,,hat people wilh power do
10 lhose withoul it
1l>c expericrn:e of subordinatior>--Of penonal subOldin.ation, aoo.-e
all----lies behirnlthe vision 01 eqU3lily. Opponents 01 tl>c ,-ilion often
claim Ihal the animating p;lssions 01 cgalita,ian politics a,e envy and
rC$Cntmcnl, and ifs true enough that soch p;lssiorll fester in C\-ery sub-
ordinate group. To lOme eIlenllhcy will lhape ilJ politics; thus the
"c'ude communism" lhal MarI described in hil cady manuscripts, aoo
...hich is nothing hut thcenadment of enry,1 BUI enry and rC$Cntment
are uncomfOftable passions; 110 one enjoys them; and it is accu
rate to 53y that egalitarianism ;s nol 10 much lheir ading oul as it il
a cooscious attempt to escape Ihe condition that produces them. Or
that maka lhem there is a kin.d of enry that lies, JO to
on the surfa' of soc;allife and has no serious consequeoccs.
[ may envy my neighbcK's g,cen thumb or his rich barilone voice or
C\"CIl his ahility to win the respect of our muluallriends, but 110"" of
this will lead me 10 otg3nizc a polilical fTlO\-emenl.
TI,e aim of political egalitarianism is a society frcc from domin.ation.
This ;s the li,-ely t.opc, named by the word equdlity.. no rroore bowing
an.d seraping, fawning and toadying; no more feanul trembling; no
more highandmightiness; no mOre masters. no more slaves, It is not
a hope for the elimination of differences; \\-e don't all have to be the
same Of ha,-e the same amounts of the same thing$, Men and .."Omen
all: one another's equal! (for all importanlll1Ol'aland poIitinl purposes)
when no one poueJSCS or ",,,,\loIs the "'C3ns of dornin.ation. But the
1lIC3rl! of dominalion ale differently COIlstituled in diffe.entsocietics.
Birth and blood. bnde<! walth, capital, ,""ucatio:lll, divine state
power-an thC$C ha"e le'Y,"" 31 one lime or molher to enable lOme
people to dominale others. Domin.tion il always medial,"" by au,ne
set of social goods. l1Jough the experiencc is pel'JOl\al, nolhing in lhe
persons themsel..-es ilJ charilcter. Bence, again, cqu.ality as
we "..-e d'C3m,"" 01 it docs not lequire Ihe repression of persom. We
ha"e to understand and rontrol social goods; "-C do nol ha'-c 10 streteh
or sh,ink human beings.
Xlii

My purpose in this book is to describe a "Xiety where nO "Xial good
serve< or can serve as a mans of mination, [ woo'ttry to describe
how "'e mi&ht goabout cre.aIiTJi soch a society. The description is hard
enough: egalit1lrianism without the Procrustean bed; a li,ely and open
egalitarianism that matehes not the lit=l meaninG of Ihe "",1.1 bUI
the rie},..,r furnishings of the \'ision; an egalitarianism Ihat is coosistent
with liberty. At the same time, iI's oot my purpose to sketch a utopia
located nl)\\'hcre Or a philosophic:ol ideal .pplic:lh1c everywhere. A soci.
ety of equ.alslies within our Own reach It is. praetical possibility here
and now, latC1lt .lre;ldy, as 1shan try to show, in our shared umlcrsland
ings of social goods. Our shared urKkrslandings: the vision i. rele>-ant
to the oocial "'odd in which it ....as deo.'eloped; it is not relevant, Or 001
necessarily, to all social woo-Ids. It 61s a certain conception of how
human beings relate to one aoother and how they use the things they
make to shape their relations.
argument is radicany particularist. I don't claim to have aehie-\-ed
any great distance from the social wOl'ld in whieh I he. One w:ly to
becin the philosophic:ol enterprise-perhapo the Ofigin31 way_is 10
,,-alk out of the ca\'C, lea\'C the city, climb the ITlOIlntain, fashion for
oneself (....hat can ne-..,r be fa.hio"ed for OI'din.ry men and ""men)
an ob;ecti\'e and uni\'ersalstandpoinl. Then Olle describes thc terrain
of evnyday lilc from lar .,,-ay, so that it bes ill particular COI'lIOU,S
and takes 011 a gen-eral 5hape. But I mean to stand in the ca,.." in the
city, OIl the g,ound, Another w:ly of doing philosophy is to interprel
to one'slellow citizens the "uld of meanings that we share. Iwtice
and eqUillity can concei\-ably be ""rked out as philosophical artifacts,
but a just or an egalitarian society cannot be [f such a "Xiely isn't
already here-hiddcn, as it ""'re, in OUI concepts and
",ill nC\'er how it concretely /)I realif.C it in fact.
In Ofder 10 suggest the possible reality of (a cerlain IOrt of) egalitali
anism, I ha'.., tried to woo-k my argument through C()fllemporary and
hi.tCllical esamples. acoounls of dislributions in our own soeiety .nd,
by ,,-ay of contrast, in a range of others. Distributions don't make lor
dramatic aceounb, .nd I can rarely tell the stories that I would like
10 ten, with a beginning, a middle, and an end that points a 1TlOf31.
My esamples are TOUllh sketches, sometimes focused on the agents of
distribution, somclimeo on the procedures, sometimes on Ihe criteria,
sometimes on the use and the meaning of the thlllgs we share, di"ide,
an<! exchange. These esamples aim to suggest the force of the things
themselves 0', ,ather, lhe force of 00' ooncephnns of the Ihings. We
make the social ....orld as much in our minds as with our hand., .nd
Preface
lhe particuLu world that ha"e IerKis ilsell to egalita.ian inl
prdatio",. Not, asain. to a literal egalita.ianism--<lU' conception,
100 rompb for thai; but IIl<:r do tend Sleadily to proocribe the use
of things For thc purposa of domination.
This prOlC.iption has its ..:>urce, r think, leu in a uniu:nalist concep-
lioll 01 pcnons than in a pluralilt conceptil;>n 01 goods. in the
pagcs that follow I d",11 imilalc John Stua.t Mill and fmego (most of)
lhe ad''anlagcs thai might dive 10 my algumenl from the idea of PC"
lOOal-lhat is, human or natural-fights.
l
Some l..,an ago. I
",rote aboul ".... I .e1icd heavily 01' the ida 01 .ightl, Fo. the theory
01 iUltice in ".. , an indeed be gencr.lted from thc two most basic and
"'iddy rr:cogni1.cd .ights of hun",n in theillimpkst (nega.
ti,-e) foI-m: not to be robbcd oIlifeo. of liberty' Whal is pc.hal'Jll more
impoflant. t'- two righb seem to accounl for mOlal judgments
that ",e most co'THI>OnIy make in ti""" of wal. 1ltey do lcal "'OIk. But
they a.e only of limitcd help in thinkrng about di.tributive ;ultice, I
shall inwke them Pfirna.ily in thc chapte" on mcmbcnhip and ",.,1-
fare; C'"(:Il thCle. they _n'llakc us ,"cry fa. into the subslancc of the
a.gumenl. The effo.1 to ploduce a complete account 01 jUltice: Of a de
fense 01 Cfluality by multiplying righls soon maka a falce of ",hat it
mulliplies. TO!:lY of "'halC"e. "'.., think people oughllo ha'.., Ihat they
ha"c a tighl to ha'e it is oot 10 say '"Cf}' much. Men and womcn do
indeed ha,.., right. beyond life and libe.ty, bul these do not lollow from
Our commOll humanity; they follow from shared conceptio", of.oei-al
goods; lhey a.e local and palticular in character.
No., I"""e"' e,m MiII's of ulility lunction as the u)l\male
appeal in arguments about Cflualily, "Utility in the Iarsal sellse" can
fuoction. I .uppose, in any ""y _ please, But classical ulilita.ianism
,"oold seem to 'Cfluire a COOfdinalcd program. a central plan 01 a highly
specific sort, fo< the di.t.ibution 01 social g,.n,. And while thc plan
might produce something like Cfluality, it ,"'OlIkl not produce Cflualily
as I h"'e described it. r.ce from "''''ry sort 01 domination; lor the JlO'o'o'e.
oIlhe planocrs "-oukl be dominant. 11_ are 10 rl:spcd social mean-
ings. di.t.ibutio"" cannot be coordinatcd, eithc.....ith .derer>ce to the
general happiness o..... ith IclCfCIlee to an),thing else. Domination is
.uled out only il social goods ale di.tributcd fnr distinct and "internal"
.e3IOOI. I lhall uplain ....hat that mans in my chapter, and
r .hall argue thai distribuliw iustice is not-....hat utilita.ianism ce,
tainly ir---,an intcgratcd science. but an a.t 01 diff".entiatio",
And Cfluality is simply the outcome of thc a.t----.at Iea.t for U', ...."'k.
illg ,"'illl the materials he.e at hand. For the .est of the book Ihen.

I shall try to tlw::tw: materials, tk things ....e make and di.lrib-
ute, one by one, 1shan try 10 get at what IUrity md wella,e, money,
education, heo: time, political and SO on, mean to lIS; how
they in Our lives; and how we might share, divide. and exchange
thcm if ....-e ....e'" frL-e from every SOft of dom;nalioll.
xvi
,.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
AcknO'lo'le<!gmcnh and citations a,e a mailer of dil!ributi,-c justice, the
currency in which ",t pay our intellectual debts. 11te pIIyment il impor
tant, indeffi, the,.. is a $:I}ing in the Talmud that when a schob, ae-
k"",,'!edga "Ii hi, sources, he brings the day of .e<kmption a lillie
closer. But it ..asr 10 make that full ackoowledgment; ....'1: are pfClN
bly of, or unable 10 <<<Ogll;""', many of OIl' dpr;:It <kbts-,md
"" the great day is "ill I.. oft. E'-en he.e, ius!i.,., is unfinished and im
perll:Cl.
In the ;JC;Idcmic I rno-7', I taught a COU'5I: at Hamlld Uni''l:ni
Iy, along ..jlh Robert No>:iek. on the ",hied "C1pitalism and Social
ism:' The coone had the form of an ngum..nt, and half of that a,S"-
menl can k found in P,ofeuor Nonid.', AnDrrhy. SWlt. lind U/opill
(New YOlk, 1974); thi, book is the othe-r Mlf. I ha''!: oot tried to re-
spond to Nozic\:;'s vicw. in any detailed "';If hul h;.\'C limply de-,"e\op(d
my 0'0'''' pll$ition. r 0"'" mo,e than 1can say. how.,....r. to OUr disrussiollJ
and disagreements.
Sn-eul chapters of the book .....,'e ,ead and discussed at meetings
of the Socitty for Eth;",,1 and Lei'll Philosophy and at ...m;nars .pon-
SOl'ed by Ik School of Social Sci.,nce at tk Institute fOf Ad''allttd
Study. I am grateful to all th., membclS ollh., lOCicty and to my 001
league:! at the Institute during the ae.demic )""" 19S0-81 and
,Q8I-8:. I ..."nt particulatly 10 acknowledge the CQ!Jnsel and critirism
of Jonathan Bennell. Marshall Cohen. Jean Elshtain, Cha,les Fried.
Clifford Ceertz, Philip Creen, Amy Cutmann, Albert Hinchman. 1\1i
chad Md'hersOIl. Joh" &hreder. "lare Stier"d CI""ks T.)Jor. 'U.
dith '.""i. ThOlll,OIl read the ....hoIe of the manuscript and pointed
out all t ......... plxn where, thou&h I had ",ery .ight to ...y ....hat I ... id.
;t ....oold ha"" been belle. had I ni2dc an argument. And I ha'-e tried
to make the arguments. thou&h not always at tlIe depth that sh., (and
1) would ha\., liked.
RobeTt A",dUT. Doo He,zog. Irving How... James T. Joh"son, :-'13,-
Kohl. Judith Leavitt. Dcnn;s1bomP'On, and John Womack each
rcad a chapta of the bed and oIJeled helpful advicc. My ... ile. ludith
Walzer. rcad much of it. talked with me aboul all of il. and supported
XVII
Acloo\\,kdgOlents
me in my effort to s;ay something, if ""Iy .kclchily, aboul ki",hip .nd
k,,,
No one writing about jwticc thcx dol)'1 COIn bit to reoogni7-c and
admiK the achicvcJm11t of loon Ra",'ls. In the text, llu.'e roost!) di..
agleed with A 11rn>"Y of (Cambridge. 1971) r-.-1yente,
priJc is very different from Rawls'l., and it draws different aca
demic disciplines (hiltory and rather than economic! and
psyd>Olagyl BUI it would not lu'"l: taken slupe as it did---it might not
ha'"l: tlIken shape at .l\--withoul his work Two other contemporary
phiklsophe's come eloser to my own view- of justice than Roawll does.
In th, HUn/lin Good ,<)80), William M. Gabton
"K:lICI, as I do, tlut sociall gooW "are divided into dilFerrnt categories,"
.nd that "c:ach of these brings into playa dillit>cti,.., ensem
ble of claims." In Diltributive ,9(6). Nicholal
Rocher argllCl, as I do, for a "plurali!lic.nd heterogcncQUl" account
of justice, But, in my the pluralism of these two argument. is
vitiated by Gallton's Aristoleli.nism and by Rocher'l ul;rit..
My own argument pmee.:ds without thoc foundation:ll commitment.
The chaptel on membership, in an arlier ''C'ISion, first appeared in
M,tio"lll Au/onomy ll"d /1$ Umiu. nlited by Pdn C
BTOlO.'n and Henry Shuc:, ptlblishcd by Rowman and Lillkfield (Tl>
towa, N. J., 1')8,). I am gratcfulto the editors for commentl and niti-
cilm and to the publiJhe, for permissioll to reprint the essay here. A
section of clupte. ,z first appealed in 11r, Nt"" Rttlu-blic (lanuary 1
and 10, ,96,), Some of the essays coIltcd in my I:>ook Radical Pri"ci.
plt. (New York, ,<)80). firsl ptlblished in the mag.zine Di_"t. ale
ClIrly and statements 01 the theory prnented here. I was
helped in reformulating them JJ,.' B..ry'J clihcal TC\'icw of Radi.
rill Principia in Ethia (January The lwo lir>es from W. H.
Auden's "In Time of W.....re reprinted from The English Aud,,,
Poems. EI$t1}'I, atlll Dramatic Writi"", 1917-19)90 edited br &h,-a,d
(Nev.' YOfk, '978); copyrid-t@ '977 by EdW<l,d
son, William Meredilb, and Monroe K. Spears, Executorsof lhe
of \V.H, Audc-n; with the kind permission of the publisher, Roandam
UOUIC. Inc.
'\lary Olivier, my sretary .t the Inslitute lor StOOy,
typed the manulCTipt and then retyped iI, again and again, ,,ith unfail.
ing accur.lC)' and unflagging p;lticn.
Finally, M.rtin Kes!ler and Plloc:bc HOIoI of Bnic Book. provided
the kind of encour.lgcmrnt and ad"ice th.l, in. perfectly just
society, all authon win
xviii
,.
SPHERES OF
JUSTICE
Complex Equality
PIOrillism
just;';" ;. l.rge idea. It dlOl"1 the ,,"olld of goods
within the rach of phibophic:ll reA.,."t;"". Nothing om be omiUro;
00 fatUle of om commol11ifc can escape scrutiny. Human 5lX;"ly is
a dillribul;'-c community. That's root all it is, but it is importantly thal-
rome t"lldhe. to slun::. di,-ilk, ami <:>:crumge. We also rome to.
gethe. to make the thingJ that are divided, and uchanged; hut
tholt '-err m.king-wolk ilsclf-is dislnbllloo among us in 1I division
of labor. My platt in till: economy. my slanding in the political Older.
my reputation alTlOllg my fellows, my material holdings' aU rome
to me hom other men and "'OmCfl. II QU be gid thai I ...ll:It
1h.,-.: rightly or wr'QIlgly, justly 01 unjustly; but gi,-.:n the nngo: 01 disl,;-
buliolls .lId the numbel of p;lrlicipanls, loch judgment. arc nC\'C1 easy.
n.... idea of dilhibulive justi.,., h.ls as much to do with and
doing as ""ith ha,-ing, as much to do ....ilh prodoctiOfl as ""ith COnsu",1>'
tion, a. much 10 do "';th idffitity and .Ialus as ""ilh bnd, C::Ipilat or
\,<:nol1al possession. D;ffe:nl politicll unlngements enro."". and di!.
ferenl ideologies illllify. different distribution. of mcmbeuhip, pooo.n,
hollOl, ritual eminel'\tt, di,-ine grace, kinship and knowledge.
w""llh, physical security, work and leisure:, rew.lr<!s and punishment.,
and a hosl of goods mo.-e narrowly and materially
clothing. lransporlation, medical C::Ire, commodilies of
lIort, and all odd things (painting., rare books, postage .1lImps) lhat
human beings collect, And this mulliplicity of goods it matched hr a
multiplicity of dislributi,..., I"ocdurn, agents, and criteria. n,ere are
3
SPHERES OF' JUSTICE
such things as simple dislrihulive systems-sla"e galley.:, If>QflOIsler;o.
insane asylums, kindergartem (though each of these, looked at clcMly,
might show ur>expected complexities); hut no full-Aedged human soci
ety has ever a,'Oideo:Ilhe multiplicity. We must study it all, the goods
and lhe distribulions, in many differenl times and placa
There is, howe\'e'f, no single point of aco:c:ss to this wo.-ld of distribu-
tive arnngemenis and ideologies. Thele has "",'er been a universal me
dium of Silltt the dedir>e of the barter economy, money
has been Ihe most common medium. But the old maxim ;tOfding
to which there are ",me thing;s lhat money can't buy is not OIIly norm.....
tively but also lactoally true. What should and should no! be up lor
sale is someihillll men and women alWllys have to decide and ha"e de-
cided in many different ways. Throughout history, the IIUlket has benJ
one of the most impOlt:mt mechanisms lor the di,tributiOll of social
eooo:!s; but it has benJ. it IlOwhere is today, a complete dislTibn
Ii"e system.
Similarly, there h... 1>C'>'e1 been either a Jingle decision point lrom
which all distributions are controlled Of a single set of agerlb making
decisions. No stale power hu C\'er benJ 50 pemlli"e as to regulate all
the palle",s of shaling, dividing, and exchal1gi,'8 out 01 which. oociety
takes: shape, Things slip away from the state's glllsp; nell' paUems are
WOl"kd out-f.milial netWOlks, black markets, bureaucllllic .1Iianca,
clandestine political and .eligious organizations. Slate officials nn tax,
conlCJipt, allocate, 'egulate, appoint, ,eward, puni,h, but they nnnol
capture the fun range of goods 01 oubslitule themsekes 10, n'ery other
asent of distribution. NOI can anyone else do lhat: there are market
coops and corrlerings, bul there a funy suttttliul dillfib-
uli\1: compirocy.
And finally, there hal' "",'cr been a linCle criterion, or a single set
of interc:oonected criteria, for all distributions. Desert, qoalili.cation,
birth atld blood. Iriendship, need, free political loyalty, demo
ocratic decision: each has had itJ pbce, along with many othen, une:u-
ily CO!"xisting, in\'Oked by competing group', ronlused ".jth anolh
".
111 thc mailer of distributi\1: justice, history displal'S a greal , ..riety
of arTllngemenls and ideologies. But the filst impulse of philooopher
is 10 resist the displays of history, the WOfId of appearat>CCl, atH:! to
sarch for some underlying unit)': a short list of basic goods, quickly
abstracted to a single good; a single distributi,'Ccriterion or an ;nlcrcoo-
necled set; and the philosopher himself statH:!ing, S)'mbolically at least,
at a single decision point. I shall argue that to search for unity is to
misunderstand the StIbject matter of distlibutiw justice, NC\'ertheks.,
4
Complex EqllOllity
in somt $fnM: thc philosophial impulSf is E"tll if
choost plur,l1ism. I JhoIll do, choice 5ti1l rtqlJires a oo1Iermt <k-
frnse. 1lte must be principia justify the dlOitt Sft limits
to it, fof plUr,lJism does not require us to mOOr-Sf e\'tl')' propllKd distrib-
uti,-c criteria Of to evt'l')' \/o'Ouldbe agm!. eo"ccil'llbly, thcre is
a ,ingk priocipk and a ,inglt legitimatc kind 01 plur,lli,m. But this
would still be a plurali,m cncompassed wide r,lngc 01 distribu
tion'. By lVntrast, tilt deepest of roost 01 thc philosophtfl
....ho written justice, from Plato onward. is that there is one,
aoo only one, system that phibophy c:an rightly cncom
"""
Tooby thil J)'Stcm is commonl)' described u the 0T>f that ideally ra
tional men and \/O,om.... would choose if they werc forced to choose im
lr.nowing nothing of their (lY,'n lituation. barred from malr.ing
particubrilt confronting an Joel of If these coo-
stroinb on knov.'ing and claiming are Juitably .hoIptd. and ilthe goods
ore suitably ddin-cd, it il prob3b1)' tme that a lingubr coochlsion can
be produced. R..lional men and \/o'Omen. constrain-cd this way or tholl,
will cho:loK011<'. and only ont, distribuhw: systcm, But the for of
singubr (-",nelulion i. not euy to mtalmC, It il ,urely doubtlul tholt
those Iamc men md WlIITlCn, if they "'cre transformed into ordin;lry
peQplt, with a Sfnsc of their own identity, with tlltir own goods
in thei, hands, c:aught up in tl"O\lbks, would rcit=te their
hypothctial choice or e\"C11 rcmgnizc it u their own. The probkm
is not, most impo<tantly, with the particularism of interest, ....hich phi-
losophers al",'lI)'S they could safely-thai il. UllOOlltTOl'cr-
alide, Ordinal')' people c::IIn do that too, lor thc sakt, lay.
01 thc public intc,es!. The gratcl probltm is ",'ith thc particularism
of histOl}'. culturc, and membership. if they arc comnlitted to
impartiality, thc qucstion most likdy to ariSf in the minds of thc mtm
bers of politial community is IlOt, \Vhat wouldlalional individuall
choose undc-r universalizing conditions of .uchmdsudl a JOTl? But
rather. What would individuals likc us choose. who lituated as we
arc, who shan: a culturc and arc determined to go on lharing it? Aoo
this is a questioo that is readily transformed into, cJ,o;ca
wt alrudy made in the COIJISf of our common life? Wholt
ings do ... (rcally)
Justice is a human constructioo, and it is doubtful it c::IIn be
made in only ont ",:ay, At any rate, I Jhall by doubting, rr>On:
than doubting, this standard phi\osophinl a..umptilm. The questions
posed by the theory of iustitt of a range of ans"'CT1.
aoo there is room within the rangc fof cultural di"CIsily aoo politial
5
SPHERES OF' IUSTIeE
choice. It's not onl)' 1I lJIlIttef 01 implementmg 50IDe singulll'
or sd: of principle:! in different hisloOclil settings, No one ""Ollkl deny
thai there is 1I rllnlle of 1TIOI'a1ly pennilJible implemcntatiolll, I WlInt
to lITgllC for more than thi" that the principles of justice lire themsckc:s
plllflilislie in form: thllt diffcrent social goods ought 10 be distributed
for different rell"""S, in acwrdlInce with dilte.ent proccdllfCS, by dilte.
entllgents; lind th3ll1l1 these dille.enecs derive: from under
sllln<lings of the socilll goods themselves-the iflC\'itllblc p.odocl of
historiclllllnd cultllfal particularism.
A Theory or Goods
TIlCOries of distributi'-c justice Focus On 1I social prOC'CSs comlTlOlll)' de-
scribed JIl; iF il hlld this form:
PtoPit di'tr;bult good, til (rxht<j /NO(JIt_
HefC, "distributc" mCllnS givc, allocatc, Clehllngc, lind 50 OIl, lind thc
f(lCUs is on the individuals who stllnd lit eithn end of these lIctions:
not on prodUC"CT' and conSUmCTS, bUI on dislributive: lIgents and ,ccipi
ent. of goods_ We lire lIS1l1WllYS interesled in oufJC1,'cs, but, in Ihis ellSC,
in 1I special lind limited vnsion of ounc!I'cs, lIS people who gi,"t 1Ir>d
!lIke_ \\'hllt is our nlilulc? Whllt lire 01.11 .ights' Wh;.t do we need,
";lnl, \\'hllt are we rnlilkd \VhlIt "'QUid ""t lIettpl ur>dc.
idclIl Answcu 10 thcoc questions lurned inlo disltibu
li,-e principles, which lite supposed 10 control the roo'.e11lCTlt of good.
The goods, by lIbstr.tetion, lire tllken to be movable in lIny
dirc<:tion_
But Ihis is too simple lin undcntar>ding of whlll aellJ:llly Iuppcns,
lind it forces us too quietly to mllkc Lillie lISSC.tionslibout hUlJIlIn nature
and morlll lIgCTlC)'-<lsserlions unlikely, ever, to commllnd gCTtCTal
lI8r""'menl. I .."nt to propose 1I RIOre precise lind complex dcscril'lioo
of the central
Pt<>pJ.e o>niI'jl dnJ ..HIt 1OQd.....hidlth.,. then dilln'butt "'J'1C118 .",,,,.
"",""
Hefe, the oonc:q>tion lind creation precede lind conlrolthe dililibu
lion, Goods don't jrn;t lIppear in the hllnds of dislributi"e agents who
6
Complex Equality
do wilh as lhey like Of gi,..., them oul in accorwllu ",'illl some
ger>eral p.incil'k,l goods ...ilh lheir me:lIlings-hecaus.- of
lheir meaninp-are the crucial medium of social relations; lhey come
mto prop,,"', mimls befoTe Ihey eome inlo lheir hamls; distfibulKmJ
arC patterned in aCl;Ofdanu ".. ilh shard cor>cq>IKmS of whallhe: good1:
a'e and ...hal lhey arc lor. Distributive agenls arc ('(mslrailled by lh.c
goods lhey hold, one might almOilsay lhat goods dist.ibule Ihems.-hcs
among PfOPk.
Things >Ie in the ...ddlt
And ride mankind'
Bullhc:sc arc alwa)'1 parlicula, things md pallicular glOups 01 men ami
women And, of eoursc, we make the lhe saddle, I don'l
wanllo deny lhe imporlancc of human agency, "nly to shill Our allen-
tion hom dislribution itself 10 conul'tion and creal ion the naming
of the good" and the giving olme:lIlif\&, and the oolledi"e making.
Whal ....e need 10 "plain amllimil lhe plunlism of dislribuli"e possi-
bilitics is a theory of goods. For our immediate purpose, that llll:OtY
(';Tn be. summed up in six propositions
I. All the goo<U ....ilh ....hich dislributive iustice is COOCCIn-ed arc tocial
good. They are nol and lhey cannot he: idiosync,atic<llly ';llucd. I am
not sUle thai there arc anyotbcr kinds of goods; I mean to ka"c the ques-
lion <IpC1l. Some domeslic obitt" are cherished f01 p"';lle and :;cnli-
menial reason., bUl only in cultures where sentimenl regula.ly allachcs
10 such objects, AbeauliFul sunset, lhe s11lell of new-mown hay. lhe ex-
cilemenl of an mban "ista lhese pe.haps are pri,-alely "alued goods,
lhough lhey are also, and more ob,iou.ly, lhe obittts of culluml
menl. Even new i""enlioos arc not ';llued in accorwllU ...'ilh the ideas
of their ill,'enlors; the)' arc Jubject to a wider process of coflCq>lion and
crcalion. Cod's goods, 10 be sure, a.e nempl FlOm this rule-_u in loc
chapler of "and Cod saw ""Tty thing Ihal He I,ad made,
ami, he:hold, il ...-asvery good"' (q'l. Th.t evalualion does"'l .equire
lhe agn:ertlClll of mankind (...,1To might be doubIFul), or of a majority of
mCn and Wf;Ulle", Of of any SlOOp of men and "'mncn mming ur>dcr
;Jelll condilion. (though Adam ."d E"e in Edcr1 would probably en-
dorse ill. But I elln'llhink 01 any other exemptiol\l, Goods in the ",,,,k1
ha"e shaled lllellllillg5 because COflCq>lion .nd crelliion are sociall'rQ.
For lhe same rellSOll, goods ha"e differenl meanings in diffe.enl
tocict;e" The ",me "thing" is '-alucd lor differenl reasons, Or il is ';llued
here and dis'-alucd there. loon Stuarl Mill onu complained Ilral "pe0-
ple like in c......,ds: bUI [ I.IT0wof ,>0 othe. w.l.y to like or to dislike social
good
s
4 A lOIitary person could houdly underst.nd the me.ning of lhe:
7
SPHERES OF' JUSTICE
goods or ligule out the lea""', fof tlking thcm allikablc Of dislikablc
Once people likc in <:fOWlis, it beocomcs possible for individuals to break
away, pointing to btent or ,uh'-crsivc manings, aiming at altnnati\-c
valllC$---iocluding the values, for example, of notoriety and ettCntricity.
An easy h.as IOfnetimes bnonc of the pri"ikgQof lhe ari
locracy: it il atlXilIl like anyothel.
l. Men and "'omCfl tlke on concrde identities btt:iUlC of the WIly
they conceive and cratc, and thCfl possess and employ tlXilIl goods.
'lbc line bef,,'eotn what is me and mi"",'" ""mtc William James, "il
VCI}' hard to dl1lw.'" Distributions can 001 be understood as the acts
of 1TlCfI and "''Olnen who do not }'et ha,-e Il'Irticubr gClOCh inthei. minds
or in thcil hands. In fact, people alrady lland in a relalion to a set
of goods; lhey have a histol}' of transactions, oot only with OI>C anothcl
but abo",'ith the IIloOr.II and malc""l world in which they livc Wilhout
such a hiltory, which beginl at birth, they wouldn'l be men and "''OIIlCII
in any IcalgniZllble SCflSC, md lhey wouldn't ha"e the first notion of
how 10 go about the business of giving, allocating, and achanging
.....
). Thne is 00 single sct of primal}' or balic goods cona:i"able aclOss
all rrKml] and """Ierill] W<lIkls-or, any J""h s<:1 WQuld have 10 be con-
ived in Inms so abstract that they would be of lillie us<: in thinking
about particubr diltribution.$. E,'en Ihe l1lnge of necessities, if ""e lake
inlo account IIloOr.II al wen al ph)'Sical nessities, is '-Cl}' ",'ide, ami the
rank orderings are VCI}' different. A.ingle good, and one tlul
il aho-';I)'S neccwry-food, for t'1;Imple---carries different Il1C<Inings in
diffClcnl pbcn. Bread illhe slaff of life, the body of Chlist, Ihe symbol
of lhe Sabb.l.th, the means of hospitality, md so OIl C<ma:ivably, there
is a limited SCflle in which the nlst of these is primaf}', so that iltm,re
"''Cre h\-enty people in the world and jUlt er>O\Igh brad to feed the
t","Cllty, tm, primacy of bladnltaff-of-lile would yield a sufficienl dis-
tlihutive principle. But thai is th-e only circumstana: in which it would
do.,; and C\'en there, we can'l be sure. If the leligiool uses of bre:ad
weTe to oonAict with its nulritiorull uscs-if the godl demmded trn.t
bl'ead be b;aked and bullied l1lthcr than ulcn-it il by no me.:l1lS deal
which ule would be prirrulf}'. How, then, is bread to be incorpor.aled
into lhe uni'-crullisP The qUCllion is C\"C11 haldel 10 anl"'Cr, the con-
ans....ersless plausible, as \l'C pasl hom necnsitie. to opportu
nities, po....erl, reputllions, and 10 on, These can be incorporated only
if they alc amllacled from C\'el}' partieubr mc;lning-hence, for an
practiC:lI purposes, rendered muninglcss.
4' But it ilthe mcaning of goodl that delermines their 1IlO\-CIT>Cnt.
Distributi\-c critnia and are inlrinlic not to the
8
Complex EqU31ity
but to Ille 50Cial good. [f we understand wh;.t it iI, wh;.t
it mnnllo tOOK for whom it il a good, understand how, by ....hom,
and for what realOlS it ought to be: diltribuled. All dillributiOfls are
juJi or unjust rdati,'e to the soci;ll meanings of the goodl at Itake, This
il in ob"ioul "';1)'1 a principle of Ieli:ilinuliOfl, but it il abo a
priociple." When medieval Christianl, lor example, conokmr>ed the
sin of simony. they ....".e claiming thai the me,ming of a social
cood, l'ttk5iallical office, ils and purcllast'. Gi"en
Ch.istian un<lentanding of office. it folk:rwul--I am ioclined 10 !;Iy,
il TlCCCWIrily followed-tlul offitt holden lhould be: chosen lor their
knowledge: and piety and not for their "'''''llth. presumably
things that mone)' can buy, but not Ihil thini. Similatly, the ","Ordl
p1(l$1;Mion and bn'!Nry, like f;mony, describe: lhe ule and ptJKluse
of coodl that, gi.'en cc,la;n understandings of thei. meaning, oughl
n"''''r to be: IOId or purclused.
5. Social meanings are historical in cha.acter; ami so disl.ibutioUl,
and jUlt atId unilJJt dilhibutiom, change over time, To bc: CC'rt.in
key goodl ha"e what we might think of al characteristic normative
struCIOTCI, reiteraled;>cfOiIS thc lines (hut not allihe lines) of time and
space, It il of this lcitcration that the British pllilosoplter Ber-
nard Williaml is ahle to a.gue that goods should al"';I}'S bc: dist.ibuted
for "rclev,mt rea'lltll"-whe.e rekvancc sml to connect to CUl:ntial
rather lhan 10 social meanings? The idea that offices, for
lhould go to qualified candir.Lttes-thouih r>ot the only idea Ihat hal
been held about offices-il pL.inly visible in .'cry societies
...'here simony and nepotism, under difFerenl names, hne limiL.,ly
been thoughl sinful or unjust. (But thcle has been a wide dhe.gcnce
of views about ",'hal sorts of position and pL.ce are properly called "of
fi.ccs.") Apin, punishment h;.$ been widely unde.stood 3$ a nepti"e
Ihal ouiht to go to people who are judged to d.ese"." it on lhe
Nsis of a ,.".dict, not of a political decision. (But what ooostilutes a
,-erdictr Who is to deli,'cr il? How, in ,ho.t, is ilJJticc to be done to
al"'CU.ro nlen..,d womenr About these: qllClltlons theK hn been siinili-
cant diugrccment) These ex:Imple:. in,ite empirical investigation
.........,.,.;,j .............. Mm saO!. ""'" ,It.Ifi -,Io<;,x., 01 ,ho <100<." .,1\<
.......n'...-I.d.!""""""'....,..t /" I don' ...... ,..., nq. .-- ... ,....
.. '"""" ,..... 'to:oeI> ,I\< .....bon,J ,ho <t- ..... 110. _...a. ' _ ....,
.... be on pool, ,pIoiI diooon _ -...... .. 0..;, Wh"n ,""'
do ,...,. Io,o-a",. I '" -"1, -... ( lle<t l .. .-.....
.....,'... A pooopIo', nih... io """,,,. ioioM, ;1 ....., an ....om, _ pnodotf_.
..... ;0 .-pie>. prodoct.... Tho -. 01 $'IlfO<fll.lr rood> in<topo-
",.. """"'*"" .. _. , rhr ........ -.Id "'" <"'- ' .....
<lIoooinf tif/>t ...........rod '" _ .... ,be 01 __ "'"- Tho _.01 '" '""" 1......
<............ 1"-'" ...... Ih< _pol 01 I""""'J,oI __ >nd ........... io 1M ........
/eno 01 <1i!i<.ol "--'<.
9
SPtlERES OF" JUSTICE
i. no merdy intuitive or speculati"e plocWure lor upon
relevant leaSOn'
6. When meaning. are distinct, distributiooJ must be autOOOJt'lOUs.
Every social good or set of goods comtitutn. n it WCle, a distributi"e
sph",e .... ithin whid, only celtain criteria and alrangement. are appr(>-
priate. Mon.cy is inapp.opriate in the sph.,.e of ecclesiastical officc; it
is an intlUsion from another sphere. And pidy should make for no ad
vantage in the marketplace, as the markctpbce has commonly been
understood. Whatel'e. can rightly be lOkI ooght to be sold to p;ous
men an<! women and also II> prolalle, heretical, and sinful men and
women (dse: no one ,",'OUld do much business). The muket is open to
aU come,,; the church is not. In no $lXiI'''', of course, are $lXial mean-
ings entirely distinct. What happens in one dislributi"e spllere affects
....hat happellJ in the other.; ....e can look. at most, for rdati,-e autono-
my But relative autoroomy, like social meaning, i, a critical prine;.
pk-indced, a.1 shall be areuing throughout this bool:, a ladical prinei
ple.lt is r.rdicale...,n though it doesn't point toa single standard against
which all distributions arc to be measured. There is 110 single standard.
But there arc stan.dards (roughly kno....able e..m when they are aboron
t.o'-eflial) for evel}' social good and .",-ery di.lributi'-e .phele in ",'el}'
p.articuL:n society; an<! these standards arc often ,ioIated, thl' goods
usurped, the .phel" invaded, by po....erful men ar>d "'Jlocn
Dominance and Monopoly
In fact, the violations are $)'Sternatie. Autonomy is a matter of social
meanin/f; and shared ''alues, but it is more likely to nlake fof ocasional
.eformation and rebellion than for CIef)'dayenforcement. Fm all the
complexity of tlleir distributi,-e arr.rngements, most societies are Ofga
niudorl what '"''C might think of asa social "e"ion of the gold Itan&rd
one good or one sd of goods is dominant and dtterminati,-e of 'lIluc
ill all tile sphern of distribution. Alld that good Qr sel of goods is rom
rflOnly mooopoliud, its value uplleld by the Jtlength and cohe,ion of
its owners. I call a good dominallt if the individuals who ha,'., it, be
cause: they ha"e it, On rommalld a wide rauge of other goods. It i.
mcmopolized whene"el a Jingle m,n Of """man, a mon"eh in the world
of value---<lr a group of mell and ,"'Oml:n, hold
it again.t all rivals. Dominance desr:rihes a way of u,ing JOCi:lt good.
Equality
isn't limited by intrinsic o. slupes thO:\('
ings in its O'A'n Monopoly of owmng or oolltrol
ling goods in order to When goods are
ilCOI.ce needed, in the l1lOIlopol)' itsell will
them Mo:stl)', f>ov,'e'..,., domiNnce is mo..., euboute
sociJl thoe ..."rk of hands, mixing le;llit)' Jnd $)mOOI.
PhysiC:lll strength, .eputation, ,e1igious o. political oIIitt,
unded walth, capital, trehniC:ll1 knO'A'lcdge, of these. in difF.......,..t
historical perioW, has been Jnd of them beoen r11O'
nopo!itee! h)' SOme group of men women. And then good thing3
to th<J,sc, who hJ"e the one best thing. PQ:i'CU tMt one, aoothe
others come in t",in, Or, to change the dominant good
is HlYetted into anothe' good, into many others, in with
"'Mt often to be a natulal process but is in a kind
of social alchemy.
No social good C\"et entirely dominate.s the of goods; no m0-
nopoly is C\e. perfect. I mean to desc.ibe teooencics onl)', hut c'ucial
tenm,ncies, F0' we can cllataCteliz.c societics in terms of the pat
terns of comTnK,m that C'ltablished within them, Some c!lalXte,-
i1.ations are simple, in a society, capiul is dominant and read-
ily CO'....fitoo into prestige and pll\'l'er; in a techllOCTaCY, ttthnic:al
knowledge play$ the $arne p,a.t, But it isn't diffieultto imJgine, 01 to
6nd, 1II0.e complex 50Ciai amlllgemenls lrnked. C:llpitalism md tttl!-
J,e more complex than their names imply, C\"'n if the names
do COllYer 'eal info.mation about the mO:St impo.tant fo.ms of slu.ing,
di"iding, and exchanging. Monopoliltic oontml of a dominant good
makes a .uling closs, whose mcmben atop thoe distributIVe sys-
tem-mlK'h Jl philosophers, claiming to ha,.., the they Io>'e,
mig.ht like to do, But dominance is al....)'S inromplete and monop-
01)' imperfect, the rule of C"ery mling class is umtable. It is continually
ehJllenged by other grouP'! in the name of altemati\'e p;lllertls of ron
"erSIOll,
I);ll.ibution is what social H1Aicl is all about Maris hea'")' empM'
sis on producti"e p";.:a-leS should not conceallrom uS the simple truth
that the st.uggle fOf control of the maIlS of p.oduction a di$t.ibuti,'e
struggle. Land capital a'e at Itake, and these a'e goods that can
be slu.ed. di"ided, e.changed, am! endlessly COfI\"etted. Bulland aoo
C:llpilal not the only dominant it is po6lihle (it has histOfically
been possible) 10 rome to them by way of other goods--mililary or
political pll\'l'el, religious office lind cM'isma, and so On, History '''''''lIls
no single dominJnt Kood and no IlJtu",ny dominant good, but ""Iy
different kinds of magic and competing band$ of magicians.
SPHERES OF JUSTICE
11le claim to monopolil.e a dominant iood-whcn worked up for
pIlblic pIllposa Institutes an ~ , Its standard form is to con
ocd lq:itimatc posscssioo ....ilh IOlTle set of per50lIal qualitia throogh
the medium of a phi\osophica.l priocipk. So arillotracy, 01' Ihe rule of
the 001, il the principle of tOO"' ....ho by cbim 10 bro:dini and inldli.
gence: they are commonly Ihe monopolists of boded wealth and lamil-
;;,1 reptllalion Divine supremacy is the priocipk of those who cbim
to bl(l\Ol the "''Ord of Cod: they ar<: tho: roooopoliits of llratt and office,
Meritocracy, or lilt earte'r ~ 10 bknts, is the principkoi those who
cbim to be talented: they are most often the monopolisu of education,
Free nchaoge is the prirtCipk of thole who are ready, 01' who tdlllS
they are ready, to pIlt their mon.-y at risk: lhey are the monopoli!ls
of mo.... bk "'ealth. These gn)IJps----'md others, t(Xl, similarly marked
oIf by their principles aod poilSeISio"l-<Ompcte ....ith one aoother,
struggling for lupremacy. Or><: group ",'illl, and then a differ""t one;
01' U)Qlitionl are wOfked out, and suprcmacy is UTleasily Ihared, There
is 00 fin.al "idOl)', nor should theTe be, But thoit illlot to lily that the
ebim. of the differenl groups are ~ r i l y wrong, or that the princi-
ples th.-y invoke arc of no ,<lIne as dislributi\'e criteria; the prillCiples
are often e.actly lighl within the limill of a p.>,lictJlar sphe,e. ld>Jo.
gies are rudily corrupled, but thcil cofluplion i. not the JOO5I inleresl
ing Ihiog about them.
11 is in tho: study of these struggles lhat I ha"e sought Ihe guidiog
Ihread of my own argument. The strugglc:s ha"e, 1 Ihiok, a p.>radig
matic form. Some group of meo and wornen--class, collte, 11",la, 0<
tate, a n i a ~ , 01 t(lCial formatioo--comes toenjoy a monopolyOl a Ilear
rnonopoly of IIOIllC: dominaol good; 01, a coalition of groups comes to
""joy, and 50 on. Thil dominant good is roore 01' less syllematica.Uy
converled i"lo all sorts of other things--opporlunities, P'J""'...., aod rep-
utatiom, So ""ealth is leized by the stlong, hollOl by the ",'Cllbom, office
by the wdl educated. Perhaps the ideology that iu.liMs the leizUT<: iI
widely believed to be hue. But resentment md railtance are (almost)
as per.-asi,,<: as belief. Then: are always some: people, and after a tilTlC'
then: are a great many, who thiok the leizure is not ;wtitt butwUlpa
tion. 11le ruling group does not possess, or does not uniquely poilSeIS,
the qualiti-es it claims; the com-enKm pl'OceSS \'ioIatt1lhe comrTMln un
derstandinll of the goods at Ilake. Social conflicl is inlennitlent. or it
is endemic; at lOme point, counterclaimt are pIlt fOf",ud. Though
these are of many different IOrts, three gene",1 sorls are esp";;,lly im
portanl:
"
,.
Complex Equality
t. The ebim th.t the <lorni",nt good. "'lute>fl it i.hoold he redisl.iJ>.
"'M 10 lI... t il em he cq... lly Of .1 Iea.t roOf. "'idoly ..... red: ,his
.mounts to $;I)'inc t t monopoly i$ unjousl.
Thc tha"h y.hould he opened lor the .ulOOOfflOUO distribu
lion of .11 000::;;'1 goo<\J: this.moonllt" ..)inc t....1dominance .. unjus!.
J. Th. claim t....l "",no n..... good, ro"""p"Iiud br ...,.., n..... Croup,
.hould "'fIlace: lh. e-un."tly domi...", good; IhinlOOnl. 10 ..ying
th.t Ille (lli.1i"ll pall..n of dominance and monopnly is unju.t.
Th. thi,d claim is, in Man's view, th. model of I'\'el)' rl'\"Olutiolury
ideoIog)'--a:pt, pe,haps, the prolmrian 01' I...t ideology. Thu., the
French Rl'\-oIution in Manist theory: th. of noble bi,th
and blood ...d 01 feudal Iarnlholding is ended, ...d bourgeois ,,'calth
is established in its stead. The original situation is r.produced with dif-
f...ent subiech and objech (this is nl'\e, unimportant), and then th.
c!ass war is immedi.tely 'cn....ed. It is not my purpose her. to endorse
Of to crjticize Marx's view. 1suspect, in fact, that thel( is 50mething
alan Ih..e claim, in .".ry revolutionary ideology, but thai, too, i, 1I0t
a position that I .hall try to defend here. \Vbat"... itl sociological sig.
nioc"nee, the third claim i. not philosophically interesting_tml= one
bdi,,'es that there is a naturally dominant good, such th.t its posses:son
coukllcgi!imal.ly claim to rule the .est of us, I"a len.., Man believed
exact!)- that. Th. means of production is the doruinant good through-
out histOf}'. and "Ianilm i,. historid,t doctrine insofar.s it suggests
Ih.t ...hoe>.., COfltroJS the pre"ailing meanS legitimately rules.& After
the communist revolution, we .hall.n control the mcanl of prodoction:
at that point, the third daim collaf"CS into the first. Meanwhile, Ma..' s
model is. p'ot:ram fm ongoing distribuli,-.: .truggle. It will malte" 01
course, who ,,'ins at this or that moment, but we "\)!l't blOW why Of
how it matters if w. attend only to the slICCeSSiw asse,tions of domi
and mQnopoly.
Simple Equlllity
It is with the first 1\'"0 claims that I shall be conttrned, and ultimately
"ith the second .Ior>(, for that one ....IIlS 10 me to capture best the
plurality of JOCi.1 meanings and the ,e.1 complexity of distribuli'.. sys-
tems. But the first is the mo.-e common among philosophers; it
'3
SPHERES OF' JUSTICE
their own sr.lIch fof unity and linguLuity; and I Ilull r>d to I:Jll'bin
itt di/ncultin at iIOme length.
Men and ""OIllCl1 ....ho make the Ii",t claim chalknge the monopoly
but not the domincance of a particular IOciaJ good. This is also a chal-
lenge to monopoly in emenl: lor if wolth, lor u ..mpk, is domi,..nt
..nd widely shared, 110 0100 good can pWibly be monopoIittd. Imagine
.. !OCiety in ""hich everythine is up !of sale: and e\--ery citizrn has ;IS
much money;lS e\-'ery ol.hCI. I shall call this the ",qime of simpk equal
ity." Equality is multiplied thfOOJlh the com"ft1ion proce$J. until it ",".
tends xrou the oflOCial pKk. The rqinM: of simplc: equal
ity M)Il't !;1St for lone. bteI.- the: fur!oo pmgle:lS 01 coo"asion, flee
","change in the market, is calain to brine inequalities in its tnin. If
one "''2nted to swlain simple eqoulity O'ief time, one would require ..
bw'lib: the acnrian b"" 01 ancimt times Of the Hebeew
gbbatic:ll. pro.->dinc for a periodic .dum 10 the or";na! condition.
Only a cenmlized and adn-itt Ihle would be stronc: enou&h 10 force
such a rdum; and il isn't de... llut s1ale officials would xtualJ)' be
able Of "';!lir\& 10 do that, if money were the dominanl good. In an)'
case, the Oficinal condition is unsbble in anotoo ""3)". 11"1 not only
tlut mOllo...J} ,..;0 reappear, bul allo that donunann Will disaPl""'"
In practice, brakinc the mor.....,.oly of rn(IMy neutnliz:es its domi
na,,". Other IJOOds come inlo pby, mil inequality bkes on new forms.
Consider .inthe lqime of .simplc: eqoulity E''el')1hinc is up for ""Ie.
..nd tw lhe AIIM: amount of So e--ayone tw, say,
an equal ability 10 buy an eduealion for his children Some do thai,
and othen don't. It tums out 10 be a cood invutmenl: other socW
&oodI aK, increasingly, ofkraIlor sale only 10 people ",ith alucational
certil1ala. Soon in''aU in edueation; or, more likdy, 11M: ptIf-
chZIC is uniYenaliad throuch tIM: In J)"tnn. But then the school is
h.lmal inlo a compdrtM'IO'OI'kI ""Ihin ..hid money is no longer dami
rIOInl. Natural blent or bmity upbrincinc or skill in ",--,-;ting n:amina-
tionr is dominant instead, and aluationaJ IUX'eII and catil1ation are
br lOme _1"OOP.l.et'lcaO thern (.hat they cd them-
whu) the: "&roUP of the: blenlal:' E,'mt1.u1ly the members of this
croup claim tlu.t the good they control shouJd be dominant oubick
tIM: school: oIIica, tila. prnopti,u, "'Gllth too, should aU be pas-
themM:hu, This is lhe Olttf opetI to t3lmt!, equal opportu-
nity, and ,g 00. This is ".Iu., fairness requi'eI; talent ",,11 out; and in
any aM:, takutal men and \O'OIlM:n ",U enbrge tIM: raou'ca a""ibble
to else. So Michad Youlli'S meritocrxr is born, "'lth all ib
attende-nt inequalities,'
What should "''e do now? It is poI$,ble 10 lei IImit510 the: IX\O' con
Complex
"el3ion to recognize bUI COflstraill the l1lorlOpOll' po...cr oll he
talented. [take this to he till' purpose ol John 1tl...lss diffCTence prine;
pie. <lC(Ufding to ...hich irtequalitiC$ afe jU$lilicd only if they arc de
siglled to hring. and actually do bring, the greatCit po!.Iible bmelit 10
the ad'.. ntagcd social clan,IO MOfe specifically, Ihe difJe.enl't'
principle" a imposed on talented men and "'Omen, once
the mooopol) of walth has ken broken. It wOlkJ in this ""I' Imagine
a surgeon who morc lhall h" equal share of wealth On 1111' basis
ollhe skills he haslcarned and the cerlilieate:s he has "'011 in Ihe harsh
compeliti"e struggles of and medical....-hool. We will g,a"tthe
claim if. alld 0.,11' if. granting it is beneficial in the ilipulated ways.
At the same linll', "'C "ill act to limit and regulate thc salc of sur
gery---lhat is. Ik direcl of surgical skill inlo wealth.
Th" regulation will nessarily be the ,,"()(k of the state. jU$t as rnoone-
ta,y Ia,,'l and agrarian Ia,,'l the "",k of the stale. Simple eqwlity
would require continualslale IIltcrvcnlioll 10 break up or constrain in
cipient monopolia and to reprC$$ new forms of dominane<:. Butth""
state poI"ef itself "ill kcomc thc e<:ntral object of competitivc slrug
gla. Croops of men and women willlffk to monopolize and then 10
usc. 1111' state III order to consolid:lte their control ol other social
gooch. Or, the state will k monopolized by ill OWn agents in aeror
dane<: with the iron law of oligarchy, Politia" al"..)'$ the 1ll000t dired
path to dominan. and political poI"Cl (I:Ithcr than the meanS of
pmdoction) is probably the most important, and certainly the most
dangCTO\IS, goOO in human history.- HCllce thc need to comll:llll thc
agents of to COI,stitutional checks ar>d balan<.'e$,
TheiC are limits imposed on political monopoly, ar>d Ihry are all the
more impOltant once the various social and e<:onomic monopolies
ha,'e been bloken
One way of limilmg political to distribute it widely This
may not work. gi,'cn the ,,'CII-anvasscd d:lnlOefS of majority tyranny,
hut lhese dallgers are proboably 1=acute tha" tbey are often made OUI
to k. The gratel d:lngCT of <kmocralic 1lO''CTnment i! that il will k
1 oho<oId """' ,."" .i111>oon< """" <Io.r .. I '" aIo<c. ,.... p<J/iIi<aI_ ...........1
.,., 0I,p>d Ill , _ ..... " ..... ;0. ,hr "'lin 'lu... , ...,_
...t.:. , , nd ' """<lima _ ... _.",. not, .-., oid<l1 hrId.
""""'i Ihr _ 01 ....,. f..- "'nd. <und.;O;' ... IIo< ..hn rt..".. boa.-.
t.o.m rt t...l ond .1>0<>........ it, poI.n _ ;. ,hr r<&l''''''' ......, lor ""..I ..,.to
,.,...,..11)' It ....t lu dd<nd '"" t...u>h,;" uI.u tt.. """;boo,,,, a, """.
md to..,...... 11>< """, undrno.ndinp uI ...... ..,odo ..,.nd .ho' '1..,.." lor 16... it
..., b< uood, """",. to ;"",*'" di!I<t<n, Iph<m om to --=icIr , -.u"d
"...') r" ,hOo """'" """ ..., mCht "l",...Iood. ..... ..,t;h<oI ""'""' ...",.....,
thr boo....."'" bot "'" .. U".., "Tho ""'1J0i pIbI<m 01 pOI;IocaI hI<. '" 011"''''' ,loo,
<nrioI ,,",in<l;"" hn.........-..., ";,,:' Ilol I... ;. ........... ,ho, """'" b<
rl>< ""P"''''''' 01 ,,..pI<...,,101y
SPHERES OF' JUSTICE
to copr with rc-cmerging monopolies in society large, with the
social strength of burcauerats, ta:hnocrats. meritocrats. and
so On, In theory, political power is the dommant good in a
and it ucoo.-ertible in any "''ay tile citizo:ns choose. But in practice,
a,ain, breaking the TTI(lfI<)pOIy of l>Cutrali= its dOlllinaocc.
litical power canoot be widely shared without being subittted to the
pull of all the other goods that the citizens alrcady have or hope to
Hence democracy is, as I\lan: rerognized, nsentiallr a relledi.'e
system. mirroring the pre-'ailing ami eml':rging dutribution of social
gaxli
ll
lkmocrati<: decnion making ...ill be shaped by the cultural
conceptions that determine or underwrite the new monopolies. To pre-
vail agairutthese monopolies, power will ha"e to be centralized, pel-
haps itself mooopoIized, Once again, the state mwt be ,-ery JlO'I'-'erful
if it is to the flUIJlO$eI assigned to it by the difference principle
or by any similarly intef\'entionist rule.
Still, the regime of simple eqwlity might work. One C<ln imagine
a more or leu stable te"'io'l betwee'l enlCrging n>ouopolies and politi-
cal constTllints, bet"ttn th-e claim to privilege put torv.'ard by the tal-
e'lted, say, and the enforcement of the differrnce principle, and then
between the agrnts of enforcement and the <kmocratic ronslitution
But I IlISpCCt that difficulties will recur, and that at many points in
time the only remedy lor pri\'ate privilege "'ilI be statism, ami the only
C3C<1pe from statism will be private privilege. We will mobiliu
to check monopoly, then look for some "'ay of checking the po;m-er ""e
ha"e mobilized. But there is no way that <klan't open opportunities
for strategically placed men and "''Omen to seize and exploit important
social &QOds,
Thne probkm. <krive from treating monopoly, and not dominance,
as the central issue in distributive justice [t il not difficult. of course,
10 why philoJopherl (and political activists, too)
cused on I1lQOOpoly. n.e struggles of the modern age
begin witll a ...",r against the aristocracy's singular hold 00 land. of
fitt, and hOllOr. This seems all especially pernicious monopoly be-
ause it rests upon birth and blood, with which the has
oothing to do, rathe, than upon power, or edocation, an
of which---t least in principle-<:-an be earned. And when every nUn
and woman becomes, as it a smallholder in the sphere of birth
and bbxl, an important ,'ictory is indeed won Birthright <:eascs to
be a domimnt good; henceforth, it purchases ..ery lillie; wealth.
po....CI'. and education come to the fore With regard to these Iallel
goods, howe--er, simple equality cannot be IUllained at all, or it an
only be $U5tained ",bjed to the vicissitudes I ha\e jusl described.
6
Compk'X Equalily
Within thcit OWn spllern, as th.., are eurrently uOOerstood, tha<:
thtce tend to gcnelOlte natural monopolies that C<ln he rcplmed only
if state powl:r is domimlnt and if it is monopoli7.cd by officials
commilled to the represlion. But tlICle is, I think, anothel p;lth to
mother kind of eqliality.
Tyranny and Complex Equality
I ""lint 10 argue that "c shook! focus on the ,eduction of domi,
naoce--nol, or not pl"imarily, on tllC bleak-up or thc comITaint of m0)-
nopoly. We should consider what it might mean to narrow thc IOlngc
within which pa.tticular goods all: colwertible ar>d to vindicate the au
tonomy of distributi,'e lpheru. But thil line of algun>ent, though it
is not Un(OO'm<JIl hiltOfically, hal nC"'el fully emerged ;n philosophiC<l1
"'riling. Phibophers ha,'e tended to criticize (Of to iwtifr)
Or emerging IllOlloOpOtiesof "'ealth, power, and edllC3tion, 01. they have
eliticizcd (01 jUltified) particular oom'enjono-<>f wealth i"to education
Of of office into "'e:lltl>, And allthil, most often, in tile name of IIOme
I"lIdically simplified distributivc lystem, The critique of dominance' will
lllggat instead a wayof 'ahaping and tIIClIli,;ng with tile ;>ctll:ll corn
plaity of di,ITibutions.
Imagine lIl)'A' a society in which difF...entllOcial goods ale monopolis-
tically held--as they ale in loci and always will be. b:lrring contmll:ll
,Iale inten'entioll-but in which no particular good is genCT1llly con
'-,:rlibk. AJ I go along, I shalltl)' to definc the preeise limill on COIJ'"CIt
ibility, butlOf now the gencral description will suffice. Thill is a compleJc
egalitarian society. l1>ough there will he many small irll'qll:llities, in
equality wi1100t be mulliplie<lthrough the con,'ersion process. No< will
it be summed aClOSl different goods, because the autonomy of distribu
liom ,,'iI1tend to p10duce a ",niety of local monopolies, hek! hy differ
erlt gTOUPO of men and women. 1 don't want to cl:lim that complex
1'qU31ity would necns;rrily be mooe stable than ,imple e<jll3lity, bull
am ioclirled to think lhat it would 0flC'1I the way lor lllOfe diffused and
particul:lrittd fO<l,,1 of social conflict And the railtance to COI"clllbil
ity would be maintained, in blge degree, by Ofdinary men md women
within theil O"'n spheres of oompctence and control, without
brge-.lC:l1e Itate action.
This iI, [ think. an allracli,.., p;du,"" but 1 ba,-,: not I'"
'7
SPHERES OF" JUSTICE
just why it is 1M: ugurm.nt for bq:ins hom
our undc.standing-l mean, our ;>dual, concrete, positive, a,1d p,nticu,
lar undcntandirlg-of the Y,II;OW social goods, And then it mO',n on
to an attOlInt of the way we relate to one another thw"lIh those gocxb.
Simple equ:llity i, a ,impk di,t,ihutive condition, 10 that if I ha'"C lOUT-
tn hat, al>l!)"OO havc fourtccn hat" ""C arc equ:ll Alld it i' all to the
good if hat, arc domin.ant, 1m then our equality is cxlendalthrough
all the of social life, On the view that I ,hall take hc'c. hO""C,'cl.
"'"C simply hne the $amc number of hats, alld it i, unlikd)' that hall
will be dominant for bng. EqUlllity i, a complex relation of !l'"rlOllI,
mediated by the goods we "uke, ,harc, ai>d divide among ouncl"n;
it is not an identity of possessions, It requir<'$ t!Jw, a di,-enity of di,trib.-
uli"e critcria that mirrors the di'"C1'Sity of social goods
Thc argument for complex eqUlllity has ken beautifully put by
Pascal in OIlC of his Penrhl,
The naru,eof Iyranny is to doni,e p...,-cr ",-er lhe ,,+.ole .....1d and <)OJuidc
Lto own ,phere.
T!>crf, a,e diffe:nt oomp,1nO-d,. itrong, rhe ha,rd$om., the int.lli
genl. the dc<.'OUI-and "",h man reie'" in his .....". '11)1 cbtwl",:. Bur
lOI,,,,rimn lhey ",cel, a"d thc llronll 0".1 the ]'.,0<11011'" figl,l f<>< ""'"
tcry-foolilhl)l, fu< lhei. "wtel)' is of dilFCfc"t kind.. TI>ey misu,rdonr."d
01>< .oothernd .....1. lhe misl1lke of "",h oimine.1 uni.'e.",1 do",i".,,,.
NQlning "'" "'in Ihis, not ..-en ...e'lirh, for il is p""'... 1ess ill the kingdom
of Ihe "ise....
r"",,,,,y. n", foIk......i'" .tateme"IJ, thcrcfu:, a.. 1.1", and tjunni",1
"lknusc , om II:lIId.om., 10 I shoolkl command '<:$pcct." "I Orrl IlIOIIi.
lhe.do'e men ......,1<1 kn" me .... "I 0"' ... ct <CIe.... "
Tyt:l"ny is tl", "ish to obtain ooc m.,,,S ",'lut """ o"ly be had by
auntl...., W. "",-e diltcrclll duties 10 dillml ql..lilies: 10'" is the: prope.
,aponsc 10 .ka."" fcar 10 ,tfCn/llh, 'nd belief to learning."
Mall rna"" similar argumenl in hi, co,ly manuscript!; !l'"lh,ps k
had tllis ",nih in milK!;
lei ul ;Wu'........." 10 be man, and his rclotion 10 the world to be a huma"
one. 'Theo ]"." can only be =ka,>gcd for loot-e, trUl' for- I""t. cre. 11)UU
"i.h to m;o,..." you m",t be an a.li.tically cultiv;ucd pe.ton; if)W wish
10 inA""""" other people. you m...t be. penon ""ho ,cally ha, a,hmuloling
.nd ...."""""lline dfecl upon others. If you k>\'e wilhool C"ol;ine Iovc
i" relum, i.e., if)'OO,rc not able, by the manila"l;"n of roo""lf OJ 0]".'illll
per..,n, 10 moke }'OOrJdf. bclMcd YOU' 10.'. iI impotenl.nd
misfortune."
nol ,,"sy gument" .nd moot 01 mI' boo/< is simply an cxposi
tion of I;"';, meaning, But be.c I more simpk
.8
Compk'X Equalily
and $Chematic: a tlanslation 01 the alguments into the terms I ha"e
already ken ming.
The lilst claimof Pa$Caland is that penonal and l(l('"ia\
goods ha,'e theil 0\<71 sphern of oper.ltiOl1, whele they "",k their el
fe.:h freely, spontanoolJsly, and Thele are or natural
OOI"'efSiom that follow from, and arc intuili"ely plau.ible kcaU5<" of,
the social meaning of particular goods. TI>e appeal is to our ordinal}'
ulKkfSlanding and, at the ume lime, against 0111 common acquicscnce
in illegitimate oo",-.:,,;on p;atlCTnS, Or, it i. an appeal Iron' OUI aC<juic-
.lCr>r:c to our resentmcnt. There i. K1mdhing wrong, Pascal suggests,
,,'ilh the COOVClsion 01 strength into belief. In politicallcrms, Pa$Cl1
means that nO ruler can lightly rommand my opiniom merely bttau.!C
of the poI'"Cr he "'elds. NOT can he, Marx ackb, rightly claim to inllu
er>r:c my actions: il a ruler wants to do that, he must be penuasi'"C,
helpful, enrour:lging, and so OIl. TIl= arguments depend for theil
force 011 lOme shared undnltanding of kllOll'\cdge, influence, and
JXl"'e. Social goods ha"e social meaning<, and ...." lind OU' way to dis-
t,ibuti"e justice through an interpl'datiOll 01 th.o.lC meanings. We
.!Ca,ch lor principles internal to each distJibuti,." sphere.
The seroud claim is that the disregard 0/ th_ principln i. tyr.",ny.
To con,"ert one good into auothel, wl>en Ihere is lI(\ intrinsic
tion betwttn the two, is to inl";lde the sphcJe where another comp:my
of m<:n and womCfJ p<operly mIn. Monopoly is "'" inapprop,iat"
,,'ithin the spheres, ThCfC is nothing wrong, lor example, with the grip
thai penuasi"e and helpful men and ,,'Omen (politicians) establish 011
political plJwer. BUI thc UlC of political p(w.e. to g.ain acCCl.l to other
goods is a t)'r:lllnical U.!C. Thus, an old dacription of tylanny is general
ized: prinCe! become tyr.Intl, according to medieval writer., when they
the p,operty or in'llde the family of their suhfccts.
l
' In political
life-but more widely, too-the oomin3llce of goods makes for the
domination of people.
The regime of comple. equality is tlte oppo:site of Iyr.",ny. It ntab-
li$hes a sct of relation.lhips such thai oomin.ation is impouible.ln for
mal terms, compleJc equality means that no citizen', in one
sphere 01 ...1Ih ,egar<! to one social good can be unde.cut by hitand
ing in lOme othe, .phere, wilh ,eg,nd to lOme Othel good. TIlliS,
X may be chosen citiZCTI Y fo, political office, and then the two
of them will be unequal in the sphere of polilia, But they will not be
unequal generally 10 long as office gi"es him 00 advantages O\"Cr
Y in any other sphere_lIpCfio< medical care, acc= to better lChools
fOi his children, cntrcprcnclIIi.l.l opporlunitieJ, and 10 on, So long a.
'9
SPHERES OF JUSTICE
is not a dominant good, is not gella'ally con\'ellible, office hoklers
will stand, 01' at leasl can stand, in a lelation of equality 10 the men
and WOmen they goveln.
Bul ...'hal il dominance were elimiJl<lted, the autonomy of the
sphCfcs cstabli.hed-,and the .... "IC people "'"efe SlICCcssful III OTIC sphc,e
alter another, triumphant in every compan)', pitinK up goods without
the need 101 illegilimate This would ce'lainly make foT an
inegalilarian society, but it would also sU&llcsl in the stlOngest "'ay lhat a
society of equals "',II not a lively possibility. I <blbt that any egalitarian
argumC1lt could sU"'i"e in the face 01 such C"idence. HCfe;s a pclSOn
whom we h"'e "ccly choocn (withoutrderencc 10 his family tics or per
0l)Il;I1 wealth) as om polilical ,epresentati,"C. He is aoo a bold arId im"Cn
ti'"C entrcplencur. When h.. w:llS younger, lie studied seiC1lCC, ocorcd
am.1Zingly high gn&:. in C"CT)" exam, and nJ.;K\c importanl discO\'erics,
In "':Ir, he is surpassingly b"I\'e and wirn the high""t 00n0l". Himself
CX,ImpalSionale and compelling, he is Io-'ed by all woo kllOw him. Are
lhere such people? :-'hybe 10, bull hal'e my doubts, We telistOl'it"S like
tI.., one I ha,... jusl tok!, but Ihe stories arc fictiallS. the of
power or money or academie talent into \cgtndaly fanlC, In any case,
lhere ",en't ellO\lKh sU<;h pc<lIIle to constitUle a lUling class and domi.
nal.. the lest of lIS, Nor can Ihey be successful ill I:Icry dislributi"e
Sphcle, lor lhere are .l(lrne spheres 10 which the idea of IUCttSI doesn't
pcllain. t"01 an: lheir children likely, under COIlditions of complex equal-
ily, to inherit tllCi' 'UCO:U, By and larg<', the mosl accomplished politi
cians, entrcplencurs, scientists, soIdiclS, and loI'e," will be difFerC1lt pN-
pic: and 10 Iongas the goods lhey possess don't bring other goo(b in Irain,
""t: h,,'e no rcal()fllo fca' their acoomplishments,
TI... clitiquc of domiJl<lIlCC and dominatia" poin!> toward an
opcn-flldcd dislributi"e principk, No social good x should IN distrib-
uted /0 men and "'Omen who ponen .rome oth" sooJ y m"tly lNcaun
thry/X'Sstn yand withool "Iard to the mtan;nl of x. This is a principle
that hal proNbly bef:n lciler.lled, al orle lime 01 another, for
y thai has ever been dominant. But il has not: oftCII hccn slated in
e,alterms. PaSCOlI and MalJl luggested the applicalioll ol thc prin-
cipk againsl all potsiblc y's, and I .hall 10 "mk oulthat appli-
cation. I shall be looking, lhen, not al thc ol PaSCOll"s
companies-the strong or the weal:., thc handsomc or the plain-bill
at the goods Ihey _hare and divide. The purpose of the principle is to
focu. our attention: it doesn'l determine the sha,.... Or the division,
principle directs III to sludy meaning ol_iat goods, to examine
the different distribllli,c spheres From the inside,
Complex Equality
Three Distributiye Principles
The thcory t .... t r..ults is unlikely to be depnt. No occount of the
of toeia1 good, or oflhe OOunwria of the splK:Te within
",hich it kgitin",tely oper.Ites, will be NOf is there
procedure for gC'lM'... ting Of lesting differenl occounls. AI bat.
the ..,ill be rough, rdlcding the dj,-cfSC ronAict-ridden
c.......ctcr of the t....t we $ttk simu1tl1rlcolJlly to
10 rqulale-but noOt to lq:uLale unlil ""C I s....11 sel
nidc, thcn, claims "",de 00 of single disllibuti,-c critcli-
OIl, lor roo luch criterion COIn possibly the di"crsity of .I(lC;al
goods. Three 10 meoet the of thc
open-ended principle and often b=I defended n the beginning
end of dislfibuli>e justice:. so J mUlt !'ily somcthing elIch of
them. dese.t, and need: alllhrtt reallo.ce:. hut
none of tltem hn fOfet' acTl)S$ the "mge of distribulions. They u,= p.nt
of the IIOf)', rool the ",'hoIe of it.
FlU xchl1"sr
Fm: is opcn-<:ndcd; il ... nt= no p;lIlicula.
dislributi,,= ooloome. AI roo poinl in any process plausibly
""lied "Iree" will it be possible to p.edict the p'llticulal di,ision of 10-
cial good. Ih..t ..-ill obloin some latc. point'l ([t ""'y be possible.
hoY'e"e. to predict the oflhe di,ision.) In lheory
creales m.uket wilhin which all goods con
,..,.Iible into other goods thlough Ihe ncullal medium of moo..,..
There 00 mooopolies, Hence the so=i.-e
di,'ilionl Ihal will di.ttlly Idlttl the meanings of lhe
good! that di,ided. FOI each halpin. t!ad<:, !'ille. purchase ..,ill
ha\'e been agreed to by men women who know wl",I
is, who indeed ils E"tl)' exc.... nge is reo.-cla-
lion of JOCial By definition, lhen, roo x will cvtl fall into the
of someone who posltW'S y, mc-rely keause he p05!lC'lleS Y
without rq>rd 10 x ;oclwl1y means 10 some other membel of soci
dy, The malket is ...diea1l)' plu...lislic in ill ope... tions ill 001
coma, infinite!)' to the meanings 1....1 indi,-idu.all to
pos.sible 'C'lI ... inbean be imposed on f.ee exchan"e, lhen,
in the name of plu...
BUI C\'eryw)' life in the the experience of llee ex
"
SPHERES OF JUSTICE
is very different from lheory suggesls. Money, suppos-
edly lhe neutral medium, i, in practice a dominant good. OI>d il i, mo-
nopolized by P"'OPk who a ,po:cial talmt for balgaining and
trading-the green thumb of bourgeois lOCicty, Then other people de-
marld a ,edistribution of n")(ley and Ihe establi,hment of the regime
of ,imple equality, and IlK: larch begins for !lOme way to .....!ain that
regime. But C\'Cn if we foe.... On the untrwblcd mOlllent of simple
equality-free on the ba!;is of ..'C ",ill still nd
to lei limits on what can be fOf whal. For free
distributions enlirely In the hand, of in<!ividuals. an<! lOCial
meaningJ are not .ubicct. Of ale no! subject, 10 Ihe inlefJl,etalive
decisions of indi"dual men ami woII>Cn
Con,ider an euy eumple, the case: of political power. We "m con,
co:i\'C of political JlO"'er as a let of good. of \.rying v.lue, vOtCl, inllLI'
enco:, offices, and so on, Any of thne can be traded on the rnarke!
accumulated by individwls willing to uc,ifico: otkr !lQOds. E,en if lhe
SilCri6ccJ ale ltowe-'er, the result is a form of tyranny-petty
ny, given IlK: corlditions of simple eqwlity. BttanlC I am willing 10
do ,,'ilhout my hat, I 5hall \'Ole Iwi; you who Ille \'Ole les.
you val"" my witl not vote at .rl. I ,u'peel tlK: result
is tyrannical e-,-en with reprd to the t..'O of U', who reached a
.-oIuniary agreemC1lt. [t is certainly tyrannical "'th regard 10 .11 tile
other citizens who muslnow submit 10 my power, It
i. not the calC votes can't be bargained fOf; on one inlerpletalion,
Ihat's whal democratic poIilics is about. And dcmoxratic
ha,." been knewn to buy ''Dtes, 0< to Iry 10 buy Ihem, by prom
ising public expendilures particular group.! of mlcrs. But
this is done in public, with public funds, and ,ubittt to ptlblic .pproval.
Pri\"olte lrading i. ruled out by ";rtue of ",lui politics, Of democralic
politics, is, by ";rlue of whal ..." did whC1l wc constiluted the
poIitic-a1 community .nd of whal ,,'c slil1 Ihink about "'hat we did.
Free exchan&:e is not gct>CTal criterion, but will be able 10 spcr::ify
the boundari"" within which it oper.llcs only through carefulanall'Si.
of p.alticulalllOCial goods. And ha"ing worked Ihrough such anal}lis,
,,'e "'iIl come up best ,,'ith phik.>phiCOlII)' lCt of
boundaries alld nol llCCC:SSilrily with Ihe sd that ought 10 be politically
authorilati"e. For rllOllC)' _p, across all boundaries-this il the pri.
mary foo-m of illegal immiglation; and ju,1 where OnC ought 10 tr)' to
slop it i, a question of expediency well as of principle. Failure to
slop it !lOme reuonable point llal throughoutllle range
of distributions, bUl olthelC belongs in later
Complex Equality
[)(!f<'rt
Like free I'Xchange, doer! seems both OpetHflded and plutalistie.
One mil:ht imagi,l<:' a lingle Il('uttal ageney diJpcnsing r"",ltd! an<!
punishment., infinitely I<'nlitive to all the forms 01 in.di,.;dU;fl desert.
Th-en the dillribulin' process wOllld indeed be cenlrali,.ed, bUI Ihe rc>
suits would .till be unp,edictablc alld ,arious. The wOllld be no dOIlIl'
nanl go;o:l. t'o.t "-wid C\"('f be dislfibulcd wilhoulteg;:ud to itl social
m..... ning; fOf, withoot attention to what.t ;1, it is conceptually impoui-
ble 10 uy Ihal x is de5crvcd. ,\UIII<:' difFcrent companies 01 men and
...tlmcn would retti,'e their approptiate teward. How this would work
in howe\'e', ilool ealY to figure out, Ilmighl rnake ....n'" to
sa)' of thu chatming man, ftlI example, lhat he desenes to be
Ilmaka rIO $/,'Ill<' to uy thai he deser'a 10 be kn'ed by this {Of allY)
particlllar womall. IF he kn'Cl het while .he remains impe,,'iOlllto hil
(real) cham'I, lhal is hi. miJfOTlune, I doobtthal "'e would wan! the
silU;ftion corrected by somc outside agency Th-e \0>.., of partieulor men
and "tl'Il('Il, Oil Ollr understanding of it, ..... n only be dislributed b)"
themlC'lvcs, and thl1' are rarely guided in lhese maltCT:I by consider-
ations of dMC"'-
11>e .....se is cuetl)" lhe ume with inAuence. Here, let's say, is a
woman ,,'idcly thought to be stimulating and encouraging to others.
Perhaps she deserVCI 10 be an inAuential member of Om rommunity.
But III<:' donn'l dClC""C lhal r be inAllCIHXd by he. Or lhat [ follow
her lead. NOf woold ""C WlInt my followership. as it were, assigned 10
her by any agellc')" capabk of making such assignments. She may go
to gJ'eat lengths to stimulale and roe, and do aU the things
lhat a,e wmmonly called .Iimulating 01 encouraging. But if [ (pve...,.
'rl refu", to be .timulatcd o. ellCOUraged, I am oot denying her any
lhing that The ...me argument holds by crlension For poIi
tici.;rnl ami OIdmary eilizcnl. Citi:tens can'tlrade thei, \'ola For hats;
they ClIl'l in<!i,'idU;flly dide to cross the boundary t hal separates the
sphe,e of politics from the marke-lplace. But within the sphe.e of poli-
tics, they do make ;ndi"idU;fl deeiJiolll; and they are rarely guided,
again, by considerations of desert. It', not clear that offica can be de
5C,,'Cd-anothcs issue that [ must postpone; but C\'en if Ihey can be,
it ,,-wid our umkrsl<lIlding: of deTllOCratic polilics ...ere lhey ,im
ply di.tributed to deserving rneo and women by some ccnlla[ agency
Similarly, oowC\ "'e draw the boumbries 01 the sphere wilh;n
which Free exchange opcrateo, desert will play no IOle ""thin tllOSe
'3
SPHERES OF' JUSTICE
bouoo.rin I am skillful at b.ngaining and tradina;, let'. say,.".d so ac
cumulatc a Iargc numbcl of bautiful pictures, If wc aJSume, as painte..
mostly do, that picturCJ arC appropriately in the market then
there is ooIhing wrong with my the pictures. My title islegiti
nute lIut it "''O\I1d be odd to say that I des.:...e to ha"e them .imply
bcause I am Rood at harpiniTlfi: and trading. Oes<:rt JttmS 10 lequire
an especially dosc conncctiOIl bet...ecn particul:ar goods ami p3l!icular
!l"lSOIlJ, whcrea. jltltice only sometimes requires a connection of that
sort. Still, might insililhat only artillically culti\"3tc-d people. ",'ho
des.:...-c to ha"e pictures, .hould actually h;a,-c them Ifs 001 difficult
to imagi"'" a mech;anism, The .tate could buy all the pic-
tures that "'1'le for ale (but arlists would to be licensed,
so that thc-rc wouldn't be an endless numocl of pictures), ev.;aluate
them, and then di.tTibute them to artistically men and
...'omen, the beller pictUICS to the more cultivated, The state does
something like this, sometimes, with rcgald to things that people
r>ttd-mc-dicaJ calC, for cnmpk-but not with leprd to things that
1l>crea,epnttical difficullieshC'Te, butl.U5p1"Ct a
C'IC;UOn lor this dilfCTence. Des.c-rt does not hne the llIgcocy of need,
and it docs not haviTlfi: (O"'ning and rornuming) in the san>c:
way. Hence, ....e arc williTlfi: to tolerate th-c separation of O....ncrs of paint-
ing. and arti.ticall)' cultivatc-d people, Of "'-C arc unwilling to require
th-c kinds of interfClcnce in thc markct that "''O\Ik! be nl"CCSS3ry to end
the separation. Of COUISoC, public provision is always polIible alongside
the markct, and so ....e might argue th;at artistically culli'"3ted people
not pictures but museums. Perhaps they do. hut they don't &.
se...'e that the rest of UlI contribute money (W appropriate public funds
for the purchasoc of pictures and the construction of building. They
will ha,-c to peuuade ill that art is "''Orth the UlOlley: they will ha"e
to .timulatc and enoour2ge OOr own artistic cultivation. And if they
fail to do that. their O""n Jo--e of art may tum OllttO be "impotent
and a misfortur>c:."
Even if we werc to wign the distribution ollo,'e, mAuence, ofFices,
works of art, and 50 on, to some omnipotent arbiters ol dcsclt, how
would ...1' select themr How could anyone desc"'c such a position?
Only Cod, who knows what Sft:fd..lIUTk in the henls of men, would
be able to make the necessary distJibution. 11 human beings had to
do the work. the mrchanism would be c.rly on by
some band of aristocrats (so they wouk! call themselves) with a
'-'<Inception of wh.t i. best and most dcse",'ing. and ;nsenliti,t to tht
divcrsc CJlcelkllccs of their fellow",iti>:eru. And thcn desert ...ouk! cease
'4
Complex Equality
to be a p\urali5t (riterion; ""e ...uukl find oursch'cs tu f:lee "'ith
3 1l'C'" Jel (of an old SOft) of t)"'3nts. We do, of C'Ol!.Je, dlOOSC people
as arbiters of Jef\'C OIl foT cumple, or toa...-ard pri=;
it ...ill be wo.th considcTing late. what the P'CTOg3!i"es of a jul'Ol" are
But it is important to stTe$! here th3t he operates within a range.
Dcsc-rt is a strong claim, but it calls foo- difficult judgmentl; 3nd only
undcT "M}' spial coflditiOllS does it yield specific dislTibutions,
Nud
F"irullly, the niterion of need, "To nch attOTding to his needs" is
genenl1y t3ken as the di5tributi'l: h31f of Marx's famous maxim: wc
a,e to distribute the w""llh of the community $0 as to meet the Ilttn:l;
tics of its memben.
lh
A pbusible pTOpO$:ll, but a radially incomplete
one, In fact, the filit half of the muim is aho a dist,ibu!i\"(; propos;ll,
and it doesn't fitlhe rule of the second luI. "I'"rom each according
to his ability" slIgg"lsth31 jobs should he distributed (OIlhat men and
,,,,,men should be conscripted to wo.k) on the w.sis of indi"idool qoolifi
eations. But indi"idools don'l in 3ny obvious limJe n=lthe jobs for
,,'hich they 3'e qWllificd. Pe.haps such iobs 3fe seam:, and the.e a'e
3 bfge number of qualified c,,,,didates: which eandi.utes need them
mosl? If their materi31 needs 3fe 31.Clldy t3ken u.e of, pc.h.p:s they
don't need to ,,'O.k at all, Of if, in $Ome nonmateriallC1lJe. the)" 311
need 10 ....,.k, then that need ....,ont distinguish amOl'g them, allcasl
not to the 1l3ked C)l:. It ,,'Ould in any case be odd 10 ask 3$l'a.ch COm-
1ooling, uy, fof a hospilal diredor to m3ke its choice 00 the
b.l.sis of the needs of the ratl",. Ihan on lhose of Ihe staff
3nd the JUticnls of the hospit31. BUI the Liller Jet of needs. "",en il
il isn'tlhe sub;rct of political diug.C'Cment, "'Ofl'1 )'ield a single disl.ib-
utive decision
Nor will flea! work IOf manyothc. goods. Man's muim doesn't help
at all with .egard to the disITibution of political pO""", honor and fame,
53ilboab. rare books, beauliful obfccls of C\'ery sort. Thcsc 3fe not
things that 31\)"01lC. st.ictly spe:lking, needs. E"en if "'C lake 3 kIose
view and deline the ,'elb 10 need the ..oaj" childlen do, as the strongest
fOlm of the ,e.b 10 "'''"I. ,,'C lIil1 ..-on't h.,'e an adcqoote disITibutiV'C
nite.ion. n.c $Orb of things that I ha"e listed cannot be dist.ibuted
c<jually to those with c<jllal wantl because IIOme of them 3.e generally.
md $Ome of them 3.e ncccwrily, lance, and $Ome of them can't be
possessed at all unlcss Olhe. people, fOl .C3IOfU of thei. own, ag.ee OIl
woo i. 10 posIC:$' Iheill.
'5
SPHERES OF' JUSTICE
Nffi:! p3rticubr sphe.e, within which it is
itltlf the dishibutive p.iTlCipk. In poor society, a high
proportion of social "'nlth ..,II be dra..n into Ihis spherc, But gi"en
the gTeat .....riety of goods ariles out of any OOmmOI1 life, C\'Cll ",hen
it is hed at a \ow material other dishibuti,e criteria ",11
al,,':!)" be opefaling alongside of n=I, it will he n=ry
to worry about the OOuOOaries tiut mark them off from OIle anothe.
Within its sphere, ccTbinly, need meets the gCfleral dist.ibutive rule
about s andy, Needed goods distributed to needy people in proportion
to thei. n=lir>e$l obviously not dominated by any other goods. It"s
not having y, oot only lacking 1C that is Tl'll'\':!nl. But "'" e'ln now sec,
I think, that every eriterioo that ],.,,, any foree at I.-I.! the gene",1
ruk within ib own sphere, ar>d not elsewhere:, This is the e/fe<;t of the
!Uk different goods to different companies of men and ,,'Omen for dif
ferent re;JSOIlS and in acrordan with dif(erCflt pn...ccdures. And to gel
all this fight, or to get it roughly right, is to map out the entire social
,,'Orld.
Hierarchies and Caste Societies
0.-, rather, it is to map out a p.llticula. social "mid For the
that I plopolC is imminent and phenrnnenoloti:ic:ll in du",etcI.ll "ill
yield not an or master plan oot, rather, and a p!.l.n
appropriate to the people for whom it iJ drawn, WOOK common tife
it .efte<:ts. The goal, of rou'SC', i. reflection of a special kind. which
picks up those: deeper understandillgJ of goods which are nnt 'le<:-
euari!y minored in the practice of dornirumce and noonoopo!\,
But what if the.e are no soch undentandingsr I ha"e bc..n assuming
all aloog that social meaningl COlli for the autonomy, or the .elati'-e au_
tonomy, of Jphl'fes; and iO they do mueh of the time, Bul
it'l not impossible to societywhereoominancc and monopoly
not 1oiolatiooJ but enact.nentl of meaning, where social goods a'e
roncei,-ed in hierarchical terml, In kuda! Europe,for example, cloth
ing "'al not a commodity it is today) but a Ndge of rallk. Rank
dominated dress, The meaning of clothing '.';1$ Ihaped in the image
of the: feudal order. DrC$Sing in finery to which one entitled "'a5
a kir>d ollie; it made a false sbtement about wOO one "'as When a
,6
COl11plel Equality
king or a prime minister as a commoner in order to learn some.
thing about tile opinions 01 his subjedl, thil was a kind of politi!: deceit.
On the other hand, the diflicultia of enforcing the clothing code (Ihe
lumptuary Ia",) suggcstlthat there wa$ lIU along lin lIl!emati'-e SCUle
of what clothing meant. At some point, lItlealt, one Clll1 begin to recog
the boundaries of a dillioct !pllere within which poopk dress in
lIccordance "'ith what they clln alfnrd (W what they afe willing to spend
or how they w:mtto Iook_ sumptllllry laws may ltill be enfOlced.
but now one can make--.and OIdinary men 1Im1 women do, ill flId.
make-egalitarian arguments againlt them.
Can we imagine 1I society in which an goods are hierarchically COIl'
CC'ived' Perhapl the calte lY'Ilem of lIocient India had this form
(Ihoogh that is a far,e:Khing claim, ami it ,\'Quid be pmdent to doubt
itl tluth: for one thing, political po'o'"eT lmlalwayl to have escaped
the La"'l of caltel. We think 01 calit'llil rigidly segregated group:!, of
the casle l)'Itenlala "plural society," 1I "'Grid of boundaries I? But lhe
lyslem il CO<lltituted b)' lin eltraofdinary integl'lltion of meanings. Pres-
tige. "'ealth, OCCtJpation, food, c1olhing. even the lO-
cial good of conversation: all afe sub;ecl to the intellectlllllal wen liS
10 the ph)'Sical diseipline of hiefllrch). And the hiel'llrchy il itleH deter--
mined by the single \'aluc of "tlllli purity. A certain kind of collecti\'e
mobility is possible, for calles Or lubcallcs can culli''lItc the ouho,'lI,d
marks of purity and (wilhin lC\'ere limilJ) raise thei, (l<)Sition in the
sociallCllle, And Ihe S)'Stem al a whole resls upon a religioul doctrine
lhat promiSl'S e<JlIlIlity of opportunity. not in this life bul :Kross the
li-'es of the lOUl The indi"idllal'l ltlilus hefe ami !lOW "is thc result
of his conduct in his last incarnalion, _lIrld if unsatisfllctory can be
remedied b)' acquiring mer-it in his present life ...hich raise his sill
tus in the nel!."u We should not lISSume thllt men and women a'e
(,'\'er enli,ely conlent "'ilh TlIdical inequality. NC\'ertlreleu, distlibu
tions hele and now life part of 1I lingle Largely unochallenged,
in "'hich purity is dominant ",,,r other gooo;ll-,,,,d birth blood
arc dominant ",'cr purity_ $ocial meaningJ (\\'ellap and collerc.
more perfect the cohelence, Ihe 1m possible il is ""en 10 think
about compla equality. "11 goods lire like CfO"o\'nS alld thrones in a he-
reditaf)' mona,chy, Thele is no room. and there afe no eriteria. for all-
tor>olTlOUl distribulionl In fact, hov."'"eT, C\'erl heredilliry moolllChi<'S
are rarely so simply constructed. The social understanding of 1000000l
l'O""r commonly in'1)h'es ""me notion of divine gr:>n, or magical gift,
or hUIll:1ll insight; .nd tloex criteria for office holding 're poIenti.11y
independent of birth and blood, So it il for mO\lI social goods: they
'7
SPHERES OF JUSTICE
arc only imperfectly integrated into lalgeT systems: tllC)' ale undel-
stood, at leasl sometimes, in their OVl"n lerms. n.c thror)' of goods expli
cates undelSt:mdings of this lOft (whele they exist), and the theory of
complex equ;llity exploits them We SOIY. f<)l' eumple. th:lt it istyranni-
cal lor a m;ln .... ithout glatt or gift or insight to sit upon the throne,
I\nd this is only the /irst and IIIOlI ob\"ious kind of I),ranny. We ean
se:arch fur many other kinds.
T}-ranny is always specific in character: a particul;1I bour>dary ClOSS-
ing, a palticular \"iolation ofsocilll mcaning. Complex equ;llity requiles
lhe do:o,lensc of boundaries; it worb by differentiating goods just as hier-
alchy worb by differentiating people, But ....-e can only talk of a r"Siml
of complex o:<Ju.:llity when there arc many boundaries to defend; and
what the right numhcr is cannot bespeci/ied. There is no light number.
Simple equality i. easier: one dominanl good widely dillributed makes
an egalitarian society. But eomp1cx:ity is hard """, many goods musl
be autonomously conceivc<l before the relations they mediate can hc-
come the lelations of equal men and ..'Omenr There iI 00 cemin an-
....-er and hcoce 00 idcallegimc. But as lOOn as ....e Slalt 10 distinguish
meanings and m;lR. out distrihuli\-e spheres, ....e ale launched on an
egalilalian enlcrprix.
The Setting of the Argument
The polilical community is the appropriate xtting fm Ihis entelpri ...
It is 001, to hc sure, a ..II<Olllained dillribuli"e ..'orld: only the ...."'rld
is a x1f<Olltained distlihuti\'e world, and contemporary science fiction
invites us to speculate aboul a time when ","'en that ....,on'l be tlue S0-
cial goods are shared, di,'idcd, and exchanged across poliliea\ frontiers.
Monopoly and dominance operate aimOlI as easily beyond the frontiers
as ....,ithin them. Things arc mO\'ed, and people mO\'e themselvcs. b.a.ck
and forth aclOSS the lines, Ne\-ertheless, the political eommunity is
probably the closat ....e can come It> a world of common meanings.
ungu.:lge, history, and ctlhure rome togethel (come more dOldy to-
gethel hele lhan anY""hc:re else) 10 produce a colledi"e oonSl'iousncs1,
National charader, ooncci\'e<! as a /ixed and permanent menial xt. is
obviously a rn)th: but the sharing of sensibilities and intuitions among
the memhcrs of a historical eommunity is a fact of life. SOlndimcs po-
Complex Equality
liticlll and histOfical communities don't C(liocitk, an<! there may well
be growing numbe, of in the ... today .... hne sensibilities
and intuitions readily shared; the sharing takes pbtt in smaller
units, And thC'll, perhaps, we shookllook for some ".y to distrib-
d<xisions to the requi'emC'll" of those units But this adjustmC'llt
must itself bC' work..! out politically, and its prttise ehat1lete. ",ill Je-
pl'nd upon understandings among the eitittnl about the ,.1I.w:
of eultunl dive.,ity, local ami so on. It i, to tlldC' under-
standings that ""C mUlt appeal when ,,'e our arguments-all of
Ul, nol philosophers alone; for in of mOfatity, a,gumentsimply
is the appl'al to common meanings.
Polities, morton:,. establishes its OWn bondl of [n a
wOlld of independentltata. political is a local monopoly. These
men md women, ""C can say, urKier ...'halC\'er COIUttaints, shape their
0W11 dntiny. Or they struggle as bntthey can to lhapl' their Own &:$Ii-
ny. And if their destiny is only poartially in their (llO.'n hands, the Itnlggle
il entirely so.l1>er are the ()Ile$ "'hose d.:-eision it is to tighten or Ioosc:n
to ecnttali7-C or deccnttatiu procedures, to inte,-
'"<'Tte or refuse to inteT\"CtIe in this or that distributive sphe,e. Probably,
some set of leaders make the actual deci,ion', but the eitittns shoold
bC' able to leeogniu the leaden as thei, own. [f the leaden are er",,1
01 stupid 01 endleuly \'enal, as th.-y often a,e, the citizens Of lOme of
the citiuns ,,'i\l tl)' to ,epbtt them, fighting ()\'er the distribution of
political JIO""Cr. The fight will bC' shaped by the instilutiooalltruetura
of the eommunit)-that is, by the outC(lmn of prC\ioulhghts. Polities
present is the product of polities past. It t:sbblishC$ an ullm;,jwble set-
ting lor the ronsidellltion of distributive justicc
Thele is one last reason for adopting the.,.;ew of the political C(lID-
munity as setting, a rca5(lf1 I shall elabolllte on some length in
the ned chapter. The C(lmmunity i. itself a g".' C(luccil"bly the
most important good-that gel$ distributed. But it is a gooxlthat can
only be di.tribute<! by taking people in, where all the sense> 01 that
biter phr.lse a,e rele>.nt: th.-y must bC' ph)'1ically politi-
cally HellCC membelShip cannot be handed out by SOme e1-
temal its ,.Iue depends upon an internal decision. We,e there
no communities C<lp;lble of making such disions, there ....ould in thi.!
C1Ise be no good ....mth distributing.
The only plausible altemalil'e to the political community is hUllUn-
ity ilsell, the society of nations, the entire gk>be, But ....ere we to take
the globe as our setting, we IIl"lll,IId hall: to imagine ....bal does not l'et
exist a eornrnunit) that included nw:n and ....omen We
'9
SHIERES OF JUSTICE
would to in"ent set of common mc:;mings /0' these people,
avoiding if Wf' couldthl" of our ,,",,'n w,1l}(1;. And ,,"(' "'ould
ha\'e to ask thl" ml"mbl"n of this hypothetical community (or their hy.
pothetical to "8rl"e them..,h,cs 011 what dislrib-
uti,"(' an<:! p311ems 01 COO\"('TSion are to count as just.
Ideal contr:lclWolism Or un<:!istorted communication, .... hich R'PR'toCnls
my o..'n-to iustitt in p;lrliculucommunitics, may
","('11 be the only fOi the globe as a whole lq But whatever
the hypothetic<ll it could not be enforeW without breaking
the political monopolies of existing states a:ntr:llizing p"""('r
glohalle\'el. Hence the (Of the enfOl'cl"ment) would
not for complex but for simple I'O"'CT domin.;mt and
widl"ly shart'd--or simply for tyr:lnny-if JIO""(" was seized, as it proha
bly would be, by a ...t of international burC3ocrals. In the case,
the people of the wOIld ,",,,,uld h'I\'e to live with the difficulties I ha,"('
described; the continual olloeal pri"lcge, the continual
":asserlion of global statism. In the second casc, Ih.,. wouW:l ha\'e to
li."(' with difficulties that ale considCfably worse I will have a tittle mar<!
10 say about these difficulties later. For now [ take them 10 be
enough to Ii"'it mj'sdf 10 cities, countries. and ,Iat... that ha\"c,o\"cr
long periods 0/ time, their own intCTnal life.
With r<!prd to membership, hO"'C\'er, qucstiom k
tween and sllCh communities, an<:! I shalltl)' to focus on them
md to draw ",to the light all those occasions wlten o,dinaly citi7.ens
locus on them, In a limited way, the thC'OT)' of complex cqualit}' can
be extended lrom p,articlllar COllllllunities to the society 01 nation.. and
the extension has th;. am,mtajlll: it will not run roughshod (l\'er local
llndCTstandings and Just for rea..,n, it al.., "'ill not )'ick!
a unifOl'm system of distributions aCloss the globe. and it ,""ill Ollly begin
to address the probknl$ .aised by mass PO\'CTt)' in man)' paTh of the
globe, r don't think the beginning unimportant; ;n any case, [ can't
m{l\"(' beyond it. To do that would requi.e a dillerent th<'Ory. which
,","'uld n its sllbic<:t not the <'OlnmOn Hle of citizens butlhe mol"
di,tanced relations of a dillerent theory, a different book, an-
othCT time,
3'
,.
Membership
Members and Strangers
The ide;. of diltribulil'C justice presupposes bounded ",,,,ld \lithin
which distributions taka place: a group of poop!" commillcd to divid-
ing, eJlch.nging, and .rutTing !OC'ioIl goods, first of all among themsch-n.
That w(KkI, U [have lIhcady argued, il the political community, '""hOK
d"tributc pown 10 one allOt he. and a",id, if they possibly
can, sharing il with dse. When WI: think about distributive jus
tice, we think about intk(X'1ldenl citi.-s Of counlrin capable 01 urang
ing their 0\<11 paltam of di"ision md exchange, justly Of unjustly. We
a!Sume an eslablidw:d group am:! a fixed popublion, ami $0 we miu
the lint and most important dillributil'c How illhal glOup
Clmstiluled!
rdon'l mean. HowlOllS it ronslilulM? I lim ror>ttrn<"d here not with
the historical origins of the different groups, 001 with the deei.iofll they
make in the 1""""" about their prnn>t and futUfC populations.
primary llood that we di.$tribule aootlK-r il nll"mbership in SOmC
human community. And ,,'hot "'I" do with regard to mcmbe"hip struc-
tures all OUr other dishibuti,..: ehoiCd: it determines with whom "":
make lhoseehoices, from whom we requin: ,"xes.
to whom "..: alloc:lte goods and 5I"T\w.
ar>d "'OmCfI without membership anywhere are stalelcu per-
som Thai condition doesn't preclude sort of distributiYI" relation,
markI"U, for aampk, are commonly open to all comers. But
non-members ale- \'ulnerabk and unprotectC"'d in the markdplael". AI.
3'
SPHERES OF JUSTICE
1000gh Iht-y participale Iredy in exchange of good" Ihey ha"e nO
prt in 1_goods lhal arc 1ll<:y are cui off from the COmmu_
nal pTOYi,ion of SttUril)' and ,"'elf:lre. E,cn those aspects of sccUlily
and welfare that ale, like: public heallh. coIkcli"ely dislributed are 001
gLl;II;1nlccd 10 lion-members: fOI' they h3'e 00 g""ranlccd place;n lhe
colledi"ily and arc always liable to expulsion, Stalcles","U is a condi-
tion of d.nge.
But membership and non-membership are notlhc only-()r, for our
purp0i5C5, the most imporlomt-set of pouibilitia. 11 is also possible
to be a membc:1 of 3 poor or a rich counlr)", 10 li"e III a <knsely c.owded
or a largely empty counlry, 10 be the robjt of an authoritarian
Or the citizm of a <kmocracy. Since human beings are highly mobile,
"'rge numbc:rs of men and "(\IIICn rqulally attempt 10 chang<: their
Il::sidmcc and the;1 membership, rnO"ing fll)m unfavor..! to f:l,vr..!
cnviromnenls. Affluent arid fm: rountlia ale, like elite uni,crsilics,
besieged by applicanll. They hne to d;d., on Ilonr own ,i an;;! chal-
Kier. More as citiumof such a country, "e ha"e 10 decide:
Whom should ,,'e admit? o..ghl we 10 ha,c open adm;ioo"r Can we
choose among applicanll? What aTe the appropriale criteria lor distrib-
uling membrlShip?
The plural proooullJ Ihat 1 ha'c used in asking these qual ions sug-
gest the rorl\'enlioolal answcl 10 them: ""e ....ho are already members
do the chooling, in wilh our O'I"n undclSlmding of ",hat
membership mcan. in 00' con'lllun;ly and 01 ,,Mt..,..1 of a community
we "'anI to ha"e Mcmber,hip a, a lC)Cial good is collliitulcd by QUI
undc:lltanding: it, valllC i, by OIJlwork and com'erlalion; md lhen
we are in chaTge (who else could be in '" ii' di,trioolion But
we don't distribute it among ounc:l"es; it is already OUlS, We gi"e it
out to strangers Hencc the il allO g<:l'l'emed b)' OUr relalionships
,"';Ih 5l.angel5-flOt Oflly by OUI undc:rlllrnding of those relationships
but aloo by the acl",,1 oontaclJ, oonrltttioru, alliances ""e ha"e estab-
lished and the effectlWf: ha"e had beyond our bordelS. But 1shall focIlI
on ,Ir:lngers in th" lilenl lense, men and ""Jmen whom ""e me:d,
10 to ,peak, lor tlte lime. We don'l know who they arc o. what
they think, yd we lcoogniu lhem ... men and WOmen_ Like: US but
not of us: ....hen ,"'e dide 00 membership, "c ha"" to C'Oflsidn tltem
a, "'ell as oulSCl\'a.
I won't Iry 10 ,ooni hele tlK: history of Walern ideas about st,ang-
en. In a number of aocient languages, Latin among them, strangelS
md enemia '"'e.e named by a ,,'O.d We ha,'e rome Oflly slowly,
thrOlJih a long process of trial and error, to distinguish the t""J and
3'
Memlxnhip
10 achowledge thai, in cerhin circumstances, slTllngers (but r>Ol eneo
mie$) mighl be enlitled 10 our hospitality, assistance. and good will.
This ackJJO\\'ledgment can be formali7.eU as Ihe principII' of mulual aid,
which sugge$ls the duties Ihal we o...-e, as John Rolwls has wrillrn, "not
onl)' 10 definile individuals. say to lhose cooperating logether in !OIT1e
fOCial arrangemenl, bUI 10 persons genl.'l'ally.") /o,-Iulua\ aid extends
across polilical (and abo cultul1ll1, religious, and lingui$tic) fronhcn.
The philosophicol groun<\$ allhe principle are hard 10 specify (its hi:>-
tory provida ill pTlIctical ground), I doubtlhat Ra,,'ls is righllo argoc
lhal ,,'e can c:stablish it simply by imagining "whal a fOCiety wouk! be
like if Ihis duly ...ere rejccted"J_IOf rejection is r>oI an issue within
any particular $OCidy; lhe issue arises only arnong peopk "'00 don'l
share. or 00,,'1 know themsekes 10 share, a common life. PCOIJ1e who
do share a COIl'm(lll life ha,-e much slronger dulies,
It is the absellce 01 any coopeTlIti"e arrangement' thai sets thc COli
texl for mutual aid: two stTllngers m""t at sea OJ in lhe des<:rl or, as
in the Cood Samaritan story, by the side of the road. Whal prccisely
Ihc-y (IYo-e Q<le another is by no means dear, bul we rommonly say of
loch caSCIlhat po$iti\'e a s , i s ~ n c c is ro:quired. if (1) it is needed or ur
gently needed by one: of lhe parties; and (:) if the rish and costs of
giving it are relali,e1y \ow for the other parly Ci"en I ~ CQ1lditions,
r oughl to 'lop and help the injured stranger, wherl"''Ct I meet him,
",hale"er his membership 01" my own_ This is our morality; concci,'
ably his, too. 11 is, moreG\'er, an obligalion that can be read out in
tOUihly the same form al the collecti,'e ll""el. Croupil of people ought
10 help necc:ssiloU5 slrangen whom Ihc-y somehow di$OO\'Cr in their
midsl or Q<l Iheir path, Butlhe limit On risb and cosll in lhese cases
i, sharply drawn_ J r>eed. 1>01 lake lhe injured slranger into my home,
except briefly, and I cerlainly need not care for him or "en auociale
",ith him for tile rest of my life. /l.ly life cannot be shaped and deter-
mined by soch chance enoonnle" eo,err.or John Winthrop, arguing
against free immigration to the new Purilan commonwealth of Mal-
sachuselts. insi,led thai thi, right 01 refusal applies also to collecti,'e
mutual aid: "As for hospitality, that rule does not bind further than
fnr some present occluion, not for continual residence,'" Whether
Winthrop's view can be defended is a question that I shan come 10
only gradually. Here I only want to point to mutual aid;LI a {(lOMibk)
alerna! p,ir>eiple for lhe diltribulioll of membership, a principle lhat
doesn't depend upon the pre..-ailing view of membership within a par
lin1lar society_ The force of lhe principII' i, uocertain, in part because
01 its own vagueness, in part becaU5C il ,ometimes comes up againJI
33
SPHERES OF' IUSTICE
the internal force of social meanings, And these mcanings can b<-
specified, and are specified, through the ftn.asscs of
the (>Olitical community.
We might opt for a world .... ithout I"'rticular meanings and with
out poIitic;l1 communities: ....here 00 one IOOl5 a rnemkr or whefe t\'
tryone "belonged" to a single glotxll state. Th<'SC' are the two forms
01 .impk equality ....ith ,egard to membership. If all human king.
,,"'CIC strangers to onc anothtr, if all our meetings were like mtttings
at 01 in the deselt or by the side of the road, then lrn:,e WOllId
be nO membenhip to disl,ibutc. Admissio.,. (>OtiC)' .."uld '''''"t' be an
issue WhCle and how ....e li"ed, and ....ilh .... hom we lived. wook! de
pend llpon <lUI individual desires md then UflOll our I"'ltnerihips and
affairs. JUltice would be nothing mo,e than non-roe,eion, good faith.
and Good SanlaritaniSnl-a matte, enti,ely of "tenlal principles, If,
by cont'ast, all hunlan beings wele me",bc" of a global slale. mem
bcnhip IOookl already ha>"t bttn distributro, equally; and thele ,",oold
be nothing more to do. TlJt, first 01 t11t2 arr:;mgements suggests a
kind of glohotllibeltarianism; the seeond. a kmd of glob.:r.l socialism.
ale the two conditions ur><!e, ",'hich the dist'ibution of mem
bt."lship ...ouk! nC'o'cl ari"". Eithcr tooc ...ookl k 00 .uch slatu. 10
di,tlibute, or it ..."uld .imply come (to C'o'eryonc) wilh birth, But nei
thel 01 these arrangements is likely to be reali1.ed in the
future; and thtre arC implc:ssi'"t a,guments, "'hich I ...'il! rome to
IaICI, agai",t both 01 tht111. In any ease:, so long as memhers and
strangen ..e, as they arC at present, two distind gIO\lPS.
dccisiOllS I..>'e to be made. IT\C1l and wOmen talen in or re!used.
Ci,"tll the indetelminate requi,emcnts 01 mutual aid. these <!isions
all' nOI: constr.linC'd by any widely areepted 'tamlald, TIlafs ....hy the
admiuion. policies of countries arc rarely cliticiu.-d, CJcept in terms
suggesting that the only relevant criteria are those 01 eharity, !lot it...
tice. It i. Cl:ltainly possible that a deepel critici.m would lead OnC to
deny the member/str.lngtT distinction. But I .hall try, nC\'cltheJess,
to defcnd that distinctiou and thcn to describe the internal an.d the
utemal priocipJ.es that govern the distribution of rncmbCfShip
Tht argument wil1lequile a ear>ful ,cvicw of both immigration and
naturnlil.ation policy. But it is Ito'OI"lh noting 6r5l, brieRy, thatlhcre are
cerlain sinlila,ities het,,"te1l shangcrs ill poIiticalsl"'ce (immigrants)
and descendants in tilllC (children), People cnter a conntry h being
00111 tOI""ent. already lherc as ....ell as. and more often than, by cross
ing the frontier. BoIh tlleX p,rxases ClIn be ronllollcd, In the 6rst
case. oo...'e,er, unlc:ss wc practice a infanticide...'> will be dr-l)'
34

ing with unbofn and hence unkll<Wo'l\ ir>dividuals, for large
f:omilics and programs of b;,th oont'ol ddermine only the Si1.e of the
po:lpul..tion, not the characteristics of its inbabitants, We might, of
oourso:, award the right to gi,'e birth differentially to MI'...ent groups
of parents, eslablishin.g ethoic quotai (like oountry-d.origin quotas in
immigration policy) Or el..ss Or quotas, or alkM'in.g
celtific;,tcs to be traded On 111oCS'C arc
way. of regulatrng ,,ho children and of shaping the eha'aete, of
the population. They a,e, hov.'C'\'CI, indirect ar>d indl'ieient ways,
even ,,;th regard to ethnieity, unleu the state also regulates interma,-
riage and auimilation, E'-en well short of that, the policy would re<jui,,'
,-ery high, and sUlely unaeptable, Ie,ds of coercion: the oomillarnx
of political power O\'e' kinship and lO\-e. So the maim public policy iuue
is the size of the population only_its g,owth, stability, 01 declillC. To
h",,' many people do ".., distribute membership? TIle larger and philo,.
sophicall)' mOre intCiesting qucstions-To what sorts of people?, and
To what p,illtieular pcople,_,e most dearly confronted ",hen,...., tUTll
to the problems in,ul\'ed ill admilling or e.duding st'ange".
Analogies: Neighborhoods, Clubs. lind Families
AdmiSilions policies are shaped partly by a,guments about cmnomic
and political conditions in tlte host oountry, partly by arguments about
the charaete, aoo "destiny" of the host country, and partly by argu-
ments about the character of countries (political communities) in gen
eral. The last of these is the most important, in theoTY at least; for 0."
uOOerstanding of oountrics in general will determine whether particular
countries h..10 the .ight they com-elltionally ,,\.oim: to distribute mem_
bcllhip for (their own) pa.ticular reasom. But few of US 1"'10 any direct
Cllpe,ienee of ",hat a oountry is or of "'hat it mea", to be a member.
We often ha"e ,tlOng feelings about Ollr country, but ,,-e ha,-e only
dim pcrcq>tions of it. Iu a pohtical community (rathe. than a pl..ce),
it is, after all, we actual1y stt only its symbols, offices, and
I suspect that ".., uo<!erstand it best when "'e compa""
it to othe., alSociatiOlu whose compass can mo.-e easily
grasp. For "'t are all members of forrnal and infOllnal g'OIrP'! of many
diffCiellt 501'\$; ".., 1o:.now the;, ",-orkings intimately. And all these groups
35
SPHERES OF' JUSTICE
ha"e, and necessarily have, adminions policio. Even if ".., ha"e l>C\'er
se,,-ed slalcofficials. C\'cn if wc ha"c nC\'cremigrated from onccoun-
try to another, ".., ha"e all had the cxperience of aettptmS or rejecling
strangers, and ,,-., ha,.., all had the cxl"'ricnce of being accepted or rc
jected. I w"nt 10 d'aw upon this experience. My argumCTIt will be
worked th'OUih a serio of rough oompalisoos, in the course of which
th., .pccial mcallillg of political mcmbenhip ".;n, I think, hccomc in-
cre,,,ingly "JlP3,enl.
Con.ider, then, thrce possible analogues for the poIiti",,1 community;
wc ,-",n think of countries as ncighborhoodJ, dUM, or lamilies, The li,t
i, obviously 001 nhau,ti,-c, but it will "'"." 10 illlllni""le cerl.in kc,-'
fe"luro of .dminion .nd ndu,ion School., bUM:aucracieJ, .nd rom
I"'nio, though they JOme 01 the characteristiC'S of clullJ, distribute
..xi"l.nd \'OOr>Qmic .Iatus u wdl.s membership; I will lake Ihem up
separately. }'lany domestic associatioru are I"'ruitic for thcir member
ships, relying on lhe I"ocdures of olher associ.tio".: unions dcpclld
uponlhe hiring poIicin of companies; parentteaehe, organizations de-
pend upon the opc:nrtl:S:l of neighborhocxb or upon the selccti,..,rtl:S:I
of priv::llte schools. PoIiti",,1 parties are generally like dum; religiomCOIl-
grrgations'M: often designed to resembk families. What should coun_
tries be like?
The ncighbo.-hood is an coorfllOUilycompkx hum,n bul
we have a certain undentallding of ,,'hat it is like-an understmding
alleast I"'rtiaUy reAeded (thOUih also increasingly challenged) in con
lemporary Ameri""n law, It is an associalion without ,n org.nized or
legally enfOfceabk "dmissions policy. Strangers can be weloomcd or
not "elromed; they ""nrlOl be admitted or e.duded, Of course, being
wdcomed o' not "",loomed is somc:timeJ eRecti,'ely the ... nll: thing as
being admitted or e.dudM, butlhe dillinction is throrelically impor-
laul. In priocipk, individual, and familieJ IllO"C into a neighborhood
fOf reaSOns oIthci. own; they d\OO5C but ale 001 ehoocn. Or, ralher,
in the absence: of kgal cont,ols. the market oonlrols Ihcir tOO\'emcnll,
\Vhelhe. they rn<)<'e is determined not only by th.,ir own choKe but
also by thei, ability to filld a job arK! a place to Ii,.., (or, in 50Ciety
differCTIt from 00' own, to find a factory commune or a rooperali,-c
apartment hOllIC ready to take them in) Ideally. Inc ma,ket ""rks inde-
pendently of the nisting composition of the lII:ighborhood. The stale
uphold, tlris independence by refusing to enforce leIlrictive
and by acting 10 prt\"Cnl Of minimize discrimrnation in employment.
The,e arc 00 institutional a"angclllenl, tlpabk of maintaining "eth.
nic pu,ity"--though zoning la.... somelirnes maintain class ICgrega
3
Membership
tion.
4
With rdermce 10 any formal criteria, the neighbcwhood is a
rmdom ;wociaiion, "not a selectioo, but lather a of Jile al
a whole... , By the very indifferntCf: of lpace,' al Bernard BounqllC!
has wrillcn, ....'e arc liable to the direct impact of aU possible
[I ""as a common arsument in cLnslca1 political economy that na
tionalterrilory lhould be as "indiffeTer1/"' allocal lpace, The same wlit
en who defendallree tOOc in the nineteenth eentu". arlO defrndcd
umestrietn! immigration. argued for perfect freedom of contract,
without any poIitica[ ,eslraint International society, lhey thought,
should take shape as a world of neighborhood., with individuals mming
about, Ittking private ad'"lIncemenl. [n their '-iew, al Hrnry
Sidgwick rl"pOfl.-d il in Ihe lSqos, the only businesl of slate officiall
is "10 maintain order O\'er la] p;lrticula' territory ... bUI not in any
""lIy 10 detcrmine "'ho ilia inhabit thillerritory, or 10 'atrict the en;oy-
ment of ib natural advanlages to any p;lrticular portion of Ille human
,aee.''7 Nalural ([ike m3fkets) a,c open to all COnleT!, within
the limits 01 pri\'.te property rights, and if they 3fe used up or ok.",[u<'d
byO"e<crowding, presumably will movcon, into the jurisdiction
of new selJ of officials.
Sids--lck lhousht that thil is poss,b[y the "ideal of the future,' but
he oIfeted Ihree algUlnenll ag;linll "'orld of neighborhood. in the
present Fint of all. such a world would not allow for p;ltriotic senti
menl, arid 10 the "camal aggregatel'" that would probably result from
the ffee rl'l(l\CTTKnl of individuals ""Qu[d "lack inlernal cohesion."
Neighbon would be stlOllgcn 10 one anothe<. Second, free mo\'emelll
might interfere with efforts "to r.ise Ihe standard of living among the
poorer classes" of. p;lrtieulor country,lince: such eRort. could not he
undertaken \lith equal energy and luCttU e\'erywhcre in the "mid,
And, Ihird, the promotion of T1lOT31 and inlellectua[ culture and the
efficienl working of political inslitutionl might he "dcleated" by lhe
continual c.eation of hetcrogeneous populolionl.! Sidgwid PTCSCIlted
three a'guments as a series of utilitar;,n COTtlide..tionl that ...'cigh
against the hcndits of Iobor mobility and contractual freedom, Bulthey
seem to me to ha\'e a rather differenl character. The last ,""Q31gumenb
d..w lheir foo-ce fmm the 6..t, but only if the 611t is =i,ed in
r>onutilitarian lerml, [I is only if patriotic ICtltiment h.1 lOme mOrotl
Nsis. only if communal cohesion makes for oblig;ltiolll and lhared
meanings. only if there arc membcn al ""ll as strallgen, Ihatstate ofIi
Tht _ 01-.;.,. ...... '" 1>0. _ ......_ -..oj ...to" .""..-
I ,I ...moIy, ,_ ;,,_ 1'..... ;, fuI... ..- ow poIitooal
h.....,..006 , ""H .... '" 10 .- , on " .
37
SPHERES OF JUSTICE
ci:lls would have any reason to worry especially about the welfa,e of
their OWn people (and of <tUtheiro",," people) ami the soccess 01 their
()Il.'n cullure and politics. For it il allealt dubious lhalthe a""rage Itan
dard of living of the das:sn thrwghoutthe world "'oold
under conditionl of perfect labor mobility. Nor iJ there firm
that culture canllOl th,i"e In cosmopolitan environment., IIOf that it
i.I irnposoibk to go-.-ern casual aggregations of people. Al fOl' Ihe laol
of these, political thlrists long ago tlL,t )(Irtl of re
authoritarian regimn--thrive in the of com
mUn.:ll oohesioo. That perfecl mobility makes for authotitari:lnism
might suggest a utilitarum argum""t ilgilinst mobility; bul such an ,rgu-
mcnt would woek only if individual men and ,",urnen, hee to rome and
go, expressed, desire for some other 101m of g<Ylcmmenl. Ami Ih>t
they might not do.
Per/oct labor- mobility, 1'-.OI<'",,'er, i1 prob;ably a rnir,ge. for it il ,lmo1t
eert,in to be rQisted at the Iooalb'd. Hum,n beings, '5 I ha"e said,
lOO\'e about, grat deal, hut not because: they 10,.., to nlO\..,. They are,
most of them, ioclinl'd to ltay ....here they aIe unless their life is "ery
difficult lhere. They elperien<:e a tension bct,",'ccn Io\'e 01 place and
the di>OOmfor-t. of, particuloar place. While some 01 them ",,",.., their
homes,oo bewme foreign.-n in new lands, others slay where they are:
and resent the in lheir own land, il stales ,....,r be-
come large r>eighboo-hoods, it is likely lhat neighborhoods ...,11 becon""
lillie IlalC!. Their rnemben will org,ni"C' 10 defend Ihe local politics
and culture againsl strangers. ""ighbor-hoods ha'e tu,,>Cd
into closed or parochial rommuniliC! (k>"ing aside oIlepl coer-
cion) ",'h""",',,, lhe It,te wa.1 open, in the cosmopolil,n citi.... of mul-
tinational empires, fOf example, ....here Itate offici,ll don't fOller an)'
identity bul permit difh:renl grOllPl' to build tbeir "",'n insti-
tutionalst,uctures (... in ancienl Alenlld,ia), or in the receiving cc:nters
01 mall immigration m",'emenll (e.;nly 1... century NeYl' Yo<k)
,""here the country is an open but ,bo,n alien ",u,Id-or, allern,ti,..,Iy,
a \\'Ol'1d full of ,Hell$. The case is limilar ....here the stale doesn't
,t ,II Or in "us whe'e it doesn't function, Where "..,I!:Ire: mooics ,re
TlIised and spe-ntlocally, fo< example, as in a K'\"Cf\teenlh-century En-
glish parish, the local people ....i11 10 ne....COmers who,re:
likely ",'dbre recipients, It is only the nalionalizalion of ",..,lfare (OI' the
n.:ltiOl'Jalizahoo of culture "K1 polities) thai openl the ncighborhooxl
communities to whoever dl(lOOCl to rome ill.
can be open only if counlries arC al least potenl;,lly
closed. Only if the Itatc makes, l<:ltttion ,mong would-be membe..
3
8
Mcmbenhip
gWlr3nlea the 1o)..lty, security, "'elf3re of the indi,idWlIs it
select., COIn Ioal communities t3ke .h3pe "'indifferent'
determined 501ely by pl'r!lonal prele.ence and IlllIrket capacity. Since
indi,idWlI choice i. rn()It depl'ndent upon Ioal mobility. this would
....'Cm to be the prderr<:<l ..r:mgement in oociety like Our own. The
politics and the culture of a modern democracy r.quire the
kifld of largeness, md the kind of bournkdneu. that .lata provide.
I don't m"n lodeny the ,..lueof sectional cultu'a and ethnicrommu-
nitia; I mean only to ouggat the rigiditia IlIat ","Ouk! be forced upon
both in the of inc1l11i"e prolecti,"C To tear dov.'Il
the ......ll. of the i. not. as SidgIl.'ick worriedly luggnled. to cre;lle
wOlld withoot ",.. lh. but rather to crate thoUland pl'lly fortleua.
The lortrelseS, too. could be tom down: 311 i. i. a
oufficiently JlO""eriul to O\"Crwhc1m the Ioc:Il communilies,
Then the Inuit would be the world of thc politiC<lI eronomilh. 31 Sidg
wick dncribed it-a wOlld of radically men md women.
Neighborhood. might ....me rohesi"e culture fOf
01 two OIl a ,{)lulllary N,i., but prople would mO\"C in, prople would
mO\"COUI; soon the cohesion would be gone, The diltiocti"eneuof cuI
tmes and groups depend. upon closure and, "'ithout ii, cannot be con
cei,-cd a. .Iable fcall"e 01 human life If this distinc!i'"CnCSl il 3,.. IllC'.
31 rn()It people (thuugh some 01 them 3re glohal plurali.ls, othefl
only local ..li,t.) seem 10 beli",,'e. then elosure UlUlt be pl'rmitll'd
lOmewl,.,re. At ",me le<."Cl 01 politiCOlI organiulion, lOmething like the
",'-ereign .l:Ile musl take .hape claim the to moke it.
OWn admilliom policy, to control md sometimes ralrain Ihe IIow of
immigrant.,
But this righlto control immigration does !lot ioclude or enlail the
right to ronlrol emigration. The politiC<ll oommunily <:::In .h3pl' ill own
population in lhe 0l\C "'.. y, nol in the other: this is 3 di.tinctioo Ihat
gel$ reiler31ed in different form. throughout ti,., acoounl of member
,hip. TI,e r",traint of entry ..,r'", to ddend the liberty and "-elfare,
the polilics and culture of a gfOUp of people committed to one another
to their COlllmon !;fe. But the of replaces commit
ment with roeleion. So lar a. the roereed members are COfIcemed,
there i. no longer a community worth defending. A
Nni..h individual citil.em or 31iem li"ing within its bonier. (if
there i. some pbee ready to retti'"e them). in lim... of natiorull
emergency, when C'\"Cf)'Olle is bound to "'OIk lor the ..l of the com
munily. dates p.-event such people fmm gelting lip and leaving.
The individual. ern rightly 1ea'"C thei. own country. hOYl'C'\'Cr,
39
SPHERES OF JUSTICE
doesn't ge"".. te right to ente. (any other) [,"migration and
mOl1llly HC'fe the mOiIOllY
is with the club, for it is a feature of clubs: in domestic sociely-as I
hOlve just it is of in internOitionOiI they
can regubte a.dmiuionl but C:l.nnot bar .... itht!flIWOl!s
Like dubs, COIJntrie! a.dmiuions oommillca. [n the United
Congreu functions as soch a though it
indi"idll:ll seledions. Instead, it qualificatiolll, cate-
gories for admi15ion and exclusion. and numerical quotas (limib). Then
a.dmissiblc imli,'iduali are taken in, ....ith v;lrying dcgrccs of
tive discretion, mo:stly on a 6rsl -<;'Omc, 6rst-sc",ed billis_ This procedure
lCClIlS eminently defensible, though thOit does not mean thOit Olny partie-
ulal set of qualifi.cations ami categories ought to be defended. To ...y
that states hOl."C: 01 light to act in ccrtain areas is not 10 say lhOlt anything
they do in those ;. right. One COlli argile about particular admis-
sions HOindarch by appealing, lor example, to the CQmlition and charac,
te. of the hoot CQlmtry to the shared understandingi' of those wOO
are already Soch arguments h:I,l' to be iudged mo",lly Olnd
po/itiCOllly as ....l'll as bctll:llly. The claim of American Ol<h"OOiltes of re
.tlicted immigration (in 1\UO, uy) t....t they "'l're defending. homos....
nCO\lS white and Protesl3nt CQOmtry, can pl:lusibly be called unjust n
"'l'll in;turate: a, if _-....hite and IXIn-Protestant citizens ",-eTC in-
'lisibk men and wornen, ....ho didn't ha."C: to be COIJnted in the
censUil
lo
Eartier Americans, sceking the ben.c6h of ccouornic geo-
graphic Cl"pansion, had (Teated a pluralist society; Olnd the moral rellli
ties of thOit society ought to ha"e guided the Icgisl:lton 01 the lQlOl.
[f we follow the klcic of the club auOlJoey, howc\'el, "'e hOl'"C: to SOl)' tMt
the C<lflicr dttision might hOlve been different, and the United States
might hOl.-e taken sh:lpe as a homogerocous CQlllrnuuity, Anglo-SaxOll
nation-state (auuming ,,"'hOlt happened in any COlSC: the virtual extermi-
nation of the I..diam ....ho. un.dcrstOlndi"i correctly Ihe dOlngers of in'OI'
siou, lIruggled as best they could to keep forcigrtt'rs out of thei. ""ti."C:
bnds). Decilionl 01 thil 1Of! ne subiect to CQrntraint, but the
constraints are I Olin not yd l"C:ady to uy_ It is importOlul Iil1t to ins;,t
the distribution of membenhip in Ameoon socicty, in any
ongoing society, j,. "",tter 01 political decision. The Libor 11l00'kct
be given !Tee rein. n it W;1l f", mauy decades in the United
but tMt does not Mppen by act of ""ture Or 01 GocI; it depends
upon choice! IMt are ultill10ltely political. kind of CQmmunity
do the "'OInt to createl With what other n>en ar>d ,,"Omen do
they WOlnt to shue ami "xchOlllg" social good!l
"
,.
Membership
1lK:se are ex:>etly the quntion, Ihat dub membcrs allSwCT ,.,hen tIle)'
make membership deci,ion" though usually with rderelltt 10 a In.
exlen,in community and to a more limited 11Inge of $OCial groW, In
dubs, ooly the loun<lcn Ihemseh'a (or one another); all othel
mcmben ha'-.: bccll chosen br those who ,,"Ctt memben before them.
Individual, may be abk to gi,'e good why they .hould be select
ed, but n(I one on the oulJide hal a light 10 be ill$ide. 1111' membe"
decide freely 011 their future associales. and the decisions lhey mak..
arc aut hOlitative and 6na1. Only when dubs split into f:>elior" and 6ghl
0\.... propctty can the state inte"...nc and n);lk.. ii, (lWn decision about
who the mcmbel$ ar... When .lates split. how'e\"CI, no legal appeal i.
possible; there i. 110 .upe.ior body, Hence, we might imagine data
as perfect dubs..... ith SO\'ereign flU"'er 0\'1:1 thei, """f1 selection
processes.
But if this dcxription is accurate in regard 10 the law, it is rlOl an
accurate accounl of Ihe morallif.. of C011lempolal)' political rommuni-
lies. Cl""rly, eitizcns often bclic\... lhemselvcs morally boun<! to open
the 000n of their counlry-uolto anyone ,,ho w:lnu to (.'Orne in, pe.-
haps, hut to a partieulaT g.oup 01 oulside", recognized as naliollal or
cthni<: ".elati\"cs:' In Ihi, ocnse, slates are like families rathn than
dubs, fOI' it is a l""lu.e 01 familiCSlhallheil members a,e morally con-
nected 10 people tl>cy ha'... not who heoubidc the household
In time of tlOuble, Ihe OOulChold is also a ,efuge. Sometimes, undl'l
th.. auspices of the .tate, we take in lellow citizcm to whom "... aTe
not relatn!, as Engli.h roUlltry families took in London children during
the blitz; but OUI nlOre spoolaueoll$ beneficencc i. dilectcd al OIll OWn
kith and kin."'" .lal.. Tecogni= what we can callihe 'kind,ip p.inci-
pk"' when it gi,"C$ priority in immiglation to lhe lelali,"C$ of citizen.
lbal i. current policy in the United Slales, and it ....."'. especially ap-
p.opriale in a political rommunily largely lo.med by the admiuion of
immiglanl . It i. a way of ackoowledging that Iabof nlObility has a social
price: ,inee laborers a,e lIlen women wilh fa,nili... one ""nnot
admit them lor lhe sake of Iheil labo. without attepling IIOmc rommil
ment to their aged p:nenLs, say, or to their Jiekly brothers an<! lillen.
In communilies diffelcnlly formed, where the slate ,eplesc:nh ana
tioo Ia,gely in platt, another IIOTI 01 commihneflt rommonly dc>-dops,
along lines delermined by the principle of nationalily. In lime of trou-
ble, the slate ;s a mug<" lor members of th.. nation, whelher 01 not
w.., ....sc ,t>< _ d..,,," "'f be <o<po<JIlO'" aubInII<d bI !t """""'I, ,f
It>< 11I- b< "", """. I no _ ""h ,,.t.o to -.. Inro.. wrihwl
our """"" -" I _ill ""'" 10 ,I>< qoeot.... ..- "11I-"' ..... (poe< ",I
4'
SPHERES OF JUSTICE
residents ond cilium_ bofdCl of the politic:ol COm.
munity "'';IS dra",n )'QIS ago SO as to le....e ,-mages and to.... ns 011
wrong silk; perholps they the children or gr.".dchildren of emi.
grants, 11lC')' no kg;Jl membership rights, but if thC)' perse-
cuted in the land where they 1;,(:, Ihey 1001: to oot only
wilh hope but .ho wilh I .m inclined to uy th.t such
eXpbtions .re legitimate Greeks dri'(:n from Turkey, Turks from
Crre, .fter the wars .nd """Oluti<wls of the early Iwentieth ",,"tury.
h.d to be taken in by st.tn that bor" thei, rolleeti,(: n.mes. Wh.t
else: aT" soch states forr They don't only plt'side a piece of territory
.nd a random collection of inhabil;mts; they also the potitiC':l.I"-
pression of. rommolllife and (most often) of a nalional "family" that
;5 never enclosed within th..ir houllllaries Aft"T the Sec
ond World War, millionsof(;(,nnans, b)' Poland and Cud>Q.
slo-';Ikia, w"", .".d cared for by the two Cerm.nin E"en if
Ihese: st.tes had bttn free of all responsibility in tlK: e.pulsions, they
would stin h....e had a to the ,dug.,.,. MOlt st.tn
rCllgni'.c: obligations of this sort in practice:; som.. do SO ill law.
Territory
W" might, then, think of rountrin as n.tional clubs or families, But
countries aT" .lso states. Although clubs and f.milies OWn
property, they neitlter l'C<iuire nor (except in feudal syolems) pol-SCS'
jurisdiction 0....' t.."itory. Lewing child,en aside, IhC)' do not conhol
the physic::lllontion of tlteir members, The st.t" does rontrol ph)"sic:ol
Iocation-if only for the uke of clubs .nd Families .nd the iooi"idual
men and WOnlC1\ who make them up; and with this ronhol tt..,re rome
cert.in obligations. We call best examine thcK if "'(: consider once
.gaill asymmclry of immignllion and emignllon
nationality principk has one significant limit. commonly .c
cepted in theory, if oot .lw:ays in p=tice, 'Though tt.., recognition of
national affinity is. re;lson for permitting immigration, nonrecognition
is oot a reason for elpulsion. Thi. is a maior i..uc in the modem world.
for n\aIlY n."wty independent states find th.emselves ill control of I....;.
tory into wh.ich groups hav'" been admiued u,uk, the au.pices
of the old impeli.1 regime, Somclimes thcK people forced to ka\'".
4'
Membership
the ,'ietim .n a popuLlI hO'ltilily that the IleW gm1:rnment cannot ,e-
st,ain More often the go.-ernmenl itself fO'lten such hostility, and
takes positi,'e aetion to d,ive out the "alien elemenu," invoking
il does so lOme .'enion of the club or the family analogy Here, howev-
CT, neither analogy applies: lor lhough no "alien" has a risht to be a
of a dub or a bmily, it is possible, r think, to describe a I:irod
of terriioriai or Joc:,tional right.
Hobbes made the argument in form when he listed lhose
righls that arc gi'1:n up and thlM that a.e ,etainc<! "'hen 50Cial
oonlract ;, 1llc retained rishu include .df-<klense arod then
"Ihe use of 6re, waleT, f.cc air, and placr 10 fi,'e in, and .. alllhings
necfiSary fof life." (italics mincJll The ,ight is not, indeed, 10 a p;nlicu-
U. place, but it is enfOlceabk again.tlhe slale, which exi.ts to protect
it; the .tate, cuim to lerrilorial deriva ultim;rtc1y hom
this indi,idual right to Hence lhe right has a roJlccti,..., as "'ell
as an indi.idual form, arK! Ihese lwoean come inlo ronAict, But it can't
be uid that the 6,,1 al"'ays or ncasurily superceda 1eOOtMl, lor
Ihe 6rst came inlo e.istence fm the uke.n the second. The ,tate ","'a
something to its inhabilants simply, without reference 10 their oo11K'
li"e or national identity. And the to which inhabitants
arc entitled is .urdy the whc,e and Iheir familia ha"e live<!
and ma<lc a life. The attachmcnu alld npedations ha'1: lormed
a'gue against a forced lran.lc. to another rountry. If Ih<-y ean'l "'1\1:
this p.1rticula, piece of land (or holl5C or ap.1,tmenl), Ihen IOITIC othe.
must be found lor them within the same gem:ral"pbtt." Inili:l11y, al
Ieut, the sphere .n membership is given: the men and "'01l1Clt who
dele'mine what membership means, and who shape the admissions pol-
icies of the political commullily, arc simply the men and women who
a,e already there New stala and governments must ma!:e their pc;Itt
with lhe old illhabitants of the land the)' rule. And rountries a,e likely
10 take shape as closed terriloria dominale<!, perhaps, by particular na-
lions (dubo ot families), bul .l..."ys including .licn< of OO1e torI or an-
othc,_ho$c expulsion would be uniu,t
This oommon anangemenl raisca otIC important possibilil)': that
many.n inhabitants 01 a p.1r1icular rountry won't be allowd full
mcmbe,,!.ip (eitizcmhip) becaUlC of their nalionality. I "ill oonsi<lcf
that possibility, and argue for ib .eteetion, when Ilum to the specific
pfObkms.n naturalization, But otIC misht a.'Oi<! IUch problems entire-
ly, al least al the lC\cI 01 the llale, by opting lor a ra<!ica11y difterenl
arrangemenl. Con,id." once again Ihe neighborhood analogy: "",haps
"1: should deny 10 nalionalstales, as "1: deny to churdlCll md political
43
SPHERES OF JUSTICE
p:ntiel, the coIkctj'l: right of jurisdiction we should
insist upon open countlies and pennit closure only III non-tenitor;'l
groups, Open neighboo'hoods tllf;:dher with closed club, and families:
tlut is the stTuctUle of ckHncstic society. Why can't it, why shouldn't
it be ntcmkd to the gkx..1 sociriyl
An nteTIJion of this SOI"t was acl1J311y hy the so-
c;.li,t writer Otto Bauer, with reference to the old em-
pires of Eastern Europe, Bauer WQUld ha'e organiud na
tions into permitted to tlleir members
for md cultut:ll purposes, but denied any tcrritori:ll domin-
ion. Indi\"idwals would be free to JI1O\'C about in ,"'ithin
the emP;le, carrying their natKlnalmemberships with them, much as
indi,id1J31. JI1O\l: about today in liberal and K'CuLIt .tata, QfT)';ng their
religious memberships and p;trtioan affil;'tior\!, Like ChUTChes p;!'-
tiel. the COTpor;ltions COIlld admit or reject new members in a<'OOrd.ance
with whate'l:r st3nd.ards their old members thought appropriate.l\
The rnajar difficulty Ilerc is tlut an tile national C()mmuniliel thaI
Bauer ,""anted to PICKf\l: carne into n;51CT1ott. and ,"'cle o\'er
the eenturies, on the basil of ronislcllCC. It isn't any m;,,-
understanding of their historiel tlut leads nations newly freed hom
imperialruk to sed: a film look for countries
because in some deep sense they already ha'e COOlltriel: the link be-
t",n peopk land iI a c,ucioll fC;lture of national identity. TIle;1
leaders url<lelltalld, nl(lrCO\er, tlut because so many critical i5Sues (m-
duding issues of distributive iustitt. such as education, and
so on) can best he resol"ed within geoglaphical units, tile locus of polit-
ical life can llC'l:r be established elsewhere. "AutooorTlOUs corpora-
t;,;",s will al,"<l)"S be and probably pat:lsitic adjuocIJ, of
rial and to gi\'e Ill' thc st3te is to g;,e up any dJceti"e
self-determination, l1lat's why bmders. alld the movements at indi\'id
lUis and groups across borders, ale bitterly diJputed u soon a, imper;'l
tlIk receda and nations begin the ptlX'C3S at "liberation." AIld, once
ag:ain, to 1C\'erse this pl'OCl:$$ Of to repress its effech would ,equire mas-
si'l: coercion on global scale There i.s no easy way to avoid the country
(and the proliferation of countries) as we eorrently kn(IW it. Her>tt the
theory of juotice mllst allow lor the territorial state, specifying the rights
of its inhabitant.. Tl.'COgnil,ing the coIkcti'l: right of admi5Sion
refusal.
The argument cannot stop hele.IIOI\l:'l:r, for tile rontrol of territory
open' the stale to tile cbim of necessity. Territory is a good in
double sense. It is hing e.:r.rth alld water, mineral resources
44
Mcmbmhip
nd raou.ee 10< the detilute and the: hungry. And
it is protected li\i"l "ith bordm police, a reoufCC for tbe
pcnecutcd and the Ihlc:les.1. "Thtse two rt:IOllrcel are: and "c:
micht c:onduck d,fJc:m1tl) ..ilh rc:prd to lhe: kinds d dolim 11131 nn
mDon c:xh. Btll the: issuc: sUkc: 5hou1d firs! pul in gcnc:nl
tmns. Can I poIilinl community adudc: datilutc: and hu"i1Y.
l:\Ilcd Rat in word. nc:assitous---nxn and women $imply
bc:a1lK lhc:y an: fo,c:ignm1 An: c:itittns bound to tak in $Inncml
Lc:t \l$ imaUllt tlut the: ritizms no lornul obIiptions; thc:y
bound by OOIhinc more lhe: principle 01 aid. 'l'M
principle: mmt appIicd, oo..'t\"'tI, not to indi.idu31s dirtd!y bul to
lhe: c:itizc:m u a C"J'IP, for immi&f3lion iu nulla d poIitol du:ision.
Indi\iduals Irticipllc: in the: decision nukinc. iJ the: ttatc: is
it:: but lhc:ydc:rick not lor thtmtJc:ke bullor
And this bct lw 111012.1 impt;ations. II n:plxa immedixy "ith dis-
tance thc: pencml OPC:"k of time: tnc:<1Y with impc:noNl
bulQua;lt>eCO'u. Des.pile John Winthrop', dolim, mutual.id it: morc:
r:otrriYc: lor poIitic::ll c:ommunilia tlun it is fo< ind;\;duals btaute:
,,'ide: oanll: of bcnc:mlcnt xtioot is 0p<:I' to the community ",-\1
only nlilrliruUy ii' pracr>1 membc:n c:omidc:n:d as bod). or
e>TI1, ,,ith possible o:ttpIions, one by one or by family or dub
by dub. (But "ill, pc:rhapl, afFc:ct the children 0< gl1l11d
chiklren 0< of the prC'oCnt mc:mhc:ll--in ways not
e:ny to or 10 001. I'm oot sure: to what otenl COl,
sidcralions of this tort t::lln be used to Mrrtl'" lhe: rangc: of required ac-
tions.) Thac: aclions proNbly include: the admission of Jtr.Il>gcTI. for
admission to a rounlry does nol kinds of intimacy ooukl
hardly be in lhe CUl" of dubs familia, "light not admis
sion, lhen, be Itl<M'aIIy le<ut lor th". Slnl1iftl, ".1,0 113\1:
no other pbc:t to go?
such algl,untnl, tuming mulu.ll aid inlo a mon: stringent
<:h;o'lc on coonmlln;tin than it nn C'ft bo: on indivK!uals.
undc:rlia the: c:ommon dolilIl Ih3t enIusion rilhtl dc:pc:nd upan the tn
rito<ial ntc:nt and tbo: popubtion dc:mity 01 p1rlic:ubr countries. ThUl,
Sidpic:k wrote tll<lt he -nnnQl to 1 Rale poIscssinc brge
tracts d UIIOlX'Upic:d bnd richl 01 o:cluding alien cle-
ment,-It Pc:rhapf, in his \icw. the eilizc:m an nuke: aomc a:lu:tioll
ltranecn. but the:,. annot: rd\asc: mlirc:ly to take
$Iranccn in 10 Ionc as lheir mte hat (11=1 dell of) :I\'2ibblc lpaC'c:..
A mIlCh Mroncn might be oNdc from the: otbn side, 10 to
spe:ok, if _ comida the nc:cc:uitous s1nrcen not 31 ob;m, 01 hc:nc:b-
SPHERES OF JUSTICE
emt actioo but as desperate men and women, capable of aclingoo their
own behalf. In Uvilzthan, Hobbaargued that such people, if thcyean
not cam a living in their own cnuntries, h..''C a right to move into
"cnuntries not sufficiently inhabited where nevertheless they are not
to exterminate those they find there, but constrain them to inhabit
c10$0er together and not range a great deal of ground to snatch ...,hat
they find."11 Here the "Samaritans" are not themselves active but
acted upon and (as W'C sh..11 sec in a moment) charged only with nonre-
sistance.
"\W,i/e AUJlTalid" and tht C!4im of Necnsity
Thc Hobbesian argument is clearly a defense of European coIoniza
tion-and also of the subsequent "constraint" of nati"e huntcn and
ptherers. But it has a wider appliCltion. Sidgwick, writing in ,89"
probably had in mind the states the colonists had created: the United
States, where agitation for the exclusion of immigrants had been at
least a sporadic leature of political life aU through the nineteenth emtn
ry; and Australia, then iust beginning the great debate o'rer immigra
tioo that culminated in the "White Australia" policy. Years later, an
Awtrialian minister of immigration defended that policy in telms that
should by now be "'miliar: "We seek to create a homogcncoos nation.
Can an)"OIlC reasonably objo:ct to that? [s not this the e1cmcntary right
of every gm'Crnment, to decide the composition of the nation? It is
just the same prcrogati,'C as the head of a family exercises as to who
is to live in his OIO'n hoose."l6 But the Awtra1ian "family" held a v.lst
territory of which it occupied (and I shall a.s!ume, w"haut further fac-
tual rderma:, still occupies) only a small part. The right of white AU5-
milians to the great empty spaces of the subcontinent rested on noth-
ing mo.-c than the claim they had stal:cd, and enforCf:d against the
aboriginal population, before an)'Olle elsc:. That does not seem a right
that one would readily defend in the face of necessitous men and
women, clamoring 101 entry. II, dri''Cn by famine in the densely popu-
lated lands of Southeast Mia, thousands of people Wele to fight their
way into an Australia otherwise ebsed to them, I dooht that we would
want to charge the invad<:rs with aggression. Hobbes's charge might
make more sense: "Stting co.'cry man, 001 only by Right, but also by
n=ity of Nature, is supposed to endeavor all he Cln, to obtain that
which is nKCSsary lor his conservation; he that shall oppose hillUlelf
against it, for things .upcrAuous, is guilty of the war that thel'CUpon
is to follow."l7
,.
Mcmbc:nhip
But Hobbn', conttption 01 "thing! sUJlCIAuous" is otraordil\3rily
wick. He meant. superAuous to life itself. to the bare rluilementl 01
phj"lic::Jl su,,i\';;I1. The alguIDl'nt is more pbu.ible, I think, if we adopt
a lOOIe narww COflC'eption, waped 10 lhe needs of particubr histOl'ical
COfllmunities, We must considel ""'';;Iys of life" iusl as. in the case of
....e musl o)Aside, "life pbns." Now let US suppose that the
great majority ol Austrat..ns could maintain their presrnt "''ay ollife.
subject only to INlgirnll shifts, given a successful in\'asion of the lOr!
I have imagined. Some would be: ITlOlC drastically alfo:-cted.
lor they ba\-e come to "need" humheds Of C'\'en tOOu.;md, of empty
miles for the life they chosen. But ,\II'h need, cannot be: gi.-en
monl priority O'CT the claim, ol n.essitous strangeT'!o SpiICC' on Ihat
scale is a luxury, as lime on that ocale is a luou". in more COI,,-entional
Good Samar;lan arguments; md it is subic:ct to a kind of moral eTl
eroochment. ASluming, Ihen, thai lhere is superfluous Jand.
the cbim 01 ne<:essity would 10rC'e polilical community like tlUlI of
White Australi. to confront a radi",l choiC'e, lis membns could yield
land for the sake of homoceneity, or they could gi,-e up homOli:eneity
(ag.ee 10 lhe crealion of. mullirae..lsociety) for the $;Il:e of the land.
And those would be their only choices. White Australia could 1Ur\';,'e
only as lillie Auslr.I...
I have pullhe argument in these forcelultcrms in order 10 Suggesl
th.t lhe collecli\'C \'CTSioll 01 .id might lIuire limited and
complex redistribulion of membership and/or territOI}'. Farther th.n
this "'-e cannot go. We cannot describe the littleness oIlitlle Australia
"'i/hout attending 10 the concrete meaning of "Ihings SUperAllOUl."
T.., argue, for CIOmpie. thai Ii,'ing Sp;lce should be distribuled in Iual
amounls 10 C"ery inhabitant of the glob<' would be to allow 1m: indivi<\
nrsi<.>n of Ihe ,ight to a place in tI", world to ",'.-erride the colkdi\'C
version. 1ndeed, it ""ould deny Ihal n.lional dubs .nd families can C'\'CT
aC'quil'C a Iirm litle to. pilllicular piece of terrilory. A high birlhrate
in a neighboring land Vl'Quld i,nmC<!iatdy .nnul Ihe tille .nd require
tet,;tor;al redislributiol-..
n.esa"", difficully .rises ,,'ilh regard 10 ....ealth and resources. 'fh.e.t.
too. ",n be supnAlJOUl, f., beyond ....h.t the inh.bit."ts of a partial"'r
state lIuire for a decenl life .s they themscl,-e deline the mean
ing..,f a dettnt life). Are thoee inh.hil.nh morany bound to admil im
migrnnls flom poorer for as long .s SUperllllOUl [<"SOUrces
exist? 0. .re they bound eve-n Ionier Ihan that, beyond the limits of
mulual aid. until a policy of C>peflodmiaions C'e..... to attIXt and ben-e--
lit the poore:ll people ifl the world? Sidiwick seems to ha\'C opted for
47
SPHERES OF' JUSTICE
the of t"""" possibilitio; pfl)pOSftl a p.imiti.,., and p;lrochial
of Rawls', p.inciple immigration can be 'e$lricled
al .oon ;u to do to would materiollly .. , with the ef
Forts of go-.'nnm<'11t to maintain an .<kq..... td} high .tandard of
.mong the members of the community gene11l11y---epeciollly lhe
poorer d:ll:lCS."tl But the community might well decide to cut off im
mig.... tioo befo,e th.t, if it ,",'ere willing to expo.t (lOme of) its
supc,floous ,",'calth. Its members would lace a choice simib. 10 that
of the Allltr.diolm: tlley COIlld Ihare thei. wahh "ith nttnlitOUl
sl,.ngen outside thei. COIlntry or with nessitous .. imide thei.
COIlntry. But just bow much of their wa1th do they have to sha.e?
Once again, the.c must be lOme limit,llKMt (and probablyronsidc11lbly
short) of simple eq.....lity, else communal wealth would be subject to
indefinite drainage:, The \'Cry phrase "communal ,,'C.1th would lose
its maning if all ,esou.ca.nd all p.oduets gloNlly commoo. 0 .
r.lthe., thele ,",'Ould be O<lly one community, a wo.1d state, whosoe ,edis-
t.ibutive processes would tend O\"CT lime to annul the historical p;I.tieu
b.ityof the ""tional dubs and families.
If we stop short 01 simple equality, there witl continue to be many
communities, with diffe.e"t histories. '"'''")'5 of dill...tes, politic:ll
sllilelures,.nd ccoroomies. plattS in the ,",'O,1d will It ill be morc
desirable I.... n othelS, either to individual men and "'Omen "'ith pa.tie-
ub, lastes and aspi.ations, or more gm=\Iy. Some place. will still be
uncomfoft.ble fOf.t least lOme of in....bitants. Hence immigra
tOt will'cmain an iss,.., afte. the ebims of dimibuti,'C ju.li""
.... ,'C been met OIl a global K:aJe-....uming, still. t.... t global
is and ought to be pluralist in form and t....t the claims a..., hed by
some version of collective 'llulual aid. The diffe'ell! commuuitieo will
still to make i1dmissioos dccisioos and will still ha\'C a light to
make them. If we cannot &W.anlee the lull extent of lhe terrilorial
or hase on ,,'hich a group of peopk build a common life, we
can still ",y tht the COmmoo lile, al least, is thei. own and thaI their
com.ades and aSlOciatcs a.e their3 10 .ecognize Of cooosc
Refuseu
There is. IKlYoe'.-er. one group of needy out$ider3 whose cbims cannot
be mel by yielding lerritory or exporting "'ea1th; IIJ.cy can be md only
by takil\i people in. This is the g.oup of .efugces wl\o$c need i. I",
membership itself. a non"'Cl<portab1c good. The liberty Ihat makes "".-
,8
Membership
tain countri", pmsible homes for n,.,n and women wh<ne politics or
religion isn'l tolerated they li"e is abo rtor1-'Cxporlable: at Ienl
we hale foorxl no way of cxporting it Thne goods can be- shncd only
""thin the protecled space of a particular stale, AI the same lime.:>d
mitling rcfugca doesn't r>CttSSlIril)' the amount of libc,ty lhe
"""mbers enjoy "';Ihin space. The I,ctim, of political or .eligious
pe,scculilm, then. the most forceful claim foI' If)'ou
don't me in, Ihe)' Ay, I I>C killed. perseculed, 0p-
pressed by lhe mien of my own counlry. can we reply?
TOI',ud some rcfugca, "'C wcll ha"e of the S:IITle
JOII lhat ...-e hOIl'c loward fellow This is oIwiously thc
.....ith rc&1.d to group of people wborn ""e helped lurn inlo
refugees_ The ;njmy "-C hOI"e done them fol- an bct"''CC'1l
us: Ihus refugca had, in monl ],ren effccti'-cly
Americanized C\'Ctl before Ih-cy alti,-ed on these shor'" But "'e con
also I>C bound 10 help men "",men pc,scculcd or opp.essed by
oorn<:ooe else-if It.ey uc persecuted or oppressed It.ey arc like
lIS_ ldcolocical .....ell as ethnic allinity can gcnc-ratc bonds aCfOU politi.
callincs. fOl' eumple, when "'-C to embody cerlain
p.inciplC3 ;n our C(/mmunallife and men "''OlTlCTl lObe
whcre 10 deferxl those principles. Ina tibcral statc, of this bl
Ie' SOfI may be highly and still morally coc-rci,-e, Nine--
lcenlh<enlmy politicalrefugccs in England ,"'Cfe gcncrally not English
liberals. They ",-cre heretics and opposilionists Q/'.1I !Orl', at "'",r ",Ih
Ih-c of Cenlnl and Easlern Europe. [t "''as chielly
of lheir cncmies thai Ihe English rC!llnizcd in thCTll a kind of kin.
Or. oor15idcr the thou..nds Q/' n,.,n ar><! women who fled Hungary aftc.
the failed uwIulion of '9s6. It is hard 10 den)' Ihcm a similar rcoogni
lion, gi'-en Ihe ,Iruclure of the Cold \\lar, Ihe characler of \VClllern
propaganda. lhe sympalhy expressed IOlilh East European "free-
dom 111l:SC ,cfugccs prob:lbly h:>d to be in by
like Britain and Ihe United The repression 0/ poIitic<T1 com
rades, like the J'Cuecution of Cf).rcligionisls. sn1J to generate an obli
gation to help1 Iea'tlo p<O"io:\c 8 u:fuge fOl' the most exposed aoo
endangered people, Perhaps C"CfY "i<:Iim of authorilariani5rn and big-
otry i, the moral cormadc 0/ liberal citi1,Cn: i, an algurncnl [
"oak! like to Bul "wId p,css 100 h.rd, aoo il i5
in any casoe unnCttU;lry. So long the number of is: sm.ll. mu-
lual aid will generate similar practical resU1t5; and when the numDcr
inCre.3IC5, and we are forced 10 choose among Ihe victims, ""I' wilt look.
rightfully. for somc 11I0,e di,ect coolltttion with OUr own way 0/ life.
49
SPHERES OF' JUSTICE
If, on the other hnK!. thele i. no ro,,,,c:clioo at all wilh p,articula. "ic-
tims, antipathy r:athe. than affinity, C<ln't k a .rquiTement 10
dlOO:!<' tl"'m O'o"n otk. prople o:<JuaUy in nM B.itain and tho: United
Statu cook! ha.dly ha"e been requiled, lor 10 offer Iduge
to Stalini.ts /lc:cing Hungary in '9,6. the rc:volution t.iumphed.
Ooce again, communities mll5t ha"e ktunda.ies; aoo hoY....e. thoe
are delelmined ",th legald to territory and laou.Co:J, they depend with
rega.d to population on a sense of .elatedness arK! mUlu:llity Rdugea
must appeal to that sense. 0"", wilha Ihem 1l1ttS; oot in p.l.ticula.
cases, with ,de.ence to a p,alticula. state, they may ",ell ha\"o: 110 right
to be successful.
Sin ideological (far ,no.e than ethnic) affinity;" a matter of mutual
rWJllnitioll, thele iJ a lot of room kre for political choice-an<l thus,
for exdll5ion as ",ell as admission, He.1CC it might k 53id that 01)' argu
ment doesn'l .exh to tho: despe.ation of tho: ,clug.-o:. Nor does it lug'
gcst any w:ly of dealing with the ,"ast numbers of rdugees genclaled
by t"'entieth-a:ntury politics. On the olle hand, ...el)"One must ha"e
a pbco: to he, and a plact whefl' a .asonably 5C'CIJ.e life is possible.
On theothcl hand, this is not a .ight that em be enlorool against p,al'
ticula. hoi! Slales. (Tho: right can't be enfo:l In pr:actil't unlilthero:
is an inlernational aulho.ity cap.able of enfoo-cing it; md "'e,e there
such alT autllO.ity, it would certainly do belte. to ;llle"'erlC against tho:
states whO:lC brutal policies had dri"en their own citizens into exile,
alld II) enable Ih..m all to go home.) n.e c",dty eX Ihis dilemma ;"
mitigated to !Orne <kgl.... by the principle of asylum, Any who
has actually made his <"SCat><", "'00;" not Sl:ding hut has f(lUnd at least
a temporary ,,:fugo:, e:ln claim asylUm-<l today, Fo.
example. in Brit;"h law; and then he canr>Ol be depo.ted II) IOllg OIl the
only av:llilable coont.y 10 which ho: might be sellt "is one 10 which he
i. ullwilling to go owing to fear of king for
.casomof r.>co:, religion, nationalily . or political opinion. "19 Though
he is a .tr:ange ."d newly come. tho: .ule 'g>inst e.pulsion appHo:s to
him as il he abeady made a life whe.e is: kn- the.e is no oIhCl
place: whe'e he C<ln make a life
But this p.inciple w:n designed for tl", Io3ke of consid.
5
,.

One by <me. lIU111beQ' .10 smalltllat th..,. cannot
any impact upon ell<Irxler of tk political commu
nity. What hoIppcn. when the numbers arc r>otsman? COUlidc. the
calC' of the millions of RUloli:m. COIplurcd ot ensL...ed by the Nni. in
the Second Wotld Wn and overrun by .... lIied armies in the final offen
sivo of the "",r, ....l1lhesc people rdurncd, nl<lny oft""m fofeibly
returned, to the So\iict Union, w"ere they .. immediately loot ot
5l.'nl on to die in labor camps.I] Those of them who foraaw I""ir ble
pleaded for in the We5l. but fof e.pediential reasons (Jl<Iving
10 do with ""3r and diplomacy. nol with n:Itiooalily and the problems
of assimilalion). asylum ..'as denied Ihem. Surely. lhey should not
been fo,cibly rclumed--r>OI once it was kOO\\'n tholt they would be
murdered; and that means that Ihe Western allies should been
ready to IlIke lhem in, negotiating among thcmlC'lvcs, [suPI'O"', about
app<opnale numbers. 1l>Cre WlIS rIO other at the atreme, Ihe
claim of asylum is "irtually undeniable. I alolume that there a,e ill bel
limits on OUr colleeli"e liability. bl.ll J oon'l know how 10 specify them.
This last aample .uggesls thai Ihe 0101111 conduct of libnalmd hl>-
mane statcs COIn be dctermir>e<l by the immoral conduct of aulhorita'
ian and bmlalstalcs. But if that is t'ue, "'hy stop with asylum? Why
be corlccrned ooly with men and "'omen actually on 01lT twit",y who
uk 10 remain, and IlOl ,,'ith men and "'OffWm opprcssed in their O'Io'n
counlries who a.k to come in' Why mark off lucky Of the ag,g'cs-
si,c, "'00 have somehow managed 10 make theil way aerOlll ou. borders.
from all the oIhen? Oncc again, I don't ha"e an adequate allS..-er to
these questiom. We =m bound to grant aSllum fof Iwo reallOlU: be
caUlC' its denial would require us to UlC' fOfcc against helpless and des-
I"C"'te people, alld bccaulC' the numbelS likely to be irl\'ohcd, except
ill unusual cases. arc small and the people easily absorbed (so "C "'Quid
be using force fOf "things supcrOuous"). But if we offered a refuge 10
evel)'Onoc in Ihe world who could plausibly say that he nceded it, "c
might be call "Ci"e me your huddled rna"""
10 free' is generous and noble; actually to take in large
numbe.s of 'elug= is often morally neccss.llY; but the: light 10 fcshain
/low remain. a fealure of The prinei
pie of mulual aid can ooly modify and r>oI tr.msform admissionl policies
rooted in a particular romrnunity'sunde:utallding of it.IClf.
5'
SPHERES OF JUSTICE
Alienage and Naturalization
The members of political communily have collective riiht to
the resident popuLJtion-a right $ubj.ect to the double control
I dcsefik,ltlle mcaninE of membership to CUrlcnt memo
bers lhe principle of mut""l Ci'-en these two, pilrliC'llLJr COUn
tries pilrticubr timn likely to include theiT residents men
and women ",'hoare in dilferent ways alien, These propk rruly be mem-
bers in their tum of minority Of groups, or they may be rdugets
01 immigranll newly Let uS aSSume lhey rightfully
where they um they cbim citiIlShip and political rights within
the community whefc they now Jive? Does citizenship go with resi
de-r>ttl In facI, there is KCOOd admissions plOC'CSS, caBal "naturaliza-
tion:' the critC'Tia to this serornl procns must .till be
determined. I should strC'$ltru.t what is al here i. citizen.hip and
not (except in the legal soeJlSC oflhe term) nationality. The national
club Of family is commullity diffe.ent lrom the .tate, for reasons [
h.we already sketched Hene<: it;s possible, say, (Of an AlKerian immi
grant to to krorne a F"rmch citizen (a French "nalional") with-
out becoming Frenchman. Bul if he is not a F'renchrruln, but only
resident in France, has he right to French citiu;tlship?
OrlC' might insist, as I shallultimalely do, the s;lme lland,uds
apply to to immigralion, that C\'el)' immigrant and
C'VC'l)' resident is a citi1J:n, inS!, a potential citizen, Thai
is ,",'hy terrilOfial admission is 50 soerious a maUer. The members must
be to accept, as thciT Own equals in a wmld of Iha.cd obliga-
tious, the nlCn and women they admit, the immigrants must be pIe
pared 10 share the obligatiolu. But thinlP C,Ill be dilfe.enlly arranged.
Often the .tale controls "rielly, immigration only loose
Iy. Immigrallts becomc resident and. exce-pt by special displ'nsa
lion. nothing more. Why are they admiltro? To free the citizens from
unpleasant work. Then the slate is like a family wilb Jivc-in
soen"nts.
Thai is not aUradi,.., image, lor with li,..,in 5oCT\':Inls
is-ifle\itably. Ilhink-a little tyranny. principles lhat rule in the
household aTe those 01 kinship and kJo,..,. n...". edahlish the unde.lying
patlCrll of mutuality and obligation, of and obedience The
soer'':Ints ru.,,,, 110 proper place in Ihat pattan. butlhey ha'e to be assim
ilated 10 it. Thus, in I"" prc-mOOcrll literature on family life, scrvants
"

are wmmonly <kscribro as {hildren of a special sort- {hild,tn, bcaUlC
they are 10 command; of a special SOI't. httaulC they are not
alkM-ed to gl'QW up. Parental authority is ailCrted outside its ,pltt,e,
over otdull and women who a'c not, and nil !>C'-er be, fun memo
hers of the family_ Whcn thi, ailCrtion is no long... possibk. when se,-
.... llis corne to be seen as hired ...ml:crs. the g,eat household begins its
slow decline_ 1be p;lllerll of li.-ingin is gr.JdlJ;llly rt\'CTsW; enh"hi!e
lCT\':Inh sed houlCholds of thei. own,
nle AlhenulIT Mel;er
It is not possibk to a ,imibll histol'}' at the Ia.... of the political
community. Li,'ein lCIVanls ha"e not disappeared from the modcm
"llI"ld_ As "guest ""rken" they pbly an important role in its 1lI0st ad
vanced economies. But be/ore OOllsidering the status of workers,
I want to tum to all older eumple and consider the status of resident
aliens (Illches) in ancient Athens. The Athenian polis "'as allllostiiter
ally a family with Ii,-e-ill lCf\'anls. Citizenship was an inberitllnce p.a.ssed
on from p"rents to children (and only p.a.ssed on if both p.a.rcnts "'e.e
citizens: after <ISO Be., Athens Ii,'ed by tlte law of douhle endogamy).
Hence a grrat dral of the city's "",I: "':IS dOlle by residents who could
not hope to become citizen. Somc of Ihese people ... e,e sla,-ts; bul
I shan not focus 011 them. since the injustice of slavery is not disputed
these days, at but not openly_ 1bc tase of Ihe is harder and
more interesting.
"We throw open oor cily to the world," laid Pericles in his Fulle",l
Oration, "and 1lC'"t1 exdude foreigners from any opportunity." So the
mtlics came willingly to Athens, d",WTl by economic opportunity. per-
haps abo by the city', "ai, of h=lom" Most of them 11t\"CT rQ:lC aho,"t
the ",nk of laborer or "me<:hallic," but some prospered: iu fourth
ttntury Mhens, mtlics were represented among the "'ra1thiesl mel-
ehants_ Athenian heedom, hov."t\"CT, tlK')' .hared only in ill negative
form. TItough they were ItqU;,ed to join in the defense of tlte city,
they had flO poIiticalli,ghh .t .n; 001 did their <brcr>dalll._ 1'\or did
they share in the most h..ic 01 w<,]fare rights: "Foreigners "'ere u
eluded hom the distribution of rorn."u As USlJ;l1. exelll5ioos both
upressed and enfOfced the low5tandingof the in Athenian lOCi-
ety, In the sur.-i,'ing lite",ture. nltlics aTe commoo1y tlrated with ron
tempt-though a few favorable refelCllces in the plays of Alistopha,1CS
suggest th<, <'xistc,1CC of alternati'-e ,.;c,.,.n
Arillotk, though himlt1f a melic, providel the elm": deknlC 01 c,
53
SPHERES OF' JUSTICE
elusion, rQponding to critics who that
suffieient basil for political mcmbnJhip "A
<.b:s not boolC such,'" hc wrotc, "melely by a
place." Labor, co.'en necessary boo., is no better ., criterion: "yoll
must not polOit as eitiuns [hurrum beings) witt.o..lt whom you
could oot ha'l: eity."H Citiunship It:quiR'''
"-:Is not a>-:libble to C'l:f)'OllC. I doubt tMt Aristotle .eall) bcliC'"I
this e.a:lleoce to be hansmilled by birth, Fo. him, the of
rnemben: and IKln-membea as he.editary castcs wal probably a matle.
of co,wenieoce. Somcolle had to do the Mrd wo,lof the city. and it
was best if the ......".ke.. we.e clearly marked out ar>d taughtthei. p\;aee
from birth, LaIxK itself, the e'l:ryday necessity of economic life, put
the of citizenship hcyood their re;tCh the hand of
eitizells was an of the leisured (in fact, it indrxled "mC'Chan-
ics just as the mc1ic:s indrxled men of leisure); and its n>embers "'ere
aristoc.ats bccallX they we.e leisuled, not because of birth and blood
or any inner gift. Politics tool most of their ti ...... though A.istotle
would not ha"e $aid that they rllled O\l:r .\;a,'cs alieni. Rather. they
tool<. turns ruling one another. The othen "t:.e simply tm-i. possi>t: sub-
jec,t., tm- "material condition" of their e.cellmce, with whom they
IKl political rebtiom at all,
In Aristotle's viewIa>,cs and aliellS hed ill the ,calm of necessity;
their fate was determined by tm- cooditiom of OIlomie life. Citirens.
by contrast, Ii"ed in tm- realm of choice; thei. fale wal dclelmillcd ill
the political alena by thei. own collecti>'e decilions. But the distirlCtioll
is False one In fact, eiti'.em made alllQft. of decisionl tMt ,,'ere
thoritative lor the s1a,cs and aliens in their bavine
to do with war, public the impfO't:lllCnt of trade, the di.
tribution of ro'll. and 110 OIl. Economic conditions "'ere subject to polit
ical conhol, though the extenl of tMI control was al,,'3)'s f.ight.... ingly
limited. Hena: sla,"CS and aliens were indeed ruled; their li,'o were
politically as well at ecooomically. Thc,', too, Itood within the
arCfl,:l, simply by of being inhabitanh of the protectN space of
the citystate; but they had nO >vice there, They could not hold publk
office (If attend the assembly (If scn'e 011 a jury; they nO officers
Of political OI'gani1.atious of their own were neVel consulted about
imperldinl decisions. If "'e take Ihem to be, despite Aristotle, men and
WOOlen ,,"poble of rational deliberation, then we h.."e to say tlrat they
"'ere the SUbjectl 01 a band of eilir.cn-Iyrants, gm"ern-cd without COn-
scnl. Indeed, thit seems to """"e bn:n implicit ,'icw of other
C,eek writCT:i, Thus lsocratcs's elitique of oligarch)': when IOlile citi-
54
Memlx:rship
ttlIl monopolize political P'O"l:1, Ihe)' "tyranll" turn Illeir
fdlo<.-'S into If lrue, Ihen the actual metics mUll .1-
"';I)'S ha,"<' lil'ed with t}r.rmy.
But lS(J(Crates "'QUId not that Jast point; nor
record of melies woo il. "';IS, much <:kbaled
in an6ent Alkenl, but "no lurvi,"CS of any conlroversy the
mttoi.i4. Some of the $Of'hists may had theil doubts,
ideology thai distinguished meties from cilizens 5ttm$ 10 h.. bn
widely amoug and citizens alike: T1J.e of
birth and blood 0\"1 political membmhip ....al part of common
ur>derllanding of the age. All1cnian metics ..."Ie IhemlC'h-es heleditary
citizens of the citin: from whieh lhey Iud rome; and lhough Ihisslatus
ofteled them no plactical protection, it helped, perhaps, to hal<lr>tt
lheir 1oY.' standing in the cily wher<: they lived and worked. They. 100,
if they Glec:ks, "l:1e of citizen blood: and lelation with
could pbusibl)' be des<:libed (as il was described by Lycias,
metie, and IIlo(loI'<: rody tlun Aristotle 10 acknowledge his sta-
tus) in contractual term" good beh..1Dr in exchange for fail Ireal-
ment-
l
'
This "iew hardly applies, the children of the Iirst metic
genel1llion; no colltractualill Cam justify the creation of a
C<lste of resident alie111. The only iustilication of the mttoil!ja lies in
lhe conC'C'ption of eitiunship u lhat the Athenians literally
could not diltribute gi,'en wbat Ihey thought il wal. All they could ofter
to aliens "';IS fai, healment, alld thai wal allihe aliens could think to
ask of them. TheTe il consideTab1e e\'ider>tt f01 Ihil \/iew, bul Ihere
is against it, 100. Indi\/idual meliCl ""eTC Ottasionally enll1ln-
chised, lhough perhapll aMruptly. Metin pla)'eeI a part in lhe restora-
tion of in 40J B.C the government of the Thilty Ty
rants; and they despite strong opposition,
,,'ilh a grant of ,iti:r.eTlIhipU Aristotle it an argumenl .gaiml
bTl" eitiel lhat "'esi<!ent readily ."ume a in
of po1ilicalligbls"_'hich suggesls Ihat "'as no conceptual har-
lief 10 of citizenlhip.' In any calC', lhe,e iI CCltainly no
soch harrier ill democratic communilies, and it is timc
now to oonsi<lcr 0111 own meties. question that ,pp;lrrntly g..
C,CC'ks no lrouble il both practically alld theoretically troubling
today. Can llatel run rrormmies with Ii,,,-ill KmTnts, gual wOlk
en, ndt><kd /rom company of ,ili..,ns?
55
SPHERES OF' JUSTICE
Cuelt \VOl.""
I will not att"mpt lull descriptioo of the: ".periene<: of ront"mplJ'-
rary guest "''(Irk"... La..... and practicer difln hom ont European coun
try to another and are constantly d .. nging; the rituation ;s compln
and unstable. All that is nt'CCSIary here is a sche:matic sketch (ba...-<I
chieAyon the legalsitualion in th" early 1970$) dcrigned to highlight
those features oflhe experience that are m()fally polilillly contro-
vcrsiaL
Comider, then, a country likc SwitlClbnd or S...-eden or West
many. a capitalist democracy and ...dfa't stat", ...ith strong trade
unions and a fairly aflllll'Tlt popubtion. The manasers of th" anomy
find it increa.ingly difficult to attract workers to set of jobs that 1..,'e
come to he rqarded .. exhausting, dangerous, and degrading. But
these jobs art al!lO socioilly necnsary; someone must be found to do
them Domestically, thele arc onl) t....o alternativcs, neither ofthc:m
palatable. The comt... intl imposed ()fl the: labor market by the unions
and the wdfarc stale might be broken, and thc:n the most 'ulnerable
legment of the k>cal working class dri"en to aro:pt jobs hitherto
thought unde.irable. But this would require a difficult and dangerous
political camp;rign Or, the wages and ....orking conditions of the unde-
lirable jobs might be dramatically implO\'ed !IO aI to attract wo.kCII
,",'en wilhin th" conlt...ints rithe local markel. BUI this wwld ",i,.,
coot. Ihroughout Ihe anomy and, wbat is p.obably more importanl,
challenge the Cli.ting socioll hier."chy. Rather Ihan aOOpt cilher 01
th= d",stic measures, the economic nlllnase.., with the help 01 thei'
p't:rnmtnt, shift the jobs from the domestic to thc internationallaixH
market, making them .... ilable to ...urktrs in JlOO<er counhies who find
lhem less urn!a:i",b1c. pnnment opens =ruitifli OfliCCl in a
nUlllber of CCOllomically backward countlies md draws up regulatioru
10 go'o'erll Ihe admission oIguesl worke".
It is crueioilirurt t!J<o, worke.....00 arc admitted soould be "guestJ,"
not immigrants JCCkinga new home and a r>cW citizcruhip. For if the
workcn came as future citizens, Ihey ,",'Quid join the dome'llic labor
force, teUlp<)t:lrily occupying il. Jo...er ranks, but ber>efiting from its
unions and ...e]fare PlOlll1lm. and in time rep.oooong the original di
lemma they ad'..nced, they wOIJId come into di,,:cl com
petition "'ith local WOI"kers, IOfIle of whorn they would ouldo Hence
the regulalions that p'...n thciT admiss;"" art dcligned to bar them
from the protection of citizenship. They are bfOught in for a fixed tIme
,
Mem\>r;nhip
period, 011 conlr3ct to 3 ernp1o)'CT; if they lose their jobs, thry
to leave; they h.1\'e to in 3"y ase when their visal eopi,e.
3re eitlIC' plel'ented or disrour3ged from bringing dependents
310ng with them, 3nd they 3re housed in b;Trr3Cb, SC(:IQ3ted by seo,
00 tl>c outskirtl of the cities ....hele they wo<k. Mostly 3re }'OIWg
wen 0< ....omen in their 01 thirties; finished with edUClltioll,
not j'el infirm, they 3re 3 minor drllin on local we1f3le SCTI'icc:l: (onem
insur.lI1ce is not a''1Iilable to them sir>ec they arc not permit
ted to be io tl>c ("O.mlries to ,,'hich they ha\'e comel Nc;
the. citizeos rIOr potenti:ll citizens, they h.1\'e 110 poIitic:lllights. The
ei\'illibertics 01 speech, assembly, association-otheTW;sc Itrongly de-
fcodcd----llrc commonly denied to them, sometimes Clplicitly by state
officu.ls, sometimes impl;';itly by the threat 01 dismissal alld deporta
tion
CradllOllly. as it becomes dear that fOl'eign worken arc a kmgtCTrn
requilemcnt of the local ecorlQll1)', these cor>ditiom 3re sorne....h.1t miti-
gated. FOl' ce.uin jobs. workers a'e gi,'cnlooger visas, allowed to bring
in theil families, and admitted to man)' oIthc bendilS Qf the ,,'elfare
state. But their position remains pr-arious. ResidellCC is tied to em
plorment, and the authorities m3ke it a rule tbat any guest "'Orkr who
cannot support himself and his family without repeated recourse to
state ,,'clfare pTOflrams. can be dcpofted. In time of rc<:cssion, many
of the llllClts are forced to leave. In good times, lJoo,o,'C'e., the numbe
....ho choose to come, and who find wars to ,main, is high; IOOll some
10 percent to I) percent of the ioowlriallabor fOlCC il m3de up of
forfignen. Flightened by this influx, ''1Irious cities and towns establish
residence quotas for gllCl't ....orkelS (defending their neighborhoods
against an open state). Bound to theil jobs, the guests are in any ease
narrtM]y ,estricted in choosing a plaa: to lile.
Thei. CJ<istencc il h3nh and their wag'" low by Europran sundards,
kss so by their own Itandards. What is mOlt difli<:ult is thei. homeless-
ness: they 11'01"1: 10"8 and hard in a foreign country whcle they are nol
mcooraged to scllle down, where they are alW:l)"l strangers, For those
,,'O[l:els who come alooe, life in the great European cities il lil:e a
scll-impos.ed prison term. They are dcpr;,'ed of nOfmal social, seoual,
and cultural acti,'itics (01 political acli"ity, too, ;lthat;1 possible in their
home country) for a fioed pe.iod of time. During that time, they
nartOl"Iy, laving mone)' and ICTIding il home. MO<ley isthc only rriurn
that the holt countries mal:e to their guests; and though much of it
is nported ,ather than .pcnt locally, the worl:e.. arc still I'ery (heaply
had The cosh of laising and educating them ",hele they 'NOrl:, aoo
51
SPHERES OF JUSTICE
of payinlO them the domestic bbo< ",.,ke! ''''1:uire\:, would be
much hilOllef trn.n the remilloo to their home counl,ieo. So
the relation 04 lOucsts hosts JCCms to be ha,p;n alOuoo: lor
the 01 the wOl'kiulO days and ye:m is tempo,ary, and the
money sent home counts thete;n a w:oy it rould ,leW, counl in a Euro-
pean city.
But what arc we to make of the host country as political rommuni
Iy! DefcndctJ oIlhe 101IQt-worke. srstem eMi"l thai the rount.) is 110"'
neighborhood CWIlomially, but politically still a dub Or a family.
As a place to he. it is open to anyone "'ho can "o,k; a fOl\lm
Or al$tmbly, a nation or a people, it is eloKd except to thosc who
mtl.'I tbe rcquirenloCTlts sct by the PICJC:flt n>embcn. TI>e S)stem is
pelft synthesis of bbor mobility patriotic rolioiTrity But Ihis
aC(VIUlt .\On>ehow mis:ses is going 01' 111<:" state-
asneighborhood, an "indifferent" g<>"etned only by the
1aW$ of the markel, aoo the with authority rela
tions police, do not simply oocxist, like two distinct momenl5 in
historical Of aNt ...ct time. The market for gucst ".,rken, while !Tcc:
from the particuhu political ronst ints 01 the domestic labor market.
i' not "ee from an political consl int. State pow(", a crucial role
in its creation and then in the enforcement 04 its mks. Witho"t tbe
denial 01 political fights and civil liberties and the cv("'p!"C$CIlt threat
of deporlation. tbe ,yslCTTl would not work. Ueoce glJC5t ,,"Otken can't
be described merely in tetms of their mobilily, a, men and women free
10 rvme go. While they a.e gucst" they .re alro subjecl', They
arc ruled, like the Atheni.n meties, by a hind of citizen-Iyranh.
But don't they agrl"C to be ruled? Isn't the rontr.etualist .rgument
effecli,.., he.e, ,,';Ih men and "Omen ,",'ho a.ctual1y rome ilJ on <Vllt.:>els
only lor 10 many month. or they ool1\e kno...
ing tollghl)- what to expect, and they oIIen e<,>me back kr.owmg eGetly
to expect. Bul this kind 01 consent. given a single moment in
lime, ...hilt it is suflicicnl to market tra"s.actions. il not mffi
eientlor democratic polities. Political po...("r is precisel)' tbe ability 10
m3ke decisions O\'el periods of time, to Ihe rules, to rope with
emergencies; il can'l be exercised democrati""lly ,,';Ihoul tIl<" ongoing
ron",nt of its subjects_ And its subjcocu iocludc C\-'e'y and woman
...1>0 hcs ...ithin the territory O'.'e. "'hieh Ihose dceisions enforced
The whok point 01 r:al1ing iUest ""Ofkels "g\lests:' how"C\"CT. II to sug
geot they don't (really) Ii,.., ..here they wo.k l"ol1gh they arc
indenlured servants, lhey arc not in ,,"el indentu=!. They
can quit their iobs, buy train or tickets, go home; lhey are
58

dsewhc.e, If they OOIDe ,-olulltarity, to "",k aud oot 10 settk,
and if they can ka,.., whcnC"e. they wanl, why should they be gmnted
political rights while lhey stay! Ongoing oomenl, il might be argued,
is '<'Quorcd only f.om p"rmancnt reside"ls. Apde from the eJplicii pfO-
"'sions of thei. rontrocts, gllcsl w.,..ker> ha,.., 00 mOre righlS than lour
ills hne.
III the usll.;ll of Ihe word, ho....C\..,r, guesl worken are not
"g..ests," and they ctrt1linly a.e not toorisls. 1beJ.' are worke.s, abm'c
all; and they rome (and generally stay for as long as they a.e al\o><...... )
because they "'-"Cd the "urk, not because they aped to enjoy lbe visit
They arc 1101 on ,,,,,,,ion; the,' do not spend Iheil days as they pkase.
Statc officials are not polile and hclpful, gi"ing directions 10 thc muse
urns, enforcing the traffic arK! currency la".,. These gucsts eljlelicntt
the state as a p"""35ive .nd frightening p""..,r th.1 shapes lheir li,'cs
.nd regulales Ihcir C"cry ItlO\'e-alid neve...u fm lheir opinion, I)e..
parture is only a formal option; deport.tion, a continllOUs pT:olcti",1
threat. As glOUp, the)' constitute. disenfrallchise<! class. They e
I)'pically an exploited Of oppressed class as ...cll,.nd IIrq- exploited
or .1 least in part becausc they are di$C1lfr.nchised, irlC3pahle
of mg,"i1.lng effccti'l:1y fm sc:1f.Jcfense. Their m.tefial eundiliorl is
unlikely to he impn)\'ed except by .lte.ing their political status. Indeed,
Ihc purJ>(I$C of their sl.tus is 10 prC"enl them lrom implO\';ng Iheir
oondition; for il they could do Ih.t, they wouk! soon be like domestic
WOl'kct1, un",lling 10 t.ke on hard .nd degrading ,....,,1 or low
mles of p.a.y.
And )'ri Ihe company of eiti1.em from which Ihey are excluded is
not all endogamous COf1lpan)' Compared with Athens, C"ery European
country is ndicall)' heterogeneous ;n ehancter, .nd Ihey .11 ha"e natu-
ralization procedurcs III CIlC:iI wnrkm, then, are excluded from
the company of IIlCIl 3Ild WOOlen th.t indudes other J>OOflle e.uctly
like themsel\'cs, TIley .re locked into.n inferior position that is .Iso
an .n""..lous position; Ihey are "uteash in a socicly th.t lou no cutc
norms, mdics in a society where melicsl13'''' no oomprehensible, pro-
Ited, .nd dignified place 1'1131 is why thc gm'ernment of g\JCSI "'wk.
cIS IooU ''''ry moch like t)To1nny: il is thc exercise of J'O"-e. oobidc ils
sphere,o\'er men md "umcn who resemble cilizens in e.'cry respect
th.t counls in Ihe hosl country, but .re nC"crthc1css h,med from cit;.
1.t:nship.
The rde\'ant prrnciplc here is not mutll.;l] aid bUI political justice.
TIle: guesb don't nd cilirenship--.;ll Icast not in the same $C1lse in
"'hieh lhey mighl he said 10 need theil jobs. Nor are they injured, help-
59
SPHERES OF JUSTICE
less, ootitute; they md arning mOlley, Nor they
e-,.l"n liguQtively, by the side of the road; they Jre living
the 11ler do wcially necessllry wOfk, they ..e
deeply l"nmeshed in the \egal S)1tem of the country to which they hl...e
in economy md LIllo', they ought to he Jbk to regJrd
themsel,'es JS potl"ntiJl or future participants in politics JS ,.,cn. And
they must he I'QiseSSed of those NSic civil liherties whose i.
50 much p'ep;llation for .uting JmI offitt holding. They rnust he set
on the road to citizenship. 11ler mJy dKlOle not to become citiullI,
to retmn home or sby On JS resident Jliens Io.hny-pc.ruaps
mOlit--wiU choose to oetUTIl hcause of their emotion.:ll ties to t1>eir
nJlional fJmily ami theil n.3ti.-e laml, But unless they tm-t choiec:,
theil othC'l choitts cannot he 10 many .igll! of their Jequies-
cenec: to the OIlOmy Jnd law of the count.ies whl'Te they work.. And
if they do that choice, the local cooroomy and LIllo' likdy to
look diffl'1ent, a IiTIIlC'llerognilion olthc guesU' ci,il liberties some
enruanec:ment of their opportunities fa, ooIkrti,"C would he
difficult to onec: they ""ere seen as potential citizens.
I add that JOmclhing of the s'l1ne IOrt might he obtained in
......y. The hOlt countries mi&ht to negotiate foo"1lI1
treJties with the home eountries, setting out in form J
list of "guest rights"-the l;Ime ri"hts, roughly, that the wollers might
win to. thernsch'Ol as union members and politic:llacti.'isU. The tralr
eould include J plO,Uo stipulating its periodic renegotiation, 50 that
the liJt of rights could he ..dapted to chaniing sociJl and economic
ronditkms TIten, even when th..." we.e oot Hving at home, the original
citizenship of the guest.! would "'OIl; for them (as it nl:\'el w"OI'ked for
the mdjc,); Jnd th<:y ld, in some sense, be represented
in 001 decision making. In one <1)' Of Jnoth"" they ought to be Jble
to enieJr the protection of citiUlUhip or potentiJI citizenship,
LI'3.\"ing Jside such intematiooJlatnll11gements, the pTinciple of polit
ical justice i. this lIut the proec:.sa of selF-determill3tion through
which democralic oIale shJpl'S iu must be open, and
<"quJlly open, to all those men and women who he within its terTitory.
\O{()rk in the local OIlOmy, md Jle subject to Iocilllaw. HenC\', II"OOd
Jdmi..io". (...lu",liZOltion) depend on admissions (immigration)
alld sub;ect only 10 rlJin constraint! of time md quaHfi,eatioo,
'I' .... ... _ du' ,ho. "'-' oIouoilllr >wIr "'".........
nM:al ""'-t. ......... WOO"" I >n<k ,10< pooII. r h r""","J<"", "-
... <bcrib< rll< """""" -JI"1I "' ....., '""" '""". /k,t ,t.. "'......J<..,.
io m........... ..- d.... __"'" ,!>ty.J< .bIt.o"'" '-"
rt.. _,... ..- 'htir hom< >t>I" ....,. """ nml" Thq'...;o,-. lond <J ..." ..."'".........Y
Membership
nC"er to the ultimate oorutnint of elosUle When sood admissions
arc e1ose<l, the political community collapses into a work! of membel's
and ttJ1mgers, "'ilh no political boundaries between the two, where the
stnngersare sub;cetsoF the members. Among pcThaps, the
lllembers arc equal; but it is not their equality but th".;, tyromny that
dc:te.mi ....... the eharacle' 01 the state. Political justice is a hll to pe"na-
nent alienage-eithe, fOI' particular individuals 01 For a dass of chang
ing indi\iduau_ .... t least, this it true in a democracy. In an oligarchy,
as IsoeratCl: wrole, "'"CI1 the citizens ate really ,esident aliens, and so
the issue of po/iti<:>1 'ights doesn't in the same way_ But as soon
as SOIT'Ie residents are cilium in fact, all must be so, No democratic
state COIn tolente the establishment 01 a hcd slatu. between citi,,,n
and foreign", (Ihough there can be stages in the tro,"sition from one
of these poIiti<:>1 identities to the othel) /o,-len and women are either
sub;cct to the state's authoTity, OT they arc and if they arc subject,
they must be given a SOIy, and ultimately an equal SOIy, in whatt""'t au-
thont), docs Democnlie eitiuns, thcn, m.ve a choice; if lhey want
to b'ing in new wmkers, they musl be p,eparcd to enlarge tlteir own
membership; iF they arc unwilling to acttpt ncw members, they must
find wayt ..ithin the limits of the domestic labor markc! to gel ooeially
ncss.ary wOl"k done ....n<! are their only choices, 1bcir right to
deri"", from the exi.tence in this particular territOf)' 01 a com-
munityof citilens; and it is not compatible with the destroction oIlhe
communily Of its Innsf(lTmati(ln inlo j'et another Ioc:al tyranny.
Membership and Justice
The dist.ibution 01 membe.ship is not pervasi"cly subied 10 the coo
straint. of iustice. Across a considerable J1Inge of the decisiont Ihat are
made, slates arc simply free 10 take in strangers (or not)--much ai they
are Free, le:"'ing aside the claim. of the r>ccdy, to share their wealth
with fOfeign friends, to hOllOf the achic\....mcnts of fOfei.gn u!isls,
ars, and scicnlisl.l, 10 d>oosc lheir trading partners, and to enter into
colleeli\'e KC\lIity arrangements wilh foreign states. But the right to
an admissions policy is more basic than any of these, for it is
not merely a malter of acling in the W()Ild, exerciJing ..,..'ereigl1ly, arid
pursuing national interests. At stake here it the shape of the community
6,
SPHERES OF' JUSTICE
t.... t in llle wocld, exerciscs J(I1.-ereignty, md so On. Admi'llion and
aclusion are at the COI'e of l:Ommunal illdcpendence. They sugg<"St the
deepest meaning of sc:lf-detelmirl3tilm. Without them, thererould not
k communi/iff of chDracler, hilloricaUy .table, ongoing anoxialiom
of men ami women with some special commitment to one motber and
some special M:nM: of their common liFe.
ll
But self-determination in tile of membership iSlJot absolute.
It is a right exe.cised, JTlQll often, Il)' national clubs or amili..., hut
it is held in principle Il)' te.ritorial states, Hrnce il is subject both to
internal dccisiOfls by the t1lembel'$ thcmM:lves (ail the members, in.
cluding lhoM: who hold mcmbership simply by right of and to
the pt'iocipk- of mutll.ill aid. Immigration, lhen, i. both a mal
tel of political c11OiCC' and mor.ll conslr.linl. Nalur.llizalion, by contrast,
is cntilely comtrained: C\'ery new immigrant, C\'ery refugee laken in,
C\"Cf}' ,esident and ""lrkcl must be offcred tile opportunities of citizen
ship, If tile community is SO radically divided that a single citizenship
is impouiblc, then its te.ritory must be divided, too, beforc llle righls
of admission and aclusion em be exc,cisc:d. For llK'SC rights arc to
be exe<eisc:d only by the community n a whok (C\'en if, in praclice,
lOme national majorily dominates the &c<,ision making) and only wilh
"'Prd 10 foreignc.., not by IOmC memkrs with .cgard 10 others No
rommunityem k hal/metie, half<itiun md claim lhat ih admil$iom
polieies are act. of self-detcrmination or thaI it. politics is democratic.
The delerminalion of guests by an nellIS;'''' ""lid of citi
zens (or of slava by masters, or women by men, or blacks by whites,
Or peoples by thcir cxmqueron) is not communal freedom
hut opprCSlion, The eitize"'l are hee, of ro....e, to set up a dub, make
membc..hip exclusive as they like, wrile comtitution, and go,'ern
on<': anothcr. Bullhey can't claim te.ritorial iurisdiction and ruk- O\'cr
the people ,,-ith whom they share thc tcmtory, To do this is to act oot
side their .pherc. beyond their rights, It is form of Iy",nny. Indeed,
the rule of citium O\"Cr non<itizem. of members 0= ltr.lngc.., il
pro""bly the molt rommon form of Iy.anny in human history. I "tln't
say much more lhan this about the special of ooll<itizells
arK! slrangers: hcncc:forth, ,,'hclha I am talking aboulthe dislributiofl
of seculity and "..,Iare or about h,,,,d "mk Or prM'cr itself, I shall aSllUme
lhat alllhc elis;iblc men and "tlmen hold a single poIiticalshltllS. This
assumption doesn't Clc1ude other of inequality furthe. down the
road, but it does e""lude the piling up 01 inequalitiC'llhat i. characleris-
tic of di\'ide<llIOCicties. The denial of membc..hip is aN.'a)"S the lint
of a long hoain of abuses, The.c is no ,.'ay to tIle train, so ,,-e mllSt
6,
Membership
deny the rightfulness ollhe d e n i ~ l . The theory of distributive jwliC1:
begins, lrn,n, "ith ~ n acwunl of membeuhip rightJ. It musl vindic:lle
alone and the same lime the (limited) tight of closure, ...'ilhoot ,,'hieh
tllere could be no rommun;lics at an, and the politic:l\ incl",i,..,r.ess
of the existing communities. For il iJ only as membeu somewhere
lhat men and women can hope to share in all the other JOCial
goods-scctJtily, wnlth, honor, olliC1:, and (lQWeT-lhat commun:lllif..
mahs posJiblc.
Security and Welfare
Membership and Need
is important beclUsc of members of a political
community O""t: to On" anothet and to no one else. O' to no OtIC' else
in the Ume dq:ree 00 the lirslthing they 0""" is the communal Prll\';-
lion of KCUrity and -elfar.,. This claim might be, r."",.sed, communal
provision is import.."t b:au.e it teal't.e. us the .... 1"" of DJ<1TIbership.
If ...", did not pTOYidc fOl' 0IlC .illlolhe" if we reoognized no distinction
oct"'een members md slnllgen, ..... e ""'OUld ha'-e 00 reason to form and
maintain political communities. "How ,hall ffie1l kw., their country,"
asked, "if it is ""thing more for tllC'm than for .'.:mgers, md
balOws on them only that which it nn mll$C 10 ,,,:mc''''
believed that citittllS ought to 10,,,, thei. countT)' aoo therdo.e IMt
thciT country oudlt 10 give them particular ra!OllJ to do 50. "lemOO
(like kinship) is a ,pi;Jl relation. It'l 001 enough to gy, as Ed
mund Burk did, thai "to lI\;1U us \00.'1: OUI country, our oountry O\Ight
10 be lo\'ely."1 The crucial thing is lhat il be Io\'l:ly for us--though
"'I: always hope lhat il will be kwdy for others (we aJoolo.'e ils reflecled
kn'eliness).
Political community for the sake of pnl\"uion, pro\"iJion ror the sake
of community: the process works bolh wa>"S, and Ihal iJ pelhllPJ ilJ em
Nl fClllure_ Philoeophen and political lheori,ls hlI\'e too quiet
to lum it inloa simple cakulation. Indttd, we are rationalisls of C".ery.
day life; we come we lien the lOCial contract or reitelate the
signing of it, in order to prO\"ide fOT And we \'3lue lhe con
$ei;urity Welfare
tract ill5of.1I a5 those nttds are met But oue of our needs is community
itself: cultun", religion, polities. II is only under the 01 these
three that the other things we need become socially 708"i1l(/
nnd" on histOfiCllI determinate foTnl n,.. social contract
is to r....ch decisions together about whatll'JOds a'e r>e<."n-
sary 10 OI,lr COmmon life, and then to provide those gooch fur one an<:h-
e'. The signe,s CMe one another more than mutual lor that they
owe or can o"..e to anyone. They owe mutual ptO\'ision of all those
things for the sake of which they separated themsel>'(5 from man-
kind as a ...hole and joined foo-e<"5 in a p;nticuLa, community_ Amou,
wciQ/ is one of those things; but though it i. a distributed good------<Iften
distributed"";t arise! only;n the COUrse of other distributions
(an;;! of the political ehoices the other distributions requin"). r-,'lu_
tual p'O"i,ion breeds mutuality. So the rommon life i5
the prerequisite of provilion md Olle of its p.o<!och.
Men and wOlllen come togethel bccaU5C they <"annot
But they can together in different w:a)'S Their su.... inl
3rld thell their \I'eUbeing requi,e a common e/fort: against the ",,,,th
of the gods, the ho:rtilily of other people, the indiffe,ence and malc\-o-
Imcc of nature (famine, Rood, fire, and disease), the brief tl1msit of
a human life. Not <"alllpi \\'TOte, but tem-
ples, storehoOl5es, Irligation \lurks, and burial groonds are the true
mothers of cities I As the lilt suggests, origins are r>Ot .ingular in char-
acter, Cities differ From one anothel, partly because of the natural et\\'i-
ronmen!s in which they are built and the immcdiate dangen thei,
builder. encounter. pa,tly because of the ror>cq>tions of socialll'JOdl
that the builders hold. They le>gni7,C but also create one
needs and so gi,'e a particular shape to what I will <"all the "s.phere of
>eeurity and ... The sphere itsell is as old as the oJde,t
community. h.&:ed, one might say that the Oliginal community il a
sphere of >eeu,it}' and \I-e1fare, S}'ltem of communal provision. distort-
ed, nO doubt, by gross inequ:llities of 'l,englh ...d cunning. 8ul the
$}'Stem hal, in <"ale, no ... tu",llorm. Diffe'ent "periences md dil-
ferent woceptioru lead to diffe'ent patte.ns of pl'O\'ision. 1llough thele
are sollle goods that n-ttded absolutely, there iJ no good loch that
once see it, Wto know how it st:andl vis-h'is all other gooo;b and how
much of it owe to Ofle The 01 a need is not
selloC\'ident.
p,O"ision is both getle",l and 11 il
whcne'er public funds lpent SO al to benefit all 0.- most of the mem-
bers without an)' distribution to indi,'idu:lk 11 ;s p;lrti<:ular
65
SPHERES OF JUSTiCE
goods a.dually h.".ded 0rtT 10 or any Q/ ...
fo< =-mple. i, one of "Ihe bare requiremenls of ci,'illife," a"d the
building of rao-rvoin is form of general provision.- But
01 wain tOOTK ralher to .".other neighborhood (",hue, ...y, Ihe
"..eahhie. li,-c) ;1 particuilir. The securing of the lood supply
is gennal; the distribulion of food to widows and orphan! is p.articulal.
Public health i, mClI;t oIt"" general, the COI.e of sick, mOIl often
pIlrlicub. Sometimes the nileria for g""eraJ .".d pIlrticullir plO\'isioo
will differ radially. 11le building of temples and the Ofg:miulio" of
rdigious sen'icn of genen\ plO\'ision dCligntd to n;1
the needs of community u a whole, but communion wilh the gods
be allowed ouly 10 pIlrlicularly merilorious rnembC'n (or it may
be sought pri'Oltely in O. in nonconformist sects). The system
of justi i, general good, mttling common needs; bullhe actual dis-
tribulion of .ew:lIW and punishmenls nuy k"'C the pa.ticular r>eeds
of a ruling c1au,or il may beorganized, a$ .... commonly think it should
to gi"e to individuab .... they i"di"idually deser'c. Simone Weil
hill argued thai, with regard to justice, r>ed Oper.ltes at both th'e get>-
er.ll the pIlrticular c.imir1.llls nttd to be punishrd.
l
But
Ihat is an idiosyocratic use 01 the "".d need. /l.lo<e likely, the punish
ment of c,iminals illOlllCthing only the rest of us r>d. Bllt nttd docs
O!>C'rale both and particularly lor other goods: heahh n
a" obvious example that r will latc. conlide. in somc detail.
Despite Ihe inhe.ent lorct'fulllCl:i of the wo.d, needs a.e dUli'-c
pie don't jUlt ha.. nttd., tltcy ha,-c idcu about their need.; they have
prio.ities, degrees of need; and these p.iorities and degrees
.dale<! not only to their hum<ln r1.lItu.: but also to Ihci. hi.tory.".d
culturc. Sifltt mou.e", a,e always scarce:, ha.d choien h>\',: to
rnad<-. I suspect that these elll only be politial choices, nC}, a'e sub-
jt 10 a tt.lain philosophiciJ dlJoCid.tion, but thc idea of need and
thc commitm""t to commur1.ll1 PfO'isioll do not by Ihcmsehfl yield
any eka, delenn;nalion of prio.ities 0< dq;.ees, Clearly wc COIn'l mf'l't,
we don't ha.'e 10 meet, e\'er)' need 10 the ",me degree 0< <lily nttd
1 don" ...... '" oriOn.1< 1><0. ,II< 1",",,1i d",_'.,.. 'tw<OOnOnull, h pooWic
..... "';.,,1< """" e.-.. ....... puI>IO:, "" 'I ,; ' d<fon_
01 ,tw "'"" """" "'" """'" """" "_ ..,,', II< __to _ ..1
_ to .............b<n 01 ,I>< _ ...J SO.r< "'"- 01 ... ........ "..,.;...... "" ......
"""" ddr-w<d to ......,. b<ndi.. "" til< """,....;Iy ..-hoI.
S<............. to """"... for Imp!<. M< po;"'1< to ,to< I"'IW'n til< m ;ry 01
<il""",.,."'" ..tueh ,II< <J<fIi- .... .,.. otIIy ....I ......"'" But pul*c II""d> 01 ,"" ......
.... .. hi<lo d<p<nd ""'" PO'" dOdlilou' ....... partiNlu ...-'" _ be> _t..,...,.
...1in ........ """'.......1 I .... '"I" al<f"'C1 '" .. '" tnoblr '" ''''',n< them
-
66
,
Security and Welfare
to thc ultimatc The ancicnt Athcnian., lor elampk. p.ovided
public hath, gymnasiums for the cilium but nc',e. p'O\'ided
thing lemotely 'es<'mbling unemployment O. soo:UIllCCurity.
They made how to ,pend p1Jblic funds, a choice shaped
p.o:sumably by th.ei. unoost3nding of Ihe common life ,"""ired.
It "'oold be to argue th3t Ihey made r suppose there
are notions of need that ",'ould )'icld such rooclll$ion, but these would
flOt be notions might IlOI be oomp.ehcnsihk
to-the themselvo.
Thc qr>r:$tion of suggcsh cvcn 1II0re dea.ly tile importance
of politic:ll choice and the i"e1ey,,"ce of 3n)" merely phill)Klphic:ll stipIJ'
"'tion, Needs not only they also e.pansi\"e. 1n tile plmllC
of the philosophe. Cha.les Fried, need. are -macioll$;
th.".. cat up re$OUfces,6 But it WOlJId be w.ong to suggat thc,do.e
need ",,"no! be a dist.ibu!i\'e p.inciplc. It i., rather, a principle IUbjcct
to polilic:ollimit3tion; ami the !imilJ (within limit.) can be arbitrary,
fi.ed by some lemporary coalilion of inte.ests or m3jc..-ity of vote.s.
Conside. Ihe case of ph)'Sic:lllCCurity in a modern American c;Iy. We
could pro"i<!e absolute lCCtrTity, ","'cry source of violence ex
cept danlatic if wc ptlt a st.cd light e,'nY ten ya.d, and ,ta-
lionoo a every thirty )'ards tl\loughout Ihe city. But thai
",-ould be "cry cxpemive, and so we scuk ro.- something leu. How
moch leu can 0111y be decided poIitic:llly. One can imagine the so.ts
of things th3t would 6gme in IhI- debates. Abo\"e all, 1 think, Ihcle
",-ould be a undc"tanding-nloOre or leu widely shared, cootro-
onl)' a1the margins-of ",'hal romtilula "cnough" SttU.ity or
of wlral le\,,1 of inlCCmity is simply intolcrabk. The decision would
also be affecled by oIher faclon: alte.nate needs, the st31e of the econo-
my, the of the poIicemen's union, JO 00. But whatever
decision is ultimalely .cached, for ""hale-'e. rcasons, lCCu.ily i$ p.ovided
because IIIe citizens need i\ And becaUlC, at some ",,"'c!, they al1llCCd
it, the e.ilerion of need .emain. a critical (al "''' see)
","'en though it cannot dete.mine priority ami .
,W h. <kri<l<d pOhloc.llr llu' ...... pohrO<>l " .'" 100 A""
dI(JtI to ",..d ,t.. rioj:ht, ",.t.. .... 01 , ...,..J,;I ,.
<Illy contIr,;" ,h. ""I'< 01 d<rnoct.lic 0..- ........ 1 Nv< lor-! W. pn;nr bn<'
SPtlERES or JUSTICE
Communal Provision
Thcrt h.. nt\"tr bttn a political community that did 001 pfOvide, Of
hy to p<O'Kk. or claim to pTtWKk, for the nee<ls of its members as iu
membeu understood thase neuis. And there has nc,'er bttn a political
community that did not cngage iu eoile<:ti\e strength-its capacity to
dirt, rquute, pressure, and lXll'Tce--in this project. The modes of
organization, the In'els of the timing ar>d reach of COIUCTip.
tion: these ha"e always bttn a foc:w of political contfO\'ersy. But the
use of political power has noot, until ,'cry bn conhm-ersial.
n.e building of fortrnsa, dams, an<! irrigation ""tllh; the mobilization
of a/min; the securing of the food supply and of trade gencrarty_ll
these rt'lJuire C(lCrcion. Thc statc is a tool that cannot be made without
iron, And C(lCrciOll, in tum, requires agents of COC'fcion, Communal
pro"ision is always mtdiated by a sct of officials (priests, $Oldiers, and
bureaucnlJ) who introdoce charaderistic distOftiom into the process,
siphoning off monC}' an<! labor lor their OWn purJlOS'-'S OT ll'ing provision
as a form of control. Bul these distOTtions art 001 my immediatt COn
cern. I want to shess instead thc SCnse in ,,"'hieh C"cry political commu
nity is in prir>ciple a "wdfare statc." Every set of officials is at leut
putati.-dy committed to the pr<Wision of security and wdfart; t\try
set of mtmbers is committed to bear the ntSsary burdens (and actu-
ally dots bear them). The first commitment has to do with thc duties
of olIice; tltt- SCIXlnd. with the dues of mtmbership. Without some
shared sense of the duty and thc dues therc "'OIJld be nO political com-
munity at aU and no security Of ,,"'Clfare-and the lifcof mankind "$Oli-
tary. poor. nasty. brutish, and short"
But how much StttJrity and welfare is require<ll Of what sorts? Dis-
tributed how? Paid lor how? n,ese arc the 5Criow issues, and they can
be resoh'Cd in many diffcrCflt wa)'1 Since C"ery rnolulion will be appro.
priatc or inappropriate to a particular community, it win be best to tum
oow to!Ollle c(lflcrcle cumpies. I ha,'C chosen two, from different his-
torical periods, ....ith very difFcrent general and particular dillributi,'c
commitmenlJ, n.e two rcprCSVlt tht two strands of our own cultural
tTlldition, Htllrnic and HcbTllic; but [ ha\'t not looked for anything
likt utltme points on the TlInge of possibilities. Rather, I ha,'c ehOlotn
two communities that are, like our own, rclati,'C1y dcmocratic and gcn
cTlllly lespectful of pri\'atc property. Nt;thtr of thtm.!I(l far as 1know,
has tVer fi&ured significantly in histori.-s nr Iht ,,'dfare stale; and yet
68
Sceu.ity and Welfare
the citizens of both understood well the mcaning of ((ImmuruIIl pro-i
SIOlI.
A/hell in tire Fifth <lnd Fuurth Om/unn
'Ihc Helleni.lic city-slates were highly se:n.ili,.., 10 "'hal may be
called Ihe general welfare. thaI is, Ih.". were quile willing to take mea-
Sures which boked to the benefit of Ihe citiunry as a whole; to weill
"..,]fa,e .. , in particu!:.. the benefit of lhe poor as such. th.". were,
on Ihe contrary, Iarll;ely indifFc'ent.'e This comment by Ihe contempo-
rary cbssicist Louis ColIn-Halt occtIrs in Ihe coorse: of a otudy of the
"public physicians" of ancienl C I C : ~ _ a minor inslitution bul a useful
starting poinllor my own aCCQUnt. In Athelll, in Ihe lilth century II.C.
(and during the lale. Helkn;.tic period in many C,ttk cil;"'), a small
number of docton wcre elecled 10 public office, much as generals were
elected, and paid a stipend flOl'll public funds. It's not clea, what the;.
dut;'" "..,re; Ihe .ut\iving ""dcocc is lragmental)" Th.". apparently
charged lees for their lef\'icell much as olher doctors did, though il
seem. likely Ihal "as stipendiaries of 11.1' whole ciliZl'll body (theyl
,,'OUJd be under considerable social pressure not 10 ,efuse a sick person
....ho C'(lIJkI not pay a ftt." TIle purpose: of Ihe election and Ihe stipend
seems 10 ha'.., been to assure the P'l"SeOCC of qualilied doctors in the
cily-in time of plague:, lor "ample:. The provision was geneTal, not
particular; and the city apparently 1001 little inlerest in the IUlthe. dis-
tribution of mtdical care. II did honor public physici<rns "'00 "ga'..,
themsc:1ves ungrudgingly 10 all who claimed to need them"; but Ihis
suggests that the giving was not a requirement of the office; the doctors
"..,re paid for something elsc:.
9
This was the common pattern at Athens, but the range'" general
provision was very wiM. It began with defense:: the Reel, Ihe army,
the walls down to Piraeus, "..,re aU the work of the citiZl'llsthemse:kes
under the dired;o., of thei, magislrates and gn>erals. Or. pcI1..1'" it
began wilh food: Ihe Assembly was required, allisro inlet\Olls, 10 con
sider an a ~ n d a item that had a lixed fOlm-"oorn and the defense:
of the coontry." Actual di.hibulion.s of corn occtIrred only ""ely; but
the import trade was closc:ly ....atched, and the inlernal ma,kclregulat-
e<:!, by an imp,essi"e allay of officials: ten commissioners of trade, ten
superintcndenb of the ma,kets, ten inspecto" 01 ,,'right. and mea
sures, thi'ly-li,.., "oorn guardians" who enforced a iust price, and-in
moments of cris;_ group of co... buye.. "who IOUihl supplies whe,
","'el il cooJd find them, nised public subscriptions !OT the ntU;Iry
SPHERES OF' JUSTICE
funds, introduced price ,eduction! and r.ationing."lo All of olfi-
chos.c:n by lot from among the citizer\l. Of, perhaps it began
",,'ith ,eligion: the majol public buildings of Athem we,e tempks, built
with public lIlOIleY; priesb ""'a'e ollic:ials who offcred gcrificcs
On tI", city', behalf. A., perhaps it began, as in Lock'l account of the
orii:;im of the ltate, with jmtice: Athens Wal policed by a baud of lIate
,Li"a (eighteen hun<lTed Scythian the city'l courts ""'cle intri
cately Ofganized alld always bul)'. And beyond all this, the: city pmvided
a variety of other &OOds. Five mpt"f\'i!ed the building
and 'ep.m of the .0iJds. A boiird of ten enforced a r.ather minimalKt
of public health masum: "they ensu,e that the dung coIlttton do
not deposit dung within ten .l<Jd", of the walb:'lI As I ha,'e
ooted, the city prO\'ided bath. and gymnaliums, probably more for s0-
cial than for hygienic ,easons. 1be burial of oorpses found lying on the
streets was a public chargc. So werc tl", funcrak of thc ""';Ir dead, likc
the one at ,,'hich Paic1c:s spoke in 431. Finally, the great dr.ama foti
val. were publidy organized and paid for, through a spial kind of taxa-
tion, by IIo'Calthy citizens. I. thi. List an expenK lor security and wella,e?
We might think of it al a feature of the religious and political
education of the Athenian p>pk. By rontr.asl. there Wal 00 public
expenditure for Khoob Of teachen at any Ie--el: no subsidies For reading
and writing 01" for philolophy
Alongside all thi., the particular di.tribution. authorized by the
Athenian A5lC:mbly-with one exception---camc to lillk
'"Thcrc is a law," Aristotle reported, "that anyone with propert)' of less
than three mind' who rnffers from a ph)'sical disability which pre;.'en15
hi. undertaking any employment should rome before the Council, ar><!
if his claim il approved he should two oboi. a day suh.i.tence
fmm public funw."u These ("en' lmall) pemions could be challenged
by any citizen, and then the pemioner had to defend himKlf before
a jury One of the surviving orations of Lycias was ,...illen for a crippled
pensioner, "All fortune, good and bad," Lycias had the tcll
the jury, "i$ to be shared in rommon by the community as a whole."n
This was hardly an descriplion of the city's pr.iCtica. But tl",
citizem did recognize their obligations to orphans and also 10 the ",'id
ows of fallen ,"\diers. Beyond that, p;lrticuLir pro"iJion was left to thl:
bmrlies of those who needed it. The cily look all interest but only at
a di.tance: a law of Solon required fathers to teach their sons a trade
and sons to maintain their parertts in old age.
The eentr.al of rotJ'K, ...-asthe distribution of public lunds
to alithOSl: citizem who held an office, sen-ed on the Council, attended
7'
Security and Welfare
Asocmbly. or sat on a IU!"). a p;uticuLn distribution ser.-d
a gellefal purpose' the Inamlenance of a ,'igorow The
monies paid out to make it pouible for allisans and farm
ers to mi.. a day's \'-'Ork. Publie spirit WilS stililequired. for the amQl,lnls
"..,re small. less than the doily earnings e"en of an unskilled laborer.
But th< total W;IS oonsider.lble, roming to something half
of the of eity in the fifth oen.tury an<! more than
that at many points in the fourth 1< re'""ue of the citr w;lS
not r.lised from tues on Ian<! or (but from taxes on impolts,
eoolt fines. lents. of the silver mill.... and so on), it c;rn't
he said tlut these payments redistributi..,. But they did distribute
public funds SO as to balance somewhat ineqUlllities of Athenioln
iIOCicty_ This "'IS particubrly the ease with rega.rd to payments to d
ooJy citiuns ",110 "'Ould flOt have been workillg an)'\''3Y, ProlCSSllf M,
l. Finley is ioclinM to to this dist,ibuti .., effect the ,'irtUllI
absenee of ci\"ilst,ife or cia.. ""'I thmughout the history of democratic
Athem.tl Perhaps thi. WiI. an intended result, hut it Sttms more likely
that wlut by behin<!the payments ".. s a certain ronecption of citizen
ship. To make il possible fvr elIch alld co.'ery citizen to participate in
politic:rllife. the citi7,cns as a body wele plepared to layout lalge suml_
Ob.iously. this appropriation benefited the poorest citizens the mOilt.
but of )lO\-erly itself tile city tool flO direct notice.
A M!il'\ul/ew;lh Cmrmunity
I Ihall not ,efCI here to any particular Jewish commullity but shall
try to deK,ibe a typieal rommullity in Chrillian Europe during tile
high Middle Ages I am ronecrned primarily to produce a list of goods
generillly 0< particularly provided; ami the lilt dotsn't Vilry significantly
fmm pbtt to anoother. Jewish rommuniticl under lilamic rule, Cl-
peciollly a. these ha,'e been 'W)TlStTUcted ill the remarkable bookl of
PTOfeuor S. D. Coitein, undertook essentially the latlle 10ft of
sion though under somewru.t difJ('fent eiocumstaflC'el,16ln contrast to
all these "..,re autonomous but not $O"ereign communities_ In
Europe. they ponessed full powers of taxation. though much of the
money they r.lised had to be passed on to th... Ittubr--tlut is, Chris-
tian-king, prillec. or lord. cither in payment of his taxes or as blibes.
subsidies, "loans," and so On, This C<ln bt thought of as tht- priCo.' of
protection, III Egyptioln citi... Itudied bj.' Coit...in. the largest part
of the oommul1ill funds "... r.lised th,ough cluritable appeal but Iht-
standardized form of the gifts suggests that social pressure "cry
7'
SPHERES OF" JUSTICE
much likc political poweI. It "'11. hardly possible to li,'c in thc Jewish
community without contriooting; and .hort of COIl\'clsion to Christian
ity, a Jew had no altan.1tive; thclc wu 00 place: d ~ to go.
In principlc, thCS/: wcrc Ikmocratic communitics. g<l"crned bf an
aSJCmbly of malc members, med.ing in thc S)'fl2iDguc. Extcrn.11 prcs
.ures tcnded to prodocc: oIigm:hy Of, mOfC p,ecisdy. plutocraC),-thc
,uk of thc heads of thc wcalthiest bmili.." who wCrc bcs;t able to deal
with avaricious kings. 8utthc rule of thc wealthy "'115 oontinWllly chal-
lenged by morc()Tdinary mcmben of tnc rcligioo. community, md \'''as
balallttd by the authol"ity of the rabbinic eourts Thc ",bbis played a
cfUci:ll role in the apportionment of taxes, a malta of ongoing and
frequently billa contrcwCfJy, n.e rich prcfcned a /Wr capilli tax,
though in rnomcnu of cri.is they COIJld hardly a"oid contribuhng "'hat
"'1IS nel':"""'Y to their own, as well as thc community's, .u",i...,.1. The
",bbis secm gcncrally 10 ha,'c Fa,wed proportional (a few of thcm c"en
l'lIisocd the po$sibility of progrcssi.c) taxatioo.
17
As onc might expect in communities whOM: mcmbc.. WC1"C at best
precariously cst:lbli.hed, subied to intenniltent pe'$CC\Jtion and cons-
lant har....mcnt. a high propoction of public funds wu distributed to
indi,;.;!uaJ. in trouble, But lhooih it "... cstabtiohed early on lhat the
poor of OI1C'S own community took precedence: ovc. "fO'lcign" J ~ ,
the largcr 5Olida,ily of a persecuted people is rCl'aled in thc "ClY strong
commitmcnt to thc "l'lIllSom of captj"cs"-an abwlutc obligation OIl
any community to which an appeal ""lIS malk, and a significant dl'llin
on communal resources. '"Thc rcdemptioo of capti,cs," WlotC Mai-
monides, "ha. p<ecc:dcncc: <)l'CI thc feeding and clothing of thc
poo,,"18 Thil pliority dcrillal from thc immediatc ph)'5ica.l dangC1" in
which the captive found himselF, but it probably also had to do with
thc fact that his dange< ""lIS religious as well as ph)"sical. rOfccd rorl\"Cr-
siGn or sla'"C1Y to a """-/c,,,i.h 0WllC1" ~ ' " thrcalJ to which the org.:l-
nized Je.....ish communitics wcrc especially "Cn.ili,e; for thCS/: "'crC
ahovc all rdigious communities, and thciT ronce:pliono of public life
and of thc needs of indi"idual men and .....Omen WCrC alike shaped
through ccnturies of rdigioos discussion.
Thc major forms of gcnC1"al plO\'ision--exeluding protoclion
money-WC\"e 'digiow in chafllCter, though thCS/: ",eluded "C",ica
tbat wc now think of as JCC\llar. The S)'1f.1g1lgUC and it5 official5. the
court, and their officials, II'C'" paid fOf out of public funds. The COUtts
administcred Talmudic law, and thcir jurisdiction ""lIS wide (though
it did nQ! cdcnd to capit:ll crimes). Eco<>omic deal",gs wcrc closely
regulated, especially dealings with non- JC\I"5 sincc thac could ......'c im-
7'
Security and Welfare
plieatiom for the community as a whok.l1le peMsi,'c sumptuaT}' Laws
...crc also designed ....ith r>QTlJews in mind, so u not to excitc cnvy and
resentmcnt. The community provided public baths, rna for religious
than fo< hl-gienic .casons, and supe"'iSC'd the work of the sLaughtclcrs.
Koshcr meat ...'aS taxed (in the Egyptian communities, too), JO this was
both a fo,-m of plOVision and a lOOrcc of rco."CTIuc. 11lcTe W:lS also JOllie
eftort m..&: to keep the strcc!5 dcar of rubbish and to a,"Qid O'ocrcro....d-
inc in )C\\;sh neighborhoods. Toward thc end of thc medieval period,
many communities established hospitals and p;lid communal midwi\-n
and physiei:lns,
Particular distributions commonly took the form of a dok: regular
weekly or twicc....eekly distributions of food; las frequent diJtTibutiollJ
of dothing; special allocations for sick people, str.lnded tr,l\-ekn, ",'id
ows and orphans, and JO on-alJ this on a remalubk JCale given the
size and TCSOU.CCl of the communities. Maimonidcs had written that
the highest fonn of charity ....as the cift Of loan Of p;I.tncrship designed
to makc the rec:ipient stlf"'5upporting. Theft "''Oros were often quoted
but, as Coitan has argued, they did not shape the Jtructure of JOCial
services in the Je....ish community. Perhaps thc poOl' ... too numer
OUS, thc situation of the community itself 100 precarious, for anything
more than rdief. Coitein has ClIkulatcd that among thc ' .....1 of Ok!
Cairo, "there wa' one relief redpicntto C'\'CT}' foUl contributors to the
charities,"\' Thc OOl1tributOrl of mor>cy a\l(l contributed their time
and cnngy: from their rann came a host of mino< officials involo.cd
in thc endless "'Ork of collcetion and dist.ibation. Hence, the dole "''as
a and OOl1tinUOUJ dnin, accepted as a religious obligation. with
nocnd in sight until thecomingof the Il1CSsiah. This was divine iustice
....ith a touch of Jewish irony: "Yoo must help the poor in propoTtion
to their needs, but )'QU a'c not obligated to makc them rich.'l(l
tilt dole. there ...ere additionalfOfTT\.l of p;lrticular pl'O"ision,
most importantly for educational pUrpclscs. In fifteenth--ecntury Sp;lin.
"'me .ixty )'carl before thc expuuion, a Temarkable c/lort "'Of. m.de
to establish JOmething like un;"e,...1and C'OmpullOT}' public education.
The Valladolid synod of 14}1 esbbli.hed Ipceialtaxes on meat ."d
....inc:, and 011 -.idings, circumcision., .nd burials. and Ofde.ed
that t\'Cr)' community of householders IOf morc) .h.ll be obliged
to m.in!a;n 'luolificd dtmenbry lcochcf to ;nlfnx;l their thildm. in
Scripturt. . The (><Irmb ,hall be: ooligtd to send their childm. to that
'_her, .nd each ""'II (><It him in xco<d,....tt ,..ilh thei. mean. If this ........
nllC .hould PI'O\-': illlldtq""tt, lbc: community .hall be: ooligcd to suWIc-
ment ,t.
73
SPHERES OF' JUSTICE
MOfe iIorh,mccd schools "'ere required in e'..,1')' community of fOftyor
more houSoCholdcn, TIle chief of CJltile waf Juthorized to di'"CTt
money from wealthy to impo"ecilhed communities in order to
dizc struggling schools
n
This IOIaI a prOlllam comidelably more Jmbi
tiollS thon Jnything attempted CJrlicr on. But throughout the )cwilh
communitin a grat 001 of attention was paid to education: the school
fen of poor children ""CTe commonly paid; and there ,"'ele greatel or
\ascI public lubsidics, al "'C1I al JdditionJl chJlitable lUpport, lor reli
schools Jnd xadcmics Jews wc:ntto school the "";Iy Greeks "..,nt
10 the thcater or the alSCmbly---;l.l neithel group could h<lve done hod
these institutions been kit entirely to pri'";Ite enterprise.
Together, the Je....s Jnd the Clceks suggcst r>OI only the r:ange of
communal activity but iIolso, md ITlOrc importJnt. the "";Iy in ....hich this
Ktivity is structured by collective valllCS political choices, [n Jny
political community where thc membels m.ve 50mething to lily Jbout
the;r go.emment, lOme soch p.1ttern will be "'tlrked 0111: a SoCt of gen
er.ll and provisio!ls dcsigfled to slIStain Jnd enhance a com
mon c\llture Th.e point would hardly h<lve to be made ""ele it not for
contemporal')' wvocatn of J minimal or libert'lrian ltate, ....ho arguc
that alllUCh matters (except lor defense) should be left to the voluntary
efforts of irnlividuab.
21
But irnli\'iduals left to themselvcs,;/ thJt is a
practical possibility.....ill necessalily _k oot othel indi"iduals 10< the
sake of rollccti''C provision. l1tcy rleCd too mIlCh from one moth
er-not only material goods, which might be provided through a ty5-
tern of frce uchJnge, but material that ha,'e, 10 to speak, a moral
and cultur.ll shape. Certainly one nn eumplcs-therc are
many-of statn that failed to PIOVide eithe. the material goods or the
morality or that pro-'ided them 11IO boldly, and did 50 much else, that
ordinal')' men and "-omen yearfled /or nothing so much al ckli,..,rance
from their impositions. Having "'(lTI deli\"CT2ncc, oo...'C"er, these 53me
men and ....'omen don't sct OIIt limply to maintain it but go on to ebbo-
rate a pattern of provision suited to their own neah (their o....n conccp-
tion of theil needs). The ariUrtlCnts for J minimal slate ha,.., never r
omrncndcd themscl,"cs to any significant portion of mankind. Indeed,
",hat is most common in the history of popular struggles is the
not for dcliYcrancc but for performancc: that the state sen..,
the purposes it to sen'e, il do so 10< it. members.
political community gf'O'olo"S by inv;uion as p,eviously Clleluded
groups, one after nothcr----vlcbians, sb,..", WQUTl'n, minoritics of all
sorls----dcmand their of security and "..,Ifare,
74
,.
Security and Welfare
Fair Shares
What is their rightful share? There arc. In fact, two different questions
hefe. The first COllcerns the range of goods that ought to be sh;ued,
thc bound:lric$ of the sphcre of 5WJrity ar>d welfarc: that is the subject
of the next se.:tion. 11te ICOOIld COIlcerns the distrrbuti'"f: principia
appropriate within the sphere, which I shall try now to tease out of
the Greek and Jewish exampla.
We Nn bat begin ""ith thc Talmudic maxim that the pool" mmt
(the imperath'e is important) be helped in proportion to their needs.
That is common I suppose, but it hal an important negati\'e
thrust not in proportion to any personal quality-physical afl",cti",,
ness. say. Of religious orthoo:lly. One of the persistent effofu of Jewish
communal organization. ne"Cf entirely SlIttCSSful, was the e1imin:ltion
of """"ry, The be"", is r('\l,'arded for his skill in telling a ItOry. for
hil pathos, often----in lewish lore-for his audacity; and he is rewarded
in ilro)rdan ",'ith thc kindness. the the
oblige of his bmcfactor, but neve, simply in proportion to his needs.
But if we tighten the link between need ami pr""';sion, we COIn free
the distributi,'C plClCCS& from all tw ext",llCO\ls factors When we
gi'"f: oot food, "'"f: willatlend dilcctly to the ptJrpoJe of the givins' the
relief of hunger, Hungry men and won>cn don't ha'"f: to stage a perlor
mana, or pass an exam, or win an election
This il the inllCr logic, the social and mor.J1logic of pr(l\ision. Ona
the community undertakes 10 plO\'ide lOme needed good, it mUlt plO-
...-ide it to all the membercl who need it in proportion to their needs.
11te actual distribution will be limited by the a\'3i!able re"ourCCl; but
aU other criteria. beyond need itself, are experienced as distortions ar>d
not as limitatiom of the dishibuti'"f: process, And the a''3ilabk re-
500ICCI of the community are 5imply the put ami present product, the
accumulated "'-callh ol its members-not JOrtle "511'1'lus'" of that
...-calth. It is oomm0f11y aq:ued that the welfare state "rests on the a\'3il
ability of lOme form ol economic surplus,u
n
But ....hat C:ln that munl
We <:an't sublr.>ct fTOfn the tolal social product the maintenan costs
of men Itld machines, the Plitt of socill sur...i\'3I, and then fin:ln tl>c
_]fafe ,laic (IlIt of what is left, lor ",'e ",ill already ha'"f: till:
welfare state (IlIt of whal ""f: ha,'c subtlacted. Surely till: pritt of socill
sur...i''3l iroctudcs stale upenditUlcsfor military 5WJrity, say, and ptJblic
health, and eduCOItion. Socially needs are thc filst charge
"
SPHERES OF' JUSTICE
ag;Iinlt the social prodllCl; there is no rc:allllrplul until they bcc:n
met. \\'hat the: IUrplul financa il the produc:tion and uchange of com-
moditia outside: thc sphere of nc:c:d. Men and ....OmCn who appropriate:
vast Iums of money lor themlChu, while: needs are still unmet, act
like ty,anls, dominati"8 and distOlling the disl'ibution of Ott"rity and
"'ellare.
[should stress again lhat r>tt<h are oot me,ely pllc:nomena,
E'l:1\ the nttd lor lood taka dilfcrent bms unde, dilfcrent cullul':ll
conditions, Thuslhe gmc:ral distTlbulions of food befOle religious holi-
da)'S in the 'ewish oommunitia: a ritual and not a physical need was
king "''''M, It "". important not only that the: poor should cat bul
aoo that they should cat the right lIOrls of food, lOT olhefWisc thl:)'
""OIIld be cut off f.om the: community_but they were helped in the
lint place: only because they wcrc rtlcmbc:n of lhc community, Similar-
ly, il disability is a rc:a5Ol1 for plO\'iding a pc:IUion, thcn C'o'Cry disablOO
citizrn is entitled to thai pension; bul it stin 'emains to work out whal
conslilutes disability, In Athens this "'" ilCCOmplishM, characteristi-
call)', Ihrough litiption, One can readily imagine: allcrnali.'e TTJCans bul
not. gi''CfI the initial .c:eognition of disahility, alternati.'e rea-ons. In
fact, Lycia,s pensionn felt hound tQ tell lhe jm)' tMt he ""s rcally
a good fellow: I don't mean tQ suggat IMt the inl>CT logic of pf1)','ision
is alwa}"S OJ immediately undentood, But the: crucial cha,gc against the
pensioncr was that he wasn't seriously disabkd. and his crucial 'c:sponse
"'" lhat he indeed fcll within thc category 01 disabkd citizens a, il
had al",,)'S bcc:n undel$tood.
EdOOItion raises harder quation, oi cultul':ll definition, and SO may
se,,'c to oomplic:ate our uAlkl$tanding of both the possiblitic:s and the
limit. of di,tribuli,.., justice: in the: sphere of Ottllrity.n<! welfare:, Igoo-
I1mce: is ob"iously a morc .mhiguous notion than hU<JgCr 01 disability,
fOT il il alwa)'S ,dativc to lIOme body of socially ,,,It>ed kl"lO"o'lc:dgc, 11lc
edOOIlion that chiklJen need is 'elali,'c to the life "'e CIpt OT want
them to ha.., Child,", au edOOIted for some reasor'nd Ih.,.. .re
educated particularly, not gellC'l':llly ("gcnef1l1 eduntion" is a modem
idea designed to meet the specific requirement! of our own society),
In the medic:vallc:wish oommunilies, the purpose of education was to
enable adult men to participate acti"ely in ,eligious se"'icc:s and in dis-
'-"lssions.,f .eligious doctrine:, Since: women ...ete religiously passi.'e, the:
OOlumunity ulldc:rlook no commitment to thcil education. In C'ery
Olbe, ala of pa,ticular pnwisi<m---food, clotillng, medical carc:-
_"",men ,,'e,e helped ... men ""e,e helped, in proporlion 10
their nc:c:ds. But WOmCn did not nd an education, for they ,,'ere in
7
6
Security
f:lcllrn than full members of the (religious) community. Thrir prilTl.3ry
pLace not the synagogue but the household. Male domiruloce
mOl! immtdiately eJpresKd in the services (31 it among
the Athenians in the Assembly debata) and then con"ertro int<.> tile
concrete of subsidized IChooling.
11>a.t domiruloce occasionally chalkngro by writers ,,'ho p<.>inted
t<.> the imp<.>ftance of religious oIlIIc""ntt in the household, o. to the
religious significance of childrearing, Of (less often) to the contributioos
women might make to religiouskno",Jedge.
l4
n.., argument nccasar-
ily focused Ofl Kligion, and ilJ SllCCCl depended upon SOlne moral or
intellectual enhanment of the roleol WQmen in religious life. 8ec<luse
theK w.,re tensio"s ",ithin the tradition. there ""s something
to argue about. It at mod a marginal enhanccmentthat aimed
at, and so fal 31 I kllQW the synagogue "'aSIlC\'e' actually de-
sc.ibed 31 a t)'rann)' of men, Educational equality _ited upon the de-
\'elopment ol altenuti,'C communities within ,,hich "'Orrrell might
more .eadily cbim to be memben: thus the: contempor,lTy arguments
for equality that in\'Oke. as I shall do, the ide.:r of an indllli.e citizen-
ship.
The )<:wish communities did aim at induding all rrren, lMl"'C.e., and
I() fued the p",hlem of lH"ganizing an educational s)'Item that cut
across dalSli,,"_ This ,night be uhie\ed in a "OIl'S, The com-
munity could organiu charity schools for- the: poor, like the special
schools lor <.>rphans in Old Cairo Or it could pay the fees of pDOf chil-
dren altending schools established and largely paid lor by the belle.'Off:
this .....s tlte mOlt common practice among mediev;ll Jews Or it could
provide an education for c>'el}'Olle through the tax system and bar any
additiOllal charges C'en lor those children ",hose parents could afford
to pay more than thrir taxes. l1tere is some pressure, I think, to m()\'C
from the to the second of these arrlmgemffit! and then to some
\"enioo of the third. FOl" any social designation dthe poor as "ehality
eases" ;slikely to produce di!CIiminatOl)' treatment within the IChools
themsel.-es. Or. it islikdy to be experienced b) the children (Of by their
parents) as I() dcgFolding that it inhibits their participation in IChooI
acli,'ities (or theil support/or those acti,it;..,). These efFeo:u may "",I
he comlTl()fl to all cultures. but they are obviously widespread. Among
mediev;ll Jews, there was a great reloctance to accept public: charity
and 1()f)1C .tigma attached to those who did 50 Indeed, it can be one
of the purposes of communal pTO\'ision to stigmlltize the: poor and teach
them the;. proper place-in, but "",t ...hoIlyof, the community. But
ncc-pt in .->me rigidly hier:lrchic:alsociety. that ",ill neve' he its f<.>rrrral
77
SPHERES OF JUSTICE
or publicly proclaimed purpose, it will ne\'er be its 0Il!y
And if the publicly proclaimed PUrpoK is, for e'"lmpk. to edueate
ehildren to read discuss Scripture, then common edUoCa
lion commonly plO'oided "'OlI1d seem to be the best
Coilein not.,. movemrtll in this direction in thr communiti.,. he
has studic:d, but Ihinks the r.".>OI1S ,,'ele Lorgdy firumc"P' Pe,h..ps
the ",bbi, of Spoin had grzprd lhe value of the comll>on school hence
Ihe ekment of compulsion in lhe scheme the)' de\ised. In any c;I'C,
wherle"er the purpOllC of communal prO'o'i,ion i, 10 open Ille "';Iy to
communal portieipotion, il will make sense to ,ecommend a form of
provi.ion Ih..t i. the ume for Ihe membrrs, An<! it might "..,11 be
said th..t, in democr.Ttie regimes, provision hu this purpose, The
Athen.. n <:letision 10 pay tvtry citizen who attended lhe Assembly Ihe
une (.mall) amount of nlOne)' probably de,i\'u flOm some rerognition
of Ihi. f1rCl. It would not ha.'e bttn difficult to de\'ise a meam test.
But the cilizens were not poid in proportion to thei, means, 01' to Ihrir
'leeds as indi.ojduab, because it was not a. indi\'iduals hut as citizens
thai they wCTe paid, aoo u cilizens they were equal 10 one another.
On the oth.,. hand, the Athenians loured from pllhlic office those cili
un, 10 whom disobility pension, "..,re poid,l6 That probably TCAc<:ts
a peuilia' \'iew of dil.illoility, bul it may also be to .ymbolize the
degrading effects KlflletinlCS (though rIOt follow when
commuNlI provision lakes the form of public ch..rily
The Extent of Provision
Di.t,ibuti.., justice in lhe .phere of OWlrity hu twofold
meaning, il ref.,.., firll, to thr recognition of need seeornl, to the
recognition of membeflhip. Goods must be providrd 10 r>eedy memo
beTs because of their 'leedirleSl, but they mUll also be PI'O\-'ided in luch
"';I)' a.lo sUllain lheir membership. II's not the case,l>OII'e'..,r,
membefl h..\'e a claim on any .pecific.set of good. Wdfare righto are
fixed only when a communily adopt. lOme PJ(lgT3m of mutual p<OVi
lion, 'There a'e slrung to be made that, uTKkr gi.'en histori.
cal condilionl, a progr.Im should be But thac:
are not argumenls about indi,.;dual righll; Ihe)' are a'gument, about
the eharacter of a p.arlicuLar political community. No one's lighb "..,re
7
8
Security and WelFare
violated beause the Athenians did not alloode public Funds for the
ed\ll';ltion of childlen. Perhap' they beli....-ed, and pelhap' they ...'ele
light. the public life of the city was education enough.
The 'ight that memben can legitimately claim is of a gener.JI
sort. It urnloobtedly includes some of the Hobbesian right to
life, some claim on communal resources for b;are IUbsistence. No com-
munity can alJo.., its rnemben to to death when there is food
a\'aibbk to feed them; no can stand passi\'ely by at such
a time-----not if it elaims to be a p'emrnent of Of by or fof the commu-
nity. The of Brilain's ru1el's during the Irish potato famillC
in the ,8405 is a SUTe !-ign that Ireland ....:n a colony, a COllqllCled land,
no real part of Creat Br;tain.l7 This is not to justify the indilfel-
ence....-llle has obligations to colonies and to cooqueled peopla-but
only to suggest that the lTish would have been beller ser.ed by a gov-
ernment, virtually any go.ernment, of their own. Perhaps BUlke Clme
closest to describing the fundamental right that is at stake here when
he wrole: "Co-.'ernment is a contrivance of human wisdom to plovide
fo< human "''anls, r.len a light that these wanh should be: ",ovided
fQf by this ,,"'isdom."18 It only has to be said that the wisdom in
tion is the WisdoUI not of a ruling class, as Burke seems to have thought,
but of the Cllmmunity as a whok. Only its culture, ill charaCtCI, its
common understandings can define the "wants" that ale to be pro-
vided for. But culture, character, and oommon ur>dcrstandingt are not
they don'I operate automatically; at any particulal moment, the
citiuns must argue about the edcnt of mutual provision.
They algue about the meaning of the 50cial OOIItracl, the original
and reiterated COOCI"ption of the sphele of security and ,,"'c1fare, This
is not a hypothctical Or an ideal contnet of the.lOrt John Rawls has
described. Rational men and women in the Ofiginal poiIition, ckpril'ed
of all particular knowledge of their soo::ial standing and cultural under
standing, would probably opt, as Rawu has argued. fo< an e<jual distri
bution of whatevel gQOds they "'CTC told they needed.l" But this fO'I_
mula dodn't help "ery much in determining what choices peopk "'iIl
make, 0< what choices they should mak once they know who and
"'here they are In a world of particubr cultures, competing r:on<:q'>-
lions of the good, 5ClIrcc resources. elusi\1' and neMs, there
isn't going to be a singk formula. Uni\'ersally applic;lbk. 1bere isn't
eoing to be a .iRg\e, universally path that carries us fTOm a
notio" like. say, '"fail shares" to a oornplehcmi'1' list of the goods to
which that notion applies. rail shares of what?
Justice, tranquility, defense, _Ifare, liberty: that is the lisl pro-
79
SPHERES OF' JUSTICE
vKkd by the United States Constitution. One could eonstrue it as an
arumsli,.., lilt, but the terms are ''agile; they pro"ide at best a Itarting
point lor publiedeNte. Thestandard appeal in tlut deNle is toa
idea, the Burkcian general right, whieh takes Cln determinate 10=only
under determinate conditions and requires different SOfts CIi provision
in different times and placa. The idea is simply that "'e have come
together, lhaped a community, in order to cope with dilliculties and
dangeD that ".., could not cope with alonc. And IJI() whene>'.... "1: find
O\Il'Sl:Wa confrooted with dillirullies and dangl'JS of that 5Ort, "'e Io:d;
for communal auisl<llltt_ Iu the balaocc of iodi"idual and col1ecti>'e
ClJpacity changes, IJI() the kinds CIi auistaocc that are Io:d;ed for change,
'00
The history CIi public heahh in the West mi&ht ll$efuUy be told in
these tern,s, Some minimal provision is very old, as the Crc:.:lr. and lew
ish examples suggest; the measures adopted were a fUflCtion of the com
munity's semeof danger and the elieRt of its mr'dicalknowkdge_ (h'e,
the years, liviRg Cln a larger salk bred new dangers, and
scientific generated a new sense 04 dang... and a new a"'llrer;ess
of the possIbilities CIi coping. And then groups of citizens pressed for
a wider program of oommuRal pRWision, e>ploiting the new science
to reduce the rilb of urNn liFe, That, they might rightly say, is what
the community is lor. A similar algument can be made in the case of
social security. The ,'try success of general pW\'isioll in the field 01 pub-
lic health has utellded the lpall 01 a normal human life and
then allJl() the lpan 01 yeaD during: which mCn and women are unable
to luwortthemsehoa, during which they are physically but molll often
not lOCially, politically, or mor.olly i<lC3pacilaled. Once again, IUpport
/Of the diJabled is one CIi Ihe oldesl and "lOft a.ml1non fOfn" 01 parlieu-
lill provision. But oow it is leqllirc:d on a much larger Kille than C'o'er
before. Families ale overwhelmr'd by the roIlI of old age and look for
help 10 the political community, KuetJy what oughl to he do"" will
be a matter CIi di.pute. WOfds like health, dangr', KirnCJ, ",..,n old
as" ha>1: ..cry differenl meanings in diffe"-,,t cultures; 00
specifiC:Olion is possible, But this il not to Jay Ihat it won't be clelr
enough to the people in",,*,-ed that something-some palliClIlar sel of
thingJ--OUght 10 be dor>e.
Perhaps lhese examples ale too usy. Disease il a geocralthlut; old
age, a genc,..l prospect. Not so unemplo)'lJIC1lt and JIO"erty, which
I"obably lie beyond the ken of many "'elllo-do people. The poor nn
llways be. irolatcd, locked into ghetlos, blamed and puni.hed lor their
o",n misfortu"". AI this point, it might be s;lid, p"",'i.ioR C'''' "" longer
Security and Welfare
be defended by in'ming 3nything like the "meaning" of the iONl con-
h;tet. But let uS look more c...,ly 3t the easy cases; for, in fact, they
in,-o!>'e 311 the difficulties of the difficult ones, Public health and social
security in,'ite lU to think of the political community, in T. H Mar-
sh311's phrase, as a "mutual bcne6t dub,"JO "U prO\'ision il reciprocal;
the membcn t3ke turns prO',iding and being JlfO"ided fOl', much as "r-
islotle's citiU11s take turns ruling and being ruled. This is 3 luppy pic-
ture, 3nd one th3t il readily un.dcrstmdable in contraetwhst ternu. [t
is not only the case 1lut rational agents, knowing nothing of their spe-
ci6c situation, would agree to thC$C forms of JlfO"ilion; the real
agents, the ordinary ciliuns, of C\"<:ry modern democracy have in fact
agreed to them. The two are, Of so;t appears, equally in the interests
of hypothetical and of actual people. Coercion is only necessary in prac-
tice beause some minority of actual people don't understand, or don't
consistently undentand, their real interests, Only the recklcss and the
impro\"ldent need to be forced to conhibute-and it can always be Aid
of them that they joined in the social contraet precisely in order to
protect themse]""" against their own reo:kle:ssness and imp,O'ide,'tt.
In fact, the rCOlsons for coelcion go much deeper than this;
the political community is something more th3n a mutual benefit dub;
and the ntent of commun31 provision in any given case-wlut it is
aoo what it should be---is determined by cot>ceptiom of need tlut are
more problematic than the argument thus far .uggelts,
CoTliider again the case of public health. No communal provision
is possible hele without the constraint of a wide range ol activities prof-
itable to individual membe" of the community but threatening to
some larger number. Even something so simple, for aample, as the
prO\'ilion ol uncontaminated milk to large urb;an poptJbtiom requires
ntensi,'e public control; and COIltrol is a politicalachie\"<:mcnt, the re-
$\lit (in the United States) of biller struggles, O''el many yem, in one
city 3ftel anolher.
ll
When the farmers or the middlemen olthe d1iry
indmtry delended I,..", enterprj"", they were certainly acting ,.tionally
in their (),'n inlerell.!. 11H: same thing can be gid ol other entrepre-
neurs who defend themlC!.," against the cooslrainb ol inspection, '''i--
ubtion, aoo enforcement. Public activities of these lOfts may be of the
highnt ,..lue to the rest ol us; they 3re <>ot of the highest \'lIlue to 311
of us.lbough I ha'"<: public health eumpleof general provi-
sion, it is provided only at the upensc of some mem\Je.. ol the a;llnmu
nity. MOffl)'o'el, it benefits most the most 'ulnenble of the others: thus,
the special importance of the building code fl)< those who he in
CJr),...ded tenements, and of anti-pollution 101.... for those who Ii"e in
8.
SPHERES OF' JUSTICE
the vieinity of smokesbcks or .... drains Social
security, too. benefitl the most mcmbers, C"en ii, lot
I ha,'c suggested, the p;lymcnts thc l;Imc 101 .... CI}'
one. F'or thc ..dlto-t can, Of cf them think they COin, help
thclT\SoClvcs even in limc of houblc would much prcler not 10 be
forced 10 kip d..,. Thc lruth is ""noWl cffort com
provi$io!I (insofar tbe incomc of tbe community dcri'"CS from
the wc;llth of ill membell) il redistributivc in n Thc benefits
it provides noI, IlJielly IpC::Iking, mutwL
Or>c'C rational aeenll ignOfant of their own social
",'OUld agJCC ID .och a ledi$tributiclll. 8utthey would aglcc too easily,
arK! theil agreement doesn't help UI undel$l;md what 10ft of redistri
bution is required: How much? F'Of what pu!pOlla?ln "",ctitt.edistli-
bution is a politicl maller, and the coercion it in''O...<'5 is tor...hadowed
by the conflicts that .age OVCl its characlCl and eden!. E,-ery p;lrticub.
mc;u;u.c il pWlhed through by IIOmc COIlJitioll of p;llticub. interestl,
But the ultimate appal in these conflicts i$ not to the p;lrticubr inter-
cs:1I, noI even to a public interest concciYed;u theil sum, but to collec.
tive ''lIlues, shaled understandings of membenhip, haith, food and
sheltCl, work Iud Iei....rc. The conAicll IhemRJ"cs a'c oftcn focu$Ctl.
at O"Cltly, on questiolll of fact; the understandings a.e allumed
ThUl the entrep.eneurl of the dail}' indusll}' denied al long they
could thc connection bctwt'CII contaminated milk and tuberculosil.
8uI onee that connection was established, it ....al difficult fC)r thcm 10
deny milk shook! he inspted: Ct1I'Nt emptor wal noI, in such
a caR, a plausible doctline_ Similarly, in the debates ave, oId-agc pen.
sions in Clc;lt 8.itain, politicians mostly agreed on the traditional B.it
ish ''lIlue of selfhelp but di..grccd shalp!y about whcther -lelf.hclp waI
still pouible through the established ....o.king-dass r.iendly societies.
These were real mutm[benefit clubs organized on stliclly voluntary
basil, but they seemed about to be ovcrwhelmed by the gro....ing num-
ben of thc aged. [t became increasingly apparent that the members
simply did no! ha,'c the 'C$OIJICeS to protect themsekts and one an
oIh-er f.om poverty in ok! age_ And few 8.itish poIitic;"ns ""cre pie-
p;lred to l;Iy that they should be leIl unprotected
H
Here, then, is a more preciR account of the soc;"! contract: it il an
agreemcnt to .edil!.ibute the (C$OIJrccs of the members in accordance:
with lOme shared understanding of theil needs, sub;ectlo Ollgoing po:>-
liticl determination in detail. Thc cout.act i. a mo.al bond. It con
nects the Itron, the weilk, I"" lucky and thc unlucky, thc rich and
the jlOOf, creating a union that t.anseends all differences of intc'ell,
Security Welfare
its Jhength from hiJtory, culture, religion. Llllguage, so
011 Argulnents about ronl1nunal prO\lision are, at the deepn.11C'e1, ill-
terprdatioos of that union. 1be cbser and more indusi,'!: it is, the
wider the le>g:nition of the the number of -.ciol goods
thai ale drawn inlo the sphere of security and weiFare.
14
I don't doubt
that ITJ<Iny rommunities ha\'!: redistributed resources on ''1:1')'
different priocipks, not in accordantt with the needs 01 the members
generally but in with the power of the wellborn 0< the
"'l:alth)', BUI tbat, as Rotweau suggested in hi. DilC'Oune On Inequality,
ITJ<Ikes a fraud of the social contractS' In any communit)', where re-
IOUrcel are talen a"'lI)' from the poor aoo gh'l:Tl to tbe rich, Ihe rights
of the poor ue heing violated. The ,,'isdom of the rommunity is not
engaged in pfO\lding for their wants Political debate about the nalule
of those: wanls ",ill ha\'!: to be I"'l:presscd, else the fraud will quidl)' be
e.posed. \Vhen all the memben share in the business of interpreting
the -.cial contract, Ihc resull will be a more or less Iystem
01 romrnunal prO'l'ision, If all states are in plincipk .....elFare sbtes, de
mocracies are most likely to be welfare states in practice. E\'en the imi
tation of democracy "'clfarism, in the "po:ople's delllOCTa
cia," "'here thc state p.otects till: people against C''t'f)' disaster except
those that il inAicts on them itself.
So democratic citizens argur: among themsel\'cs and opt for many
diAefClltllOrts of secu.ity and ,,'elfare, extending fa. beyond my "easy"
eumples of public health and old.age pensions. The category of socially
recoenized needs is For the po:ople's JeI1se of what thcy
need er>CQml"'$$I:J not only life itself btlt also the good life, and the
appropriote balantt betwttn these two is itself a mailer of dispute. The
Athenian drama and the Jewish oteademies both financed with
1llOOe)' that could ha\'e been spent On housing, lIay, or on medicine.
But d"una and edocalion "'ere taken by GII:eb and IN'S to be not
merely I:f1l1arlttmcnls of the common life but \;tal aspects of COfiunu
nal .....c1f3.e. r "'lint to sir,... again that these are not ilK!imenlJ that
c:::ln ealily be called inconcct,
'3
SPHERES OF' JUSTICE
An American Welfare State
\\'11:It 50rt of communal provi.lion is in society like our
ownr It', not my purpose here to anticipate the outcomes of demo-
CT1Itic debate 01' to stipulate in detail the extent or the fOl'ms of provi-
sion, But it can be argued, I think, trn.t the citizcn< of a nwrn indu5-
trial delI\OCTllCY owe a great deal to one and tbe argument will
provide a UKfuI oppol'tunity to tC5t the critical force of the principles
I have defended up until now; that C"ery political community mud
attend to the rlttd5 of in membe1'5 as they oollecti\'ely understand those
nttds; thilt the coods thilt are dutributed must be distributed in propor-
tion to need; and that the distribution must TCCOinize and uphold the
ur><krlying I:<jlJOflity of membership. These: are vel)' general principles;
they are meant to apply to a wide range of any com-
munity, in fad, where tbe membenareeach other's I:<jlUls (beloreCod
0< the law), 0< where it can plausibly be Aid that, howC\"eT they are
treated in lact, they ought to be each other's equals. Th.. plinciples
prohably oo,,'t apply to a community organized hio:rarch;e"lIy, as in
Indi<!, wher.. the fruit, of th.. harvelt are distributed not
acrofdinll to need but XCOl"ding to Cfute-----or Loui.! Dumont
ha. wriltCTI, where "the needs of each ar.. concei\'ed to be difF..r..nt,
dcpmdingon [hi.!l caste" Ev..ryooe i.l guarant.-ed a share, so Dumont's
Indiom villag.. i,slill a _lfaT<" stat .., "a sort of cooper:oti,... where th.-
main aim is 10 "mUl.. the .ubsislCTIce of....-..ryon.. in occordance with
his social function," bul not a ......llar.. slate or a coopcrati,'" ...hose prin-
ciples w.. can r.-adily (Bul DurrlOllt does noll..11 us how
food is supposed to be di.llributed in lim.. of $C<Ircity. II .. subsistence
standard ulhe sam.. fo< everyone, lhen ""Cal'C back in a familiar world.)
Clearly, th.- .. principles apply to th.. citittns of th.. Uniled
Stat..,; and Ihey ha>'" consid.-rable force: h..r.. because of the affluence
of the community and the uparniv.. understanding of indi"idual n.-ed.
On the other hand, th.- United StatC5 curr..ntly maintains on.. of the
shabbier syst..ms of communal provision in the WC5tcm "'Orld. This
is 10 for a variety of rcallOfll: the community of citizenJ is looJ.-ly orga-
nized, various dhnic and religious groups run ......lfar.. progr,lmJ of their
own; th.. ideology of selF-r..liance and opportunity il
widely accepted; and the mov..mcnll of the left, p,ulicularly the labor
m(ni.. mcnt. ar.. I'Clati\'Cly ""eak.)1 [)em(l('Tlllic decision making rellttts
lhese realities, ther.. is nothing in principle wrong ",ith thaI. NC\, ...-
8,
Security Welbre
theku, the est:lblished pattern of pr()\'isioo doesn't measure up to the
internal ,equiremenll of the .phere of security we1l..e, and the
common uridentandin&S of the citiuns point to\\--ard a more elaborate
pallern, One might argue that American citizern Ihook! work to
build stronger and more intensely npe,ienced political ecmmunity.
But this a,gument, though it would have dist.ibutive cooscqllCflCC$,
is not, properly speaking, an argument about distribllti\'e lustice. The
question is, What do the citiu:ns one another, the commu-
nity they aetuaU)' inhabit?
Conlider the example of criminal justice. The actual distribution of
punishment.l is an issue [ up in a IateT chapleT. Bul the auton-
omy of punishment, lhe rtainty that people being punished fof
the'ight renOnS those depends upon the distribution
of rcsourttS within the legal l)'Item, If acctlsed men women a,e
to their rightful share of lust ice, they must fint a rightful
share of legal aid Hence the institution of the public defendet and
the assign.ed OO\Insel: iUllt as the hungry must be fed, the w:osed
must be defeMed; aoo they mull be defended in proportion 10 their
But no impartial of the A11leTican legal 11'ltem today
e;ln doubt that the ne<:essary to mttl this stanclard a.e not
generally a\-ailable.
l8
The rich arid the poor a'e treated differently in
American OOlIrh, though it is the public rommitment of the rourts to
tleat them the same, The argumentlo. a more generous p<O\'ision foI
kr,.,.. fTOm that rommitment. [f jUltice il to be P<O\'ided at all, it must
be p<O\'ided equall)' fOf all accused citiuns ""ithout ,eprd to their
..'ealth (or their ':ICC, religion, po!itie;ll partisanship, aoo (0). I don't
mean to the practical difficulties here; bill this, again,
is the infl<" logic of p<O\ilion. and it makes for an ex<lmple
of mmplex equality, For the inlleT logic of rC'\\-ard and punishmrnt is
diffcrent, requiring, as I shall IateT, that disIJiblltionl be propor-
tionalto des<ort and not to Punishment is a good tholt
ought to be monopolized by those who Ioa"e K'ted badly_nd who
ha,-e been found guilty 01 (after a 'e!OUrceful defense),
Legal <lid nilc:$ no theorelic:ll problems bcause the institutional
StlllCtU'es for pro'liding it al,e:l<iy exist, ...d what is at stake is only the
readir>el$ 01 the community to up to the Iocic of it.l own institu
tionl, I want to turn now to an area whe,e AmeTican inltitutionl a.e
unde,dc',e\oped, and where eommurl<ll commitment is prob-
lematic, the subject of eontinuing political dehate: the area of medical
care. But heTe the argument for a m<)Je nlem;"e pn>Yisioo mUll moO',e
mO'e sJo,.'ly. It isn't enough to summon up a ",ightto treatment." I
85
SPHERES or JUSTICE
$hall to reolOUnt something of the hiltor)' of medical core as a social
good.
Th, Cu, of M,diCtli Co"
Until .ea:nt times, the practi of medicine was mostly a '""tter
mf,ee enterprise. Docton made diagnosis, gaye thci' advice,
healed Of didn't heal thei, p.:Itiffih, fur a fee, Perha\ the private char-
actcr of thc cc:ooomic rcbtiomhip M$ ronr>e<;ted 10 intimate char.
acter of the professional 'ebtionship. More likely. 1 think, it had to
do ....ith the ,ebti.'e of medicine itll:lf. Doctors could, in
fact, do very little fOJ their p.:Itients; aoo the rommoo attitude in the
face mdisease (as in the face of povmy) ..-as a stoical fatalism. Or,
popular remedies ...'ere de-'e1opcd that we'c not much less effective,
sometimes more effective, than those p,escribcd by established physi-
cianS. Folk medicine sometimes produced a kind of COfIlmllnal prlwi-
sion at the Iooillcvel, but it ....s equally likcly to generate nCW placti
lioners, charging fees in thei, turn. Faith heating folloooo'ed a similar
p.:Itlern,
Leaving these lw<> aside, we nn say thai the distribulion of medical
calC has historically rested in the hands of thc medicaJ profession, a
guild of physicianl that eLita at leall from the time of Hippocr:ltcs
in the fifth century B.C. The guild has fllnctioocd to exclude ur>ronlfCn-
tional p,actitiooels and to rcgubte the number of phYlicians in any
givcn community. A genuinely !Tee ma,ket has n....'e' been in the inleT-
cst of ih members, But it is in the interesl of the members to &ell thci'
services to individ.....l p;ltients; and thllS, by and brge, the wellto-do
ha'-e bttn well cared for (in ae:cofllance with the: e:urrenl understanding
of good carc) and the poor hardly caled for at all In a fcw urban OOm-
munitie5---in the medieval Jewish oommunities, for c:xample--medical
sen'ices "'eK more ....idely aVJIibble. But they wCre virtually unkllOYo'n
for most people most of the lime Docton ....e:re: the servants of the:
rich, often atta-c:hcd to noble houses aoo roy::al courts. With lepld to
this practical outcome:, howeveT, Ihe prolessioo has al....ys had a collec-
tive: bad COnsCieflCC. FOI the disliibuti'"C logic of the p12Ctice of medi-
cine seems to be this: that care lOOuld be propoltionate to illness and
not to "ealth. Hmce, there have al....ys been doctor., like those hon-
ored in ancient Greece, who sel'\'ed the poor on the side, al it ,,'cre,
even while they earned their living from p.:Iying patients. r-,'lost doctors,
p'esent in an emergency, still feel bound 10 help the victim without
'Cpr<! to his material statuI. Jt is a '""Iter of professional Good Sarnali
86
Security ilnd Wel/ilre
tanism that the COllI "[s there a doctor in the home?" should not go
unansw<'red if there is a doctor to ilnSWer it In ordinary lirllC$, ilOII"CVCr,
there was lillie call for medical hdp, largely bealUC there was little
faith in in aetual hdpfulllCSS.....nd 110 the bad conscience of the proles-
.ion "":IS oot echoed by any political demand for the replacement of
frcc enterprise by comnlurul pro...ision,
In Europe during the Middle Ages, the rure 01 soul.! was public, the
cure of bodies pri.-ate. Today, in 1TIOJt European countries, the situa-
tion is rC\'Cued. n.e rC\'enal is best ap1aincd in tern" of a rna"" shift
in the common understandini: of souls aoo bodies: we ha\"C bt conn-
dene<' in the Cure ollOOls, and "'"C hale rome ilJCTe;lsingJy to bdiC\'e,
C\'CIl1o hoe obsosed with, the cure of bodia Descartes's famous d1a-
r:ation th<rtthe "presen'ation of health" was the "chief of all goods"
may be taken to symbolize the shift--()f to herald it, for in the histOf)'
of popular attitudes, Dacartcs's Discourse On Method came I'CT)'
early,lQ Then, as eternity receded in the popular consciousness,longev-
ity mO'ed to the fore..... mong medie..';I1 Christians, eternity was a lO-
dally recogniud need; and .,'ery effort was made to see that it was
...iddy aoo equally didributed, that C\'CT)' Chri!lian had an equal
chance at san-ation and dernallik hence. a church in C\'Cry p;lIish.
regular sef\"iees. catechism fa,- the yo,Jni:, rompulSOl)' communion, .:md
110 OIl. Among modern citizens, longevity is a $Ocially recognized need;
IOd increasingly e"ery effort is made to see that it is widely and equally
distributed, th<rt .,'ery citizen has an equal chance at a Jo"g and healthy
life hence doetors and hospital.! in el'Cry district. regular check-up!,
health education lor the young, COmpulsory ,1rCCinatioo, and 50 011.
Parallel to the shift in altitudes, and following I1lIturally from it, was
a shift in institutions: from the chmch 10 the clinic arM! the "ospil;rL
But the shift has beo:n gradual: a slow dC\'elopmenl of commul1lll inter-
est in medical care, a sJoy,' erosion of interest in religious The first
major form of medical prO\'ision came in the ara 01 JlfC'"Cntioo, not
of tl'CatlTlCflt, probably bec.llUC the farnler involved no
with the prerllglltil"CS of the guild of physicians. But the beginnings
of pfOlision in the area of treatment ",'ere roughly simultaneous with
the great public health campaigm 01 the laic ninetC('llth century,
the two undoobtedl)' reftect the saUle semiti,ity10 questions of physical
n.e liccrlsing of physicians, the establishment of state medical
schools and urban clinics, the fillering: of tar money into the i:'eat ,-01-
untary ho<pil;r1s: these meaSUre! J>Crh<rps, 0Il1y marginal inter-
ference wilh the profession-tOlllC 01 them, in fact. reinfa,-ced ilJ
guiJdlike character; but they already represent an important public
8,
spnERES OF JUSTICE
commilmelll.
OO
lfl<k.rd, they
an be fulfilled 001)' by luming ph)'SicialU, 01' SOfJle number
of them, inlo public physicians(as snulJe. tumed the'n
seh-a inlo court ph)'sicians) by or ronslr;sining the m3r
kct in medic:lJ nl"e. But befofe J defend llul Ir.lnsfOf"",tion, I ,,;snt
to strCS'l the un3\"Oidibility of the c:ommitTTlCflt from which il follows
\Vh.1t lus h:lpper>ed in tm, modern work! is limply thai diJasc itself,
e\= when il is endemic than epidemic, h3s 00I11C' 10 be stefl
as 3 pl:agt>e. And since the pbguc: nl\ be dalt ....ilh, it musl be dall
wilh. People ....ill not endure ",lul they no lOllger believe lhey Iu\-e
to endure. wilh tuberculosis, e:mttr, Of f3ilure, oo..e\'cr,
rc<luira rommon effort. Medical rCJe3rch il the trC'3t
ment of m'lIIy p;lrticubr dilC':lSC'S lies f3r beyond the retOIJ,ttS 01 Ofdi-
n3')' citizens 50 the communily mosl step in, 3ny dcmocr:llic com
munity ....i11 in Ilep in, more Of less \igoroosly, more os less
effeclively. depellding Of) the ooleome of p;lrticulll politicll hallles.
Thus, the rokef the American (or gO\-ernIT\C11h, for much
of the is 3t the ,t3te local levels): subsidizing rcsellrch, tlain-
ing doclors, PfO\-'iding alld c<luipmCtlt, rcgul:aling \"Olunl3')'
iOlu""a: u'><k......'iling the "(;Ilmenl of the vcry old. An this
reprC'SC1lts "'the COIltr;vance of human wimm 10 PfQ\'ide lor human
wantl" Alld all that is 'c<luiml to make it morally necessa')' il the de
\"'Clopmeni of a "wallt" so widely and deeply Felt tlut it COIn pbusibly
be ",id th.t it is the want not of this or thai penon .Ione but of thf,
community gellC'r.ll1y-.a "human want" e',-en though cultur.llly srn.ped
strc:cd.
But ona: communall'fO\'ilion begin', it il .ubied to furthe, moral
C(Mlstl;linls, it must provide "'hat is "wanted'" eqlllllly to .11 the memo
bers of the community; and it must do so in ways that rcspttt thei,
membership. Now, even the pallcm of medical prov;.ion in thf, United
St. Ie<, though it stops far sho.-t of a national health st,vice. is inte"ded
to provide minimally decent nrc to.lI who need il. Once ptIb\ic Funds
are committed, public officials C.IO lurdly inlend anything less. I\t the
A'pli,. ll<mord WillionIo', <!o;m ,ko, ,... """ _, <0;''''''' lot 'M.....,hlr"'" 01
-lo<.l <0'" d -.1" Rob<.1 _ t>l,.11)- "",,"', ,loco> "Iho! 'M
po-. <riI....,. b 'M _ 01 ba<bmnI 0<f>1<a ;, .......7' ""'''''po ;, '*""
.... or,....x " to ,lie -........, .,.r 01 .... _f. in ....I ,......
"'" foIboo U "...so to ,II< IOtioI m<"';" 01 ,iI< ,Il< pIorc 01 til< I"<><l
...,,11"'<0 .. ,iI< W. 01 pori;,.... _ 01 JlOOI'I<. 0... <an 0><';.. 01 _ Iootlo
t.oimot. ,od. 010 ll,r>l "",,-.....I ......- ..,ot h< oIl!'
t<qWod, bot d """" ,hon ,R _",'><1 , DO """ .
I ..... bn-n hdp.d .. d """', , -. by iri< 01 -.-... S< , odopt
........ -""".....' ....hoI- .
88
SecUlily and Welfare
same time, no..'C"el, no politieal decision hn)"d been made 10 chal-
lenge dilCCtly lhe system of hee enterprise in medic:ll C111e. And 110 kong
n thai system nills, wealth will be dominant in (this pari of) the
sphere of security alld welfare; individuall ,",'ill be cared fOi in propor.
lioo to theil ability to pay ami not 10 their need for care. In facl, Ihe
situation is more compln than that formula suggests, for communal
plO\'ilion alre:ldy encroaches upon the flee milke!, and the \'CT)' sick
ami the \'er)' old sometimes re<:eive enctly the heatmentthey should
But it is clear thai flO"erl}' remains a significlnt hal to adequate
and OOtlSiltenttreatmenl. Perhaps the most telling sl;llistic about con-
tempotary American medicine is the oorrelation of vilits to doctOisand
hospitals "ith $lXill class rather than wilh dqree or incidence of ill
ness. Middle- and upper-<lass Americans are coolideT1lbly mOle likely
to have a pri\'Ite physician ami to lI:I: him often, and OOtlsidenbly less
likely 10 be seriously ill, than ale their pDOI'er fellmo.' citiuns..... Were
ndical clle a lUlu!)", these diserepancies would not mattel moch; but
n IOOIl as medial care becomes a $lXially reoognized need, and as soon
n the community in\'ests in its provision, tiH:y mailer a great ck.I.l. For
then depri''Ition is a double lost-to one's health and to O!le'sllOcial
standing. Docton and hospitals become soch massively impol"t.;mt
features of contemporary life thai to be cut off from the help they pro-
vide is not onl)' dangerous but also degrading.
But any fully dc-,-cloped system of medical provision will require the
conslrainl of the guild of ph}'Sicians. Indecd, this is more generally true:
the provision of Stturity and welfare requi,C$ the conslnint of those
men and ,,'Omen who had previowl}' controlled the goods in qllCStion
and IIOId them on the malket (alStlming, what is by no means alwaj's
true:, that the market predates communli prmision). For ,,'hat
,,'hen this or thaI good to be a needed good is to block or
constrain iu free "change. We also block any other distributil'e proce-
dure that docsn't allen<! to need-popular e1tion, meritocratic COm
petition, pomonal 01 familial pufel'eTl"", ami", on But the market ii,
atkall in the United States today, the chief rival of the sphere of ICCUr
ity and ....elfare; and it is fl'Qt impol"tantly the TT\,;l1ket that is
prc-cmpted by the welfale sl;lte. Nee:led goods cannot be Id't to the
whim, or dislributed in the interest, of some powerful group of owners
or practitionen.
MOlt often, ()\lonership;s abolished, and practitioncr1 au effectively
conscripted or, at least, "signed up" in the public seTVitt. They
fOl' the ake of the lIOCi.ol need and not, Or not limply, for their own
saka: thus, priests foe the like of eternal life, soldier1 for the sake: of
SPHERES OF JUSTICE
natiollal dd"ellSl:, public school tacheu for the of their pupils'
edU(::;ltion. ad wrong/)' if they sell sah'lltion; soldielS, if they
up as mercenaries; taehers, if they cater to the children of lhe wealthy.
Sometimesth.e conscription is only ]rti.:ll, as when 1.:I"')'elS are required
10 be office'$ of Ihe COIJrt, ser.-ing the of jwtice (\.'en ,.,hile they
also snv<: their clienls alld the,IISl:...co. Sometimes the conscription i5
occasional and tempor,lry, a. when lawyelS are required to act a, "as-
signed counsel!" for defend1.nts unable to pay. In these cases, a speci.:ll
effort is mOKle to respect the peTsooal eharacter 01 the 1aW}'e,dient rela-
tionship. I would look for a similar effort in an)' full)' de"eloped natiorull
health senice. But I see 00 rcaSOll to .especl the doetor'l market free-
dom Needed goods are IlOI commoditia. Or, more p":'cisdy, they can
be bouli:ht and sold only imofar as they are al'llilable aoo..'e and beyond
whatever bel of provision is by democratic dcci,ion making (and
(JIlly insof;Jr as the buying and seUing doesn't distort distributions below
that
It mighl be arcued, """-"",er, that the refusallhu. far to finallce a
national hahh service constitutes a politic:ll <.Je<,i,ion by the American
people about the \e-.'el of communal care (and about Ihe relati'-e impor-
lance of other 80'')(1.): a minimal ,tanclard for everyone_namely, the
standard ol the urNn dinies; and free enterprise be)"Ond that That
,",-ould seem to me an inadequate Itandard, hut it ,,'QuId not necessarily
be an unjust <.Je<,i.ioo, It is oot, hOIO'e\-'er, the decision the Ame-ric:ln
people made. The romll\On aPllreciatioo of the importance of
medical care has carried them....,11 beyond that. In fact, federal. state,
and Ioe;rl p-emments now subsidi1,c different of car" for differ-
ent clanes of citizens. Thi5 might be all right, 100, if the cbssification
were conneete<l 10 the purposes of the for e>ample, sokhe..
and defense worken we,e gi_'en speciallrealmenl in time of war. But
the (:OXlr, the middle class, and the rich make an indefensible triage
So long as communal Funds are lpenl, as they currenlly a,e, 10 finance
research, build hospitals, and pay the fees of <!octon in privale p",ctiee,
the """ices that these expenditures ullderwrite must be equally avail-
able 10 all citizens,
This, then, ilthe argument for an expartded American ",dfa'e slale.
It folJow, from the thre<: principles with which J beg:r.n, and it suggests
thallhe tendeney olthose principles is to frce security and """lbre from
the p'C"l'lliling patterns of dominance. l1Iough a varict}- of IIlstitutiorlal
arrangements is possible, the thrce principles would seem 10 fa,'Or pro-
vision in kind; lhey suggest an important argument againsl current pro-
posals to distribute money inilead of e<lucatioo, legal aid, or medical
go
Security and Welfare
care. negatiw inrome ta., fOf eoample, is 3 pbn to increasc the
purchasing JlO""Cf of the poor-a modified venion of simple eqUlllity.4'
This plan \loold not, howe\'cr, 300lish the dominanec: of \I"ellith in the
sph\'!e of nd. ShOft of a radical eq....lizatio.-J, men md lItlmen with
grater purchasing l'O"'er could still, md surely would, bid up the priC'e
of needed S\'I\';ees, 50 the community "oold be: investing, though now
only indir<:<:tly, in individual "."lf3rC but ....ithout filling prO\,sion to
the shape of need. E"cn with equal incomes, haItI. deli'."red
through the market VoOOId not be: to need; nOf lItluld thr
prO\'ide adequately for medical This is not argu-
ment against the neg3!i"e ;ncomc lax, oo..'C'oer, for;t m3Y be: thr elISC
Ihat money itsclf, in m3rkc:t eronomy, is Olle of the thinill' th3t people
need And then it too, perhaps, should be PrO\ided in kind.
I want again that noa priori stipulation of what nee<hought
10 be: recognized is possible; nor is thr,e 3ny apriori "':Iyof determining
apprDpli:lte Je-,.,b of provision. Qur 311ituGes t(WI':lrd medical <;:Ire 1.3''''
a hi.tory; they ha,., bn diRerent; they will be different 3g3in, Thr
form. of communal prO\'i.iOll ch3nged in the pnt and "ill COn-
tinue to change, BUI they don't c113nge automatically as 3tlitudes
change. The old order hn its clients; there is a lethargy in institution!
as ill individUllls. Mo.-eo',\'!, popu[;,r attitudes lie r3rely so dell 3S they
are in the ene of medical cue. So change is alQyI a mailer of politial
argument, org3nizatioo, 3nd .truggle. Allth3t the pIliloJopher can do
is to describe: the basic structure of the argul/I\'Ilts and the constraints
they entail Hence the three lHinciples, which can be: summed up in
a revised "erSiOll of Marx's famous maxim; From each according to hi'
3bility (or his rnolJrccs); to each aOXOfding to his lIOCially recognil.ed
needs. This, I think, is the deepest meaning ofthc social contrm. It
(lilly remain! to wOl"k out the in C'oeryday life. the details
arc C'oel)-thing.
A Note on Charity and Dependency
The long-term eRecl of communal p!O'lision ;s to oonsilict the ... nge
not only of bu)ing 3nd selling oot also of charitable giling. At least
this is true in Ju<loChristi:ln communities, where charity hilS tradi-
tionally a major supplementtolaxes and tithes and a major !OUfce
9'
SPHERES OF J USTlCE
of pool' lelid, In the Wcstloday, it seems to be a general rule lhat
the roore dn'elopcd the .... slale, Ihe 1m room Illae is, alld Ille
Icss motivation the'e is, fO< eharilable gi\ing,.f4 This is not an umantici
polted or evCl'l an unwanted rcsull.lbc aliumcnt against eha,ity is '"CT)'
much like the a,gullleni agaillli beggary. For beeging is a kind 01 per
formance: extracted from the pool' by lhe charitable, and the perfor
manee is unsccrnly--an cspecially polinful example 01 the po ,. of
monry OtItside its spl",.e "Cha.ily wounds him ..... ho rccc:i\es:' rites
MaulS in his cblSic anllllopological essay The Cift, "and 00'
....,hoIe moral efforl is dilectcd lowards supp.essing the uncouscious
harmful poll.on.age of the .ich almolle' ....' Charity can also be a .....ay
of buying inffucoct' and esleem, though this is more likely wilh acts
of IdigiOtl., cdocational, or cultural foundation than it is wilh ordinary
poor lelie!, Act. of thiuort may beobicctiornlble, too; since: il can plau-
sibly be a.gued thai p.iests and bcliC"els, tcachm and pupils, and citi-
zens gerlClally-not men and "'Omcn-should make the cru
cial decisions in lhe a.eas of .cligioo, cdocalion, and eullure. Bul [ wanl
10 focus here only on th.. immcdiat.. USoe of wealth to help those in need:
the cbllk meaning of Jewish alld Christian eha.ity.
P,i'-ate charily bl'eedl personal dcpcncIcncc:. and then it breeds the
f3miliar vices of dcp.-ndenee, defe.ence:, polSlivily, and humility on Ih..
0"" hand; arrogar>cc: on the other. Jf C(>rnmumal p11J'\'ision is to respect
nlCmbcrship, it mUll aim at O\'Crcoming these: vica. But the mere r....
plaC<"mcnt of pri\OItc charity by a public dole docs oot this effect.
[t may be necessary nonetheless, for lhe community is more likely to
mainl."lin a stead)', consistent, and impc:r3Ofl31 program of lelid and 50
to help the poor in proportion to lhei. needs Relid by ihelf. howe"er,
does not produce: indcpcndcncc:: Ihe old pollte"'s 'IlIvi"e; the poor ale
still defe.enlial, pollSi , aoo humble, while public officials take on the
a'rosaoct' of their po te pTct1ecnsors, Heoct', the impDI"'nce of pro-
(p'lImllik.. those Ihat Mai'[lonida: .ecommended, that aim at setting
up the poor on their own, "habilitation, .elT3ining. lubsidizing small
bulinascs, and 110 on. Work itself is QfIC at the things that men and
women n.-ed, and that Ihe community mull help p.ovitk ""Ile......e.
they a.e unable to prO\'ide it for themselvcs and for one another.
But this, too, l<"qui.es c<:ulralizcd planning and admini.lration and
ill\';les the intCT\'CntioOl at pbnneu and admini51raton. It i1 also im-
portant that any PfOIlT3111 of communal prO\'i1ion leave room lor "".ious
formlof local self-help and wlunlary association. The goal il pol.ticipol
tion ;n communal activilies, the concrcle rca1i1.ation of memllC-uhip.
BUI it's 001 the case that, 6rst, one O\'erromes O'O"elty and then, that
go
aod Welfare
having achiC"ed, th.c formc.ly pool' join the political and cultmal
life of the rest olthe community; lather, the struggle. ag:Iiost l'O"erty
(and apinst C"ery other $OI't of ndiness) is 011e of those: adi"tics in
many citizens, pool' and not so JlOOI' and ,,'Cllto-do alike. ought
to And this means that there is a place, CVCfl in a commu
nity aiming at a (compIcK) equality 01 membe,.. lor what Richard
TitmulS has called "the gift relationship...
Th, xdmpl,s of Blood ,md
Titmuu studied the ways in ""hieh a number of countries collect
blood fOl' hospibl usc, and focust:d chieAy 011 two different waY'
-;>lJIChaSC and voluntary donation His book is a defellsc of donatioo,
both because it is more cfficient (it produces better blood), and because
it expreslC'l and enhances a spirit 01 commuoal altruism. The argullIent
is lich and rewarding, but it "'Ould be C'-en nlOfe so had TitmUSII dC''CJ.-
oped a scrond comparison-lor which, tw..'e'er, he C(ltJId ha,'C found
no practical examples. Ooe can imagine another fo,-m of plO\'ision,
namely, a tu on blood, a that C"eryone cont.ibut.. so
many pints a yar. This would greatly impfO\'C Ihe wpply sin it would
iocreasc the numbe. 01 doroors and enable medi<:al authorities to choose
amoog them, collecling blood OIlly from the healthiest citizens, much
as "'e consclipt only the able-bodied foo military SCfVice. Titmusswoold
slill "'lint to say, I aped, that the gift relatiotl is better. and not only
becau>e a tax 011 blood ,,'O,Jld rcpresent-------3t least within om cultural
world-too great an a!lack OIl bodily integrity. For it is his purpose
to argue that the.e is a "irtue in pri""te giving. and he "'Ould rightly
doubt that this virtue can be duplicated by public taking, C""n when
the taking is rnaudated by a dclltocrntie dttision.
But this a.gumcnt might hold aoo fOf mont')', at least ",h..n the
amount.. a.e small and the capacit} to contribute is widely shared. The
gift 01 blood does not ,eplesent an ClIercisc of power by tllOSC men .nd
women to gi'-e; nor does it make for deference and dcP<"'l<kncr
'''1Ong those in need Donon acl out 01 a desire to help, and they do
help, and undoubtedly they led lOfTle pride;n having hdped. Butl10llC
of this gmcrata any special iCll-importan, fOf the help is ".;dely a".il
abk. So equolity rodcx:ms charity. Now, what if th.- great majority 01
citizens were equally, or more or leu equolly, COIpable. of conhiooting
moot')' (10 a 'conmlUnity chat," say) lor the sake of their ndial f..l
No doubt, tax.tion \\-ould liill be ncssary, not ooly fOf IIm-lces
like defensc, internal security, and public health, where pfO\';sion is
93
SPHERES OF JUSTICE
geneul, but lor r",my forms of particular provision, too. But tflc,re i.
an argument to be made, '-eT)' much like Titmuss's argument about
blood, lhat private giving should be el\OO\llaged The act of gi"ing is
good in itself; it builds a sense of toHd:nity and communal conlpet<'tlC'e,
And now the connected aetivities of ocg;lnizing fundraising campaigns
and deciding how to sP<'nd the money will in,'Oh-e ordinary citizens
in WOIk lhat parallels arid supplement. the ....ock of officials and
ally iocreua the kvd of p;lrticip;ltion.
And if the argument applies to money, it applies also, and l'\-en mQl'e
imflOlbntly, 10 time and enagy. Thac two are the most '0I1uable gifts
tlut citiuns can make to one al1oOlhe., n.e protessionaliz:olion of "00.
ci.:ll ...mk" has tended to thc::.se amateur officials who presided
ove, communal p.O'o'ision in the Greek and Jewish communities, and
now some modem substitute is SOfdy rtttdaI. Thus, a lettnt Jtudy of
social work in the _lfare Jtatc: "a mobiliZiltion of altruistic capacities
is eSSoClltial if leal help is to be offered 10 those most in nd'.-where
"real help' means communal integration as much as JlfO"ision and re
licf.
4Q
Burcaocra<:y iJ una''Oidlblc gi,-en the siuof contempor.lry politi-
cal communiticsand the range of necasary Sl:T\'icn;. But the .tark dual
ism of profr:ssional carclakell and helplos ......,ds can pose radical
dange.s for democratic government unless it iJ mediated by ,'OIuntccrs.
organiZCTJ, rrprcsentalives of the poor and the old, local f.iends and
ncighboo-s. One might think oflhc gift relationship as a kind of politics:
like the vote, the petition, and the lkmOlUtraliocl, the gilt is a ......y of
giving concrete meaning to the union of citizens, And as ....,lfare gener
any ainu at m'ercoming thedominancc of money in the .phe'e of need,
50 the Kti'-e p;lrticipation of citizens in the blllincss of ....,Hale (and
Jtturity, too) ainu at making sure tlut the dominance of rnoncy is not
simply ,rpbccd by the dominance of political JlO"-'el.
94
,
Money and Commodities
The Universal Pllnder
1"'"0 q"",tiom with regard 10 What can it buy? and.
How is it distributed? The two muot be up in that oroo, 10< only
alln "-c ha"c desc,ibed the sphere within which money operata, and
the SC'OJl<' of ils op<".ations, can we sensIbly address its dishibuliOll. We
.null figure out how import-1n1 money really is
II is best to bq;;" ",ith the ruIIil'': vi<"'W, which is also the common
"iI:w, that money is all-imJlOflaul. the lOot of all evil, the source: of all
good. "MOlle)' ans"'crcth all things," as Ecclesiasl<'S $;Irs. According
to r-Ia"" il illhe un;ven;ll pilr>del', arr.mging scandalow I.'OIJplings be
,,,'ttI1 propk aoo goods, fii<"f}' natural, e-'I''Y IOOr;Il barriel_
Marx mie:ht ha,'c di5CO\..rd this b,. Wing around in nine-
Europe. but in fact he found ;1 in a 11oo*, Shak.-spea.e',
Timon of Athens, where Timon, digging for buried gold, interrogates
hi, ob;.,ct:
Cold1 rcllow, gliuc';I\&. ptecious ,oldl No, cuds,
I 1m no idle "IIb.is!:: lOU, roo 01"", hn.''fil,1
Thus m,,,,h "'this will INk bbd... hite, look f"ir;
Wrong, right; ba.., nobk, old, )'OU!Ii, _ ..,d,
,..Ii"nl.
Why this
Will lug you. p<icst. ""d ...."""11 hom roo' des;
Pluck ,toot "",n", pillow> lro'" bdow lhei, hr:;sdo,
95
SPHERES OF JUSTICE
11>iJ ""no... st,",..,
Will knit and br'Cok blm tb'au..t;
Mah tho: ....., Iq>rooy ador'd; pbc'C
And ,;"", lbem htle, kntt, and aw.oo.tK>oI,
Witb "I>;lto.. 00 tbe bench, this iJ it
ThaI INk.. Ihe wapprn'd w;oo... ,,-cd aga;n,
Sbe wl>on' the spital,house and ulttrous sorcs
Would CI.t the Pie 1'1, this embalm. and .pi"",
To Ihe A"",1 d.>y "iI;n, Come. d.>mncd "",tb,
Thou oommoo wbon: of mankind, that putt'.IOOds
Amonltbe 'out of ""Ii(",", I "m "",h lboo
00 thy ricbl ""tu,e.'
Timoo has been brought 10 a state of nihilistie dc::;pair, but this is nCVl:l
1h<less Ih< famili.r I.nguage of moral criticism, W" don't lik" to sec
priesLs COIruptcd, or stout men robbcd of thcil comfort, Of leligions
broken, or thieves admitted to r.nk .nd title But why shouldn't thc
"w.ppcn'd widow" be spiced to Ih< "plil .pin! Timon is mo>'ed
here by.n aesthetic, not. moral, seruple. The point. oo..""..,r, is the
same, tbe widow ;s lramrormed by he!' mooey. So .re ...., .11, if only
"'e .re rieh "nough. "\Vhat I .m .nd cm do," '.-rote M.rx, "i. not
.1.11 determined by my individll.11ily, I am ugly, but [ (:In buy the
nlOSl beautiful ..'OrrICn for mysdf. Coosequcntly, I .111 not ugly. , .
I .m stupid, bulsiocc money is the ,eal mind of.n things, how Jhould
ito pc:>eI'Or be .tupid?"l
111;S is 110" "righln.tule" of rnoney-pelhaps especially so in a eapi
t.list society, bul more gencraJ1y too. f>1arJ., after aU, "-as quoting
Shakcspcare, and Shakespeare put his ""Qfrn into the mooth ol.n Athe
nian gcnllelllOln Whem'Cf moocy is used, il panders betwttn ir>l'OlTt-
patiblc it breaks inlo "the sell-subsistent entities" of wcialhfe,
it ill\'<:rts indi\'idll.1lity, "il forea COIltr.n;"" 10 embr;occ," But th.t, 01
COUIlC. is whal money is for; Ih.t's why wc use il. It is, in 1TKKe neutral
bnguage, IIIC medium cl ""change-and a gleat coo\-enicocc,
too, for ""ch.nge is centr.llo the lif" "1' share ,",'ilh othe, men .nd
WOllICTI. The Jilllple cgalibrianism of Shakespeare's plebeian ,ebel Jock

. , . tMrholl be 1\0 nlOllqlt'
ha.s ill "",baa in COlltempoosry nldit:ol.nd sociaJisllhought, bull
difficulty imagining whal sort of society it i. meant to suggeJI. Conlem-
porary radicals cert.inly do not intend to ICoalablish a ....ller eronomy
and pay "'<:Irken in kind. Pe,haps they mean to pay w011<:cn in
labor/tiroe chits "xchanl"abk only al sI.le slores. Bul these ""Quid
06
and Commodities
soon be exchange.:! more widely, behioolhe hacks of thc police if fICCCS.
sal)'. And Timon would reappeal, digging f burie.:! chib.
What Shakcspcalc and Man objcded 10 is the uni\'Clloalily of thc
me.iium, not lhe medium Timon Ihinks Ihat uni'"<'rloalit), is of
the nalDlc of money, arid perhaps he IJ righl Concei,'cd abshactly,
money illimply a repre$Cnlalion of \'aluoc. Hffice, it'l not impbuJibk
10 hold Ihat C\'CI)-' 'lIlued thing, C"CT)' social good, Ciln be reprC$Cnte.i
in monetary terml, It may be lhat a ICries of Irambtiom arc nettSUl)'
in order 10 gel from this "alucd thing 10 thai calh valuc. Bullhere il
no m1l1On to think lhat the tl1lnslalions Ciln not be made; ind.ccd, they
arc Imdc C''ery day. Lifc itself haJ a 'lIluoc, and lhen evcnlually a price
(diffclcnt coo<:chllbly for diffclffit tives}-cllC how oould wc C"ffi
think about insurance and compen5;ltion? At thc same time, we also
expctlcncc the uni\'crsaliIY of moncy as somehow Consider
the definilion of thc C)'nic attlibutcd to Oscar Wilde: "A man "'ho
kl'lO'to'$ lhe plice of e"cfything arid Ihe 'lIluc of nothing" lllat defini
tion ;1 too if. not cynical to think that price and 'lIluoc will
IIOmclimcs coir>cidc. But oftcn enough 111011C)' f:lih to represent 'lIluc;
the Irambtionl ale made, but al wilh good poetry, IIOmething is lost
in the proC'Cll. Hence "'C an buy and sci! univenally only if we disre-
gard rcal values; ""hilc if wc attend 10 values, there are thingslhat call
not be bought arid 1I01d. PalticuLII things: Ihc abstract uIl;"cfloalityof
money is undercut and circumlClibed by the creation of thai
can'I casily be priced or that ,,"<' don'I "lInt pliced, Though these valucs
alc oflffi in dilpulc, we an inl'csligale what they arc. II il an empirical
matte. What monetary exchanges are blocked, bann(d, rMented. con-
"cnlionally deplOled?
What MOlley Call't Buy
I ha'"<' already lefened to thc sin of simollY. which ,,"<' might tau as
a par.ldigmatic cumpk of a blocked exchangc. God's offices arc not
fa. sale---not. al least, 110 long as God il in a certain ....y.
In a culturc diffCfffil from Ihat of the Chlillian AgCl, the block
might be broken: iF the gods can be appeased by sacrifica, why can't
they be bribed by glittering gold? In lhe church, hov,'C"CI, this 10<1 of
bribery is ruled out. Not thai il docsn'l occur, bul C\'l'I}-"OIlC knows thai
97
SPHERES OF' JUSTICE
it ought !lOt to occur. It is a clandestinc trade; buyer arK! sdk. alike
....i111ie about what they ha,,., done. Dishor>aty is alwa)"! a uiieful guide
to the existcncc: of moral standards, \Vhcn peopk slleak aeross the
boundary of the Iphere of money, they ad''CTtisc the existence of the
boundary. It', thefe, roughly at the point whe,e they begin to hide and
di...,mble. But $OmC'l;mes it takes a fight to mark off a elear line, and
until then trade i, more or k:ss open, ~ ..101lCY is innocent until pro..:n
guilty,
Omscn'plion in /86J
The Enrollment and Cooscription Act of ,863 established the lint
military draft in Amcrican history. F'rom colonial limes, militia service
~ been compubory-, but thai was a local and ncighborly compulsion.
and it W<lS gcnerally thoughl that r>O one was OOund 10 fight fa, from
home. The Mexican Wal, ror c,;ampk, WU fought entirely ..."ith 'ulun-
teen. But the Civil War was a struggle On a differcnt scale; er>Onr>OlIJ
armies "'-cre mused for lutlle; fire 1'0""" wal grC<lter Ihan co.'CI beforc;
calualties .....:re high; and thc need lor men grew as the lighting dragged
nil. The War [)q>artment--and P,ai<:knt Lincoln, Ion--thn"ghllh.t
a national draft wallhe only way 10 win the wa,." TI,e draft \'''al OOund
to be unlXlP\llar, gi',.,n the Iocalilt traditions of American polities aoo
the dttp antidatism 01 liberal thouiht (and the atent and depth of
<Inti-war feeling). And, in fact, ill cnfllfcemcnt wal billerly ..lt! often
violently oppowi. But it "",t p.-eecdent. Cnmpulsion "'1IS <!clinili,'e1y
lifted Itom the Iocaltn the national ""..:1 where it has sat co.'cr since;
and service in thc federal army, rather than the local militia, was estab-
lished 3$ the obligation of citizens. Om: provision of the ,86; ad, how
co.'CT, set only a negative p.-eecdent-the exemption of .ny man ....~
name "'1IS drawn in the lottery if he \l-1Il willing allt! able to put up
three hundred doIla.. 10 pay a substitute
Exemptions could be purchased for Ihree hundred dollars The pr.rc
tice "'115 001 cnli.ely new, The local n"litias lined men wlln did not
turn out for mUller, and it wu a matte' of flO' ..... rC$Cntment that
well-to-do citizens often treated the line as a tax in lieu of K",ice (while
irupovr:rished citiuns "',."e threatened with dcblOJ's prison).' But lInw
the "'111 and the blondirM:$$ of the ...<lr sharpened the rcscntment. "Docs
(Lincoln) think that po;>nr men ore to gi,,., up thci, lives," alked 0.....
New Yorke., "and let rich men pay three hundred dollars in order to
stay homer"6 It's 001 elea, whal pa,t ,uch opinions played in the
anli-dr;lft riots that rocked Manhattan in July of ,863. after the lint
Money alld Commodities
d",willg allots. III allY case, it was all opinion across the
country that poor should oot to gi,'e up their li>-es; and
though the Llw was Cllforcx:d, oothillg it was C"\'e' Wu
the tr:uk ;mJOttnt ;n the militias, ",ilen lillie mOfC w:lS i"''I)ked
a few hours of drilli..g and mJrching? a political
theorist would say No, and he could oncc haw.: made a stroog app"al
to the republican CO<1viclions of ordirulry .... mericlns. But militia
was radic:lUy de>-:llued in before the Civil War, and
Rousseauian pun;shm..nts for non-atlendalltt--OStrOlCism or .-xpulsion
from the comrnunity-"""ld have 5CCmed .-xcessi,'C to nlQ:'lt Ameri-
cans. Pnhaps the fille captured thc meaning of the scrvice, n.c case
w:lS differctlt, .......'e'o'C., ""hen life itself wa.l al slake
It's not that three hundred dolLlrs "''as too chcop a p.ice, or that
dangcrous jobs could not be IIOld fOf mOfe or less than th:lt amount
O\l the labor Rather, thc state couklnot impose a dangerous
iob OIl IIOme of its cilizens and then Cllempt others for a price. That
claim spoke to a dccp of what it meant to be a citizcn of the
statc--<W betic. 01 this state, the United States in 1863 One could
make the da;m good, I think, even against a maiOfity of thc citizcns,
for the,' might ",'CllmisundeTStaIMllhe logic of In'm institutions
or lailto apply consistently the principles they professed to hold. But
in 1863 il "'-:IS the resistancc and rcscntnleut of masses of citi1.cTIS Ihat
drew the line octween what could be sold and what could ""t. TIle
War Department h:ld ;teted md h:ld hardy atlcnded
to the legislation TIley meant,;1 was late. ",;d, only to provide an "in_
ct'11tive" lor enlistment. 7 In fact, lhey counted on a double incenti"e:
dang... of death was an incentivc fOf mCn to pay thrcc hun-
dred dollars to othcr men, for ""hom thrcc hundred dollars was an in-
centive to aettplthe danger of dcath, [t "'-:IS a bad business in a rcptlh-
lie, for it seemed to abolish the public thing and tum military sen'icc
(......... when the itself was at stake') into a private I",nsaction.
That the Ia", was re-enacted is r>oI to uy Ihat simila. c/iocts
ha,.. 'lOt been lOIJghl. O,dy mdhods ha,.., bn:n 1= di.oct and tIle
'MUlls kss aehieo.-cd, as in tIle case 01 draft dcfn.als 10. col-
lege or 01 bonuseo for conscri"", who But we ac-
now the prillCiple of cqualt.catment-bcause of the politi-
cal llruggles of 1863; and we knO'o'"' roughly where the boundary is that
it ma,h: out So we can oppose even roundaboul and clandestine Cf'OSS.
ings, through legislati>'" of ",h:lt cannot b<'
.e-en:K'ted openl)' TIle ule of exemptions is bkxked exchange; and
IhCK many othe. ules similarly bkxked, atl..as! in pr;n..
99
SPHERES OF' JUSTICE
BluduJ ExcMngn
Let try to .uggnt fun.d 01 blocked exchangn in the United
Stain today. I will lely in p'llt on first 01 Arthur Oiun's
EqUll/ity (lnd Efficitrn:y, Okun dn..." a between the
01 and what call. domain 01 rights."& Rights, of course,
plOof against sale and purchase, and Okun ra"alingly rrca.ts the
Bill 01 Right. as a series of blocked exchanges, But it's not onJy rights
that stmd outli<k the cash ne>:us, \'lheIlC\"r ..." ban the usc of mooey,
...e do indeed establish a right-namely, that this particul:ir p:>d be
distributed in.some olhe, way. But we must nglle about the meaning
oIlhe good before we can say an)thing mole about its righlful distribu
tion. I ....anl1lOWto postpone most of the arguments and simply prO"i<\e
a list of things that cannot be h;td lor mon.ey 1be lis! repeats or anlici
p;1les other ehaplers, for il is a of the sphere of nJOIl.,. that
it abutt every oth... sphtTc; that'. why ;t i .so important to fix its bound
aries. Blocked exchangn set limits on Ihe dominar>cc of ....ealth
I. Human beings cannot be bought and sold. TIle sale of slaves, a'en
of a. a is ruled out, This i. an eamplc of ....hat Okun
calls "prOOibitions 00 exchanges born of dcspeT:l.tioo:" There arc
many such prohibitions; but Ihe others me-rely regulate the labor mar
ket, and I ...'illlisl them separately. This one Cltablishes ....hat is and
is not malkdable not person. 0< the liberty of per-,s, but only thei,
labor llO""r and the things they make. (Ammals are marketable be-
cause we them to be ",'itl>oot personality, C\"'n though liberty
is undoubtedly a .... llIe lor.some of Personal liberty is not, how.
cvcr, proof against conscription or imprisonment; il is proof only
against sale and
2, PoliticalllO"'cr and inllller>cc cannot be bought and .sold CitiZ<:l1s
cannol selllhcir voles or ofiicials decisiom. Bribery is an illegal
tnnsaclion. It ham't always been.so; in many culturCl gifts from clients
and .uitors arc a n(Ilmal p;1,t of the remuneration of office hoIdelS. But
here the gift rclationship ....ill ooly W(lIk--that is, fit into a sct of rllOI'f
Of less cOOelcnl nleanings-when "office" hasn't lully emerged as an
autooomous eood, and hen the line between public and pri,.te is
hazy and indistinct. It -on't work in a rcpublic, which dT:l.W1 thc line
$hnply: Athcn$,lor example, h;td an extraordinary sci of rules designed
to r"P'ess bribery; lhe In(1le ofIiccs citizens shared, the rllOI'e ebbe>-
ntc the rules became.
1o
}, Criminal justice is not lor sale. It is not only Ihal judges and juries
"'"
,.
Mooey and Commodities
c.mnot be bribed, but that services of a malt'"'
of COlll1nUn31 pl"O\'ision-a necessary form of givrn
sar)" S},tenl.
... Fredomof $po:o:ch, prm, ammbly; none of thest: require
money p;I>-mrnts; of them avaibble at auction; t!ley limpl)'
guannt=l to every citi=, It's ottrn gid thai tlte of theJe
frccdorlll COlts money, bul that's flot strictly c;lJe talk
and "'Ouhip are coop; 10 il the mttting of citi""nl; 10 is puhliati<;m
in rrumyof its forms, Quick aeI.S to blge audiCT1cell is but
that is anothff not of fredom itselF but of influcn 3nd power,
5. Marriage and procreation righlJ not for sale, Citizens lim
ited to 0llC' SpouJe and ClInnot purchase 3 license for poI)'gamy, And
illimits ue C"er sct OIl number of childrrn .. can I assume
thatthest: won't take the form that [ imagined in chapter licenses
to gi'''' birth that can be traded on market.
6. The 'ight to Ie,"'e the politic;J1 community it not for gle. The
modem state has, to be sure, an ;nvestmrnt in C''CI)' citizen, and it
might\egitimatdy ,equire lI",t son,e p.art of that i",-estment be ,ep;lid,
in "'0,1 01 rt'IOT>ey, emigration, The Sm'id Union
has adopted a poliey of this sort, chiefly as a mhanism to ba, emig,a
tion altogtther. Used diffe,ently, it seems fai, enough, C'-rn if it then
has diffe'ential dl'ects on IUCttSSful and unsuecttl/ul citi'.ens. But
eiliulll can claim, in thei, tum, that they nc"er sought the health
md education thai they ,cui,-ed (as children, say) arw.! /)'o4-e nothing
in ,etum. That daim underestimates the benefitl of citiumhip, but
nicely captures its consensual And 10 it is best 10 let them
go,OIlC'I' they ha,-c /ullilkd those obIigalion$-in-kir>d (military se,,,i)
that a,e fullilled in any case br young men and ..'Omen woo ucn't ret
fully oonscnti"i cilium. No one can buy his way out of theJe
7, .... nd 50, again, from military service, from jury duty,
ami from any other form of oommul1ally imposed work cannot be sold
by the or hought by 'COl",nS I
gi,..,....
8. Political offices ClInnot be bought; to buy woukl be a kind
of simony, fOl political community is like a chulch ill thit Je11JC,
tlut its services "",Uer a grat deal to its membe,s and .. it 1>0
a<kqmte sign of a capacity to deli.-er those sc"ices, Nor can profcs-
sionalstallding be bought, in",fa, as this is regulated by the communi
ty, for doctors aIld laW)'erJ Om ..-cular p,ielts; .. need to be sure
about thei, qu;llifications.
9 &lsic wdfare sef\'is like police protection or p,i"",ry and second
."
SPHERES OF' JUSTICE
ary schooling ar" purcha...bl.. only at th.- margi",. A minimum il guar.
anteed to ....ny citizen ar>d donn't to be paid for by imlividuaLs.
If poIic.-m..n dun shopkqxn 1 pfot.-ctioo moM')'. they af.. acting
Hk.- gangsters. notlik.- poIittm..n. But shopk.....per-s elIll hif" s.-curity
guards and nightwatehrrn:n fO< th.....k.- of a high.-. ]...,..1of !HOl.-ction
than th.. political community is wining to pay lor. Simitlfly. pafmt.
can hir.. priYolt.. tutOrl for th.-if children or send th..m to pd,"te
$Choob Th.. markd in .lefvica\is lullied to festraint only il it distortl
th.. charact..r. or Iowen th.. v;rlue, of communal prmilioll. (I lhould
al50 not" that 50111<" goods are p;lrliollly pn)\iderl. h..nCl: paftially inlU
bt<:d from market control. 'T'k mechanism here il not the blocked but
lhe lubsidized eKhange_s in th.- cne of rolkge and uni,'ersity educa-
tion, many cultural activitia. tra_...1 gcn.-rall)", and 50 on.)
'0. Desperat.. ,""chang... "'rada of lui fesort:' arc though
the meaning of ckspcration iJ alwayJ opt'n to dispute. Th....ight-hoof
day. minimum wage (a..,s. health and ...fety regulations: all thnc ld
a floor. establish borsie Jtandards. below which work..n C1Innot bid
against on.. another lor employment. Jobs an be auctioned off, but
only ..ithin these limits This is a festDint 01 market liberty lor the
I:Ik.. of $Ofn.. rommunal <:or>pl;on of peroonallibe<ly. a Ka<serlion,
al Jo..',", k>...nof IosJ, of Ih.. born on .J.very.
J ,. Prizes and OOr>On of many 5OIt ptIblic and pri""t... .,.. not a,,,il
.bl.. fOI purchase. Th.. CongfClJional f..'lrdol of Honor elInnot be
bought. nOf call th.. Pulilzc1' Pfize Of Ih.. MOIl Val""bl.. Pia)'.., A.... rd.
or ...."" th.. trophy given by a local ChamberofCommet'Ce lolh.. "bUJi-
nessman of the year." C..lebrity is cert.inly lor IOlle, Ihough Ih.- pritt
COIn be high. but a good name is nol. Prestige, esteem. md statUI staM
5Om.......h..re between th<"S<" flo'O. Money iJ implicated in th";r di.tribu-
lion; but e'.-..n in our 0Wll soci.-ty. it i. onl)' 5Omdim", determinative:.
J 1 DivirlC' gr,ree c:lllnot be bought_nd not only because Cod
doesn't need th.. money. His lI<"f\ant.l and deptlties ofl"" do n..<:d it.
Still. the sale of indulge:nces il commonly thought to rf:'luire reform,
if 001 Reformation.
I). [..m'e and ffie,,,,b:hip C1Inrrol be bought. lIot on OOf rommorr un
derstanding of what these two n...... lI. Of course. OrlC' can buy aU IIOfti
01 things-clothing. automobiles, gourmet foods, and 110 on---that
make OrlC' a belief candidate for kwe and fde:r>dship 01'
fe1f<Onfident in the pUfsuit of Iovcrs and friends. Ad,...tifen com
monl)' pia)' On lhese po:lJlbilities, and they arc real ..nough.
'"
,
Money and Commodities
FOf 1 n ~ ha, a _"<,r .bo,,,,
l1>c ,tall ol fale, 10 ""'fUit """<,II
But the dileet purchase is blocked, not in the law but lIlOIe deeply,
in OUr shal! mol1llity and sensibility. Men .nd women many for
money, but this is r>Ol. "ulllrria.ge of true minds," Sex is fOlll'lk, but
the ..k dots uoI "",ke for "a meaningful relatiomhip," Propk who
btliC'o'e that IelllOll intereours i, mor.lly tialto love .nd maniage are
likely to ta'l)r a ban all PI05titutioo--iu5t as, in other cultures, people
who btliC'o-ed that intelcoulle ,,-as a sac,ed litual would ha"e deplored
the beh.-ioJ of priestesses woo tried to "",ke a little money OU the side,
Sex call bt wld only when it is understood in term, of p k a s u ~ and
not exclusi"e!y in telrns of mallie<! kn-e QI leligious worship
14- Fi ....lly, a long series of erimin.l ..Ies .re ruled oul. Murder. Inc.,
cannot sell its scrvices; bladmail is illea.l; heroin COllnot be ""Id, uor
can stolen goods, or goods flaudulenlly described, or ooulter1lted milk.
or inform.tion thought \"ital to the security of the state. And arguments
go 0fI about unsafe can. gun" infbm"",bk ,hirts, drug> with uneertain
sick effects, ami iIO Oil. All these are useful illustl1ltioos of the bet that
the sphere of money and commodities is subject to continuous .edefini-
tion.
[ think th.t this is an exhausti"e list, though it is possible that I h.,"<'
omitted lOme troc..1category. III .ny case, the list is long enough to
suggest that if mon-ey answereth aU things, it does.o, as it ...e.e, behind
the hacb of m.ny of the thing> and in spite of their soc..l meanings.
The nllllkrl where exchanges of these ""rt. are free i black malket.
and the men and "'Omen "'00 frC<juent it are likely to do "" sneakily
and then 10 lie about ""hat they are doing.
What Money Can Buy
\Vhat is the propel sphere of money? \Vh.t weia) goods .re rightly
m.rketabkl The ob,'iQu, an,weJ ;. also the .ight OfIC; it points uS to
a range of goods th.t haw probably always been m.lketable, whate>-et
else has Of has not been: all those ob;ect" commodities, products, SCI
vices, beyond ,,h.t is commun.lly pro\"i<kd, thaI indi"idual men .nd
women lind useful 01 pleasing, the C'Ol1l1nOfl .tock of bazaars, empori
urn" and tl1lding I'O't, It includes, alld probably .1....)" has induded,
"3
SPHERES OF JUSTICE
as sl<Jples, goods that lie bclutiful as well a. goods that
ore funrlioll3land durable. Commodities, e,-en when tht")' lie
and simple, a,e alJoo,'c aU commodious; they arc a $OlIrce of comfort,
warmth, and security. Thing.! arc OUI aocOOn in the world.
11
But while
"'e all need to Dc anchofed, we don't all nccd the ",me anchor. We
lie differently attachl"ll; we ha,'C different tasta and dcsirCl; we sur
rouoo oul5Cl'.a, clothe OIJrselva, furnish OUI homes, with a g,eat vari-
ety of things, aoo we UIoC, CTTjoy, aoo display the thillg.! we ha"e ill a
grC<lt '-ariety of ways, Objttt relations arc poIy111OfphoUl in chalacter,
It is sometimes "'id that this poIymOfhousl>CSll is a modem perversion,
but I suspect that it is a constant of human life. Archeological digs rca:u-
lady tum upa profusion of good. (or bils and pi=of goods, the sha'ds
of commoditia): decoolled pots and vascs; b;.skcts; jewelry; mirrors;
trimmed, embruidcrcd, beaded, and falhered clothing;
5Crol1s---<lrld coirn, endless numDcrs of coins; fOf all these: other things,
once bartc-r has superseded, uchange for money No doubt, C"'c-ry
cullurc hal itl own ch<rracteristie icI of commodities, determined by
ilJ mode of production, its social organization, and Ihe range oi its
trade. But the number of commodities in e"ery set is always large, and
the sl<Jnd.rd way of _tinl them out is ma,kct uchar'ie,
Not the only ""'Y: gift giving il an important a)tematiu:, aoo I will
rome back to il laler. But the market UJland.rd, C"'en lhough what
counls as a commodity is nol stand.rd, 1\00 ma,k! rdations le!\ttt
a certain TlTOfaI ur>derstandi"li: that applies to all those social goods that
count as markelable (ami doesn't apply to those that dOn'I) Sometimes
the urnlcrst::lIIlding is implicit; in our own society, C"'C' since the emaoci
piltion of the ma,ket from feudal constraints, the undentanding has
ba:n uplic:it, ill ebbor.ition a centT1llfcatUle of ou, cuhur:allife. Be--
)'OfTd whatC""Cf iJ communally provided, 00 one is cntitled 10 this Of
that useful or pleasing obiect, Commodities don't come with proper
nalmS atl<Jched, like packages from a dq>;I'tment .Iore. The right ""y
to polSCSlsuch things is by making Ihem, Of growing them,OT somehow
providing them Or their cash equivalents for otllen. Money is both the
measure of c<luivalcnce and the meanS of exchangc; tn arc the
J>fOPCr functions of money aoo (ideally) its only functinRs, It is in the
markellhat money does ilJ "''Ofk, and the mallet i. "l"'n 10 all comell.
10 part, this view of money ami commodities reslJ upon Ihe sense
thai thele is no more eflicient distributive process, RO bellel ""y of
bringing indi\'idu.al men and women together with lhe particul.-.r things
tl>cy take to Dc useful or pla.ing, But al a dec-pcr Jeo,'d, market monlity
(in, $;Iy, its Lockei;," form) is a celebration of the ..-anting, making,
"4
Money and Commodities
owning. and nchanging of commoditiC$, 1lKy a.e indeed widely ..... nt-
ed, and they ha"e to be nude il they are 10 be had. Even Locke's
acorns-hi3crample of asimple and primilivccommodity-don't gfOW
on Irees; the tlIclaphor doesn't apply: they are not .e;K]ily and
SlIl1y Thing! an be had only with cffofl; it is the effort thaI
Sttms to IUPPIy the title Of, at leasl, the originallilk; and nnC'e lhey
are owned, tllC)' can also be exchanged. ) So wanling, making. owning.
and CJlchanging hailS together; they aTC, so to speak, commodity's
modes. Still. QrtC can Tcrognize thac modes ""ilhout celcb",ting them,
n.c;, conjunetion i3 appropfiate within the boundaries of the sphere
of money md commodities, not clsewhere. TIle lockcian c:dcb.ation
has tended 10 ",e.-spill the boundaries, tuming market power into a
kind 01 tyr.Ulfly, dislnrting distributions in other spheres. Thi3 is a com
mon perception. and I shall r1,ll to it frequently. But commodities
can OIltgTO"" thei. proper platt in anothe. way, which mo'
immcdi:lte noticc
Ask ag;ain, What does money buyl Thc sociologist Lee Rain"''lIter,
sttKlying the "social meaningl of income," givcs a r;K]ial and worn'ing
reply: "Money buys memhcrship in industrial society." Rain"''lIter
doesn't ITlClIn to tell us that immigration and n.:Iluralizalion officials
can be b.ihed. His cuts deeper. 1bc r1OfI11al activities that
enabk indh'iduals to Itt and to be Sttn by athen as lull
membe.s, IOcial pt'ISOOS, rna,'c inclcasingly become consumption acti,,-
ties; they require moncr
Thill money <loci not illll buy food .00 clolhing and housing and aPl'I;.
"1C'rS, can ..."d ''lICIlions, The pure"... Qf an thcoc cnmmodi!ia in
tum allows the oc"icvcmcnl aoo dayto-<lay living oot of an identity n
.11ea,1 "O"Cfogc """'rican." ... \""en people are not prot..,tcd fro'" lhis
illClOr.lblc dynamic of money ccooomics b)' JomC local cultur:ll meta,.."
they cannot fail 10 defi"" thcrnseh'Cl most ba.sially in tern" 01 their aettSI
to aU thaI money con OOy.H
II', not jusl thai individual. differentiate them",h-cs by the choices
they make ""ltllin the sphere of money and commodities, or even that
they are diffclCnti.ted by theiT successes and f.ilura in that sphCTe.
01 course, the malkct is a ",tting for competition, and so it distributes
certain sorts of esteem and di.-cstecm (not .11 IOrt.). But R.inwatCl
wants to say more than this, Unlcu ""t can spend money and deploy
goodJ.t \c-l-cls beyond ""h3t is requiTed fOf suhsistenC'e. unlc:ss "'.., have
so"'" 01 the free time and C'Oll\'enitnce that money can buy, ""e 'UffCl
a loa llIore scnow Irnan pcll'erty itsell, a kind 01 shltus slaTVoltion, a s0-
ciological disinheritance. Wc become aliens in Our O'IO'n home-
00'
SPHERES OF' JUSTICE
land-<loo often In our own homell. We can r>O play ....., J>o1rtl1
as J>o1renu, friends, neighbors, aS5OCi3tes, comrades, or citlzcns. It's not
true everywhne; but In Americo today and In ",,'cry >:QCicty where the
l'I\;Irket is triumphant, commodities medi3te rnembn5hip, Unlm we
OWn a number of soci:IHy required things, we cannot be socioll/y
rerognizcd and tlfective pmonl.
Rainwater provide:t: a .sociologicol account of the fetishism of com
modities. He <Je.c,ribes an 3<h"t:1"lise" drC1lrll, lor this is the mes
Age of the rnocIcm advertisement: that commodities C"olrry meanings
far bc)wd their ob"ious usc, 300 th3t we Ileed them for lhe s:ake of
standing and identity. One can aIM)' s:ay of the ad"CTliser that he is
exaggWltlng, C\'en lying about, the of this 3utomobile. s:ay,
or lhat brlllld of Sootch, BUI what if. behind his f'o1rtlt"Ub, lies, there
is a larger truth! Commodities are syrnbcls of belonging; standing md
identity are distributed through the market, sold 1m cash on the line
(but av;aibble abo to spceubtors who elm establish eredit). On lhe
other hand, in 3 democr3tie society, the mod b:..ie definitions md
C"oln't be put up for purchase in this way, For citizenship
enlailJ what we might call "belongingncss"-llOt merely the sense, but
the practic<ll reality. of being at hom<' in (Ihis part of) the i<Xi.ol ..'orld
This is a condition th3t am be renounced but llC\"Cr ha<kd; it is not
alienable in the marketplace, Economic failure, ...llOItC\-er kJu of esteem
comes with it, should nC\"C1" ha,"C the effect of devaluing citizemhil',
in either the \egal or the soci:Il sense. And if it does have that e/fed,
we must seoek for remedies.
The ob,'iO\ls remedy is to redistribute mooey ihclf (through a nega
ti"e income foe ex:ample) indcpcndcntly of the communal p.....i-
sion of goods and services: as we proridc medic<ll ellfe in kind ror the
sake of health alld longevity, so we "'ould jlfQ\'idc mooey in killd for
the s:ake of membership. Or. we might g""rante.: jobs and a minimal
income. Of) the premise lhat money ar>d commodities are more likely
to contribute to a strong sense of identity, ill OUr culture, if they ha,."
been e,uned. But we can'I redis!Tibute commodities directly, !lot if "."
a,e to allow iool,'idUOll men 300 women to choose for themsel,-es the
things they find useful or pleasing 300 to define thcmseh'cs and shape
and symbolizc their identities over and abm-e the membership they
share. And we can't try to locate the f'o1rtieular things without ,,'hieh
"",mhcrship i. devalued or lost and make them the obiccls of COmmu-
nal pl()\;sion. for the market will quiekly turn lip lIew things. If it's
not ooe thing, it will hc another, ..d ad"ertiscn ",ill teHIll thai this
i. ",llOIt "'e need now, if....., are to hold OUI heads high. BUI the redislli
Money and Commodities
bution of or of jobs and income neutralizes the malket.
forth, commoditits have: ooly their use symbolic ,-alues are
radically indi"idualized aoo can no longer pby any significant JIIlblic
'Ok
amngements will be fully efFet"ti,oc, ho"'ever, only if the ledis
tribution leaves C"o'eryone ",ith the Arne amount of money, and that
is not, 1m ,ea!Ons I ha"e already gi\"Cn, a slable condition. The markd
prodUce! and leproducn inequalities; people end up with 1TIOIe or 1m.
",ith difFe,ent numbers and diffe"'flt kinds of possession!. 1ltcre is no
Woly to e11lme that C>"CT)'OIle il possessed of whatC>-eT set of things ma,h
the "a'-eTlIge American," fo< any lueh effoft will simply raise Ihe avcr-
age, Here il a sad venion of the JIIlnuit of happirlCS5' communal provi-
sioo endleuly chasing torllUlller demand Pcrhap$ there is some point
beyond ",hieh the fetishi,m of commoditi", ",'iIllose it, g,ip, Perh.ps,
more mo<lestl)', the,e is some kno-'er point .t ",hieh iooi,-iduall are safe
again.sl.ny ...dical bs of status. That last possibility wggals the value
of pa,tial ,edi,trihutions in the sphne of C"o'en if the result i,
something well ,hOft of simple "'lualily. But it also suggests that we
must look oullide that spllere .nd sl":-ngthCTl .utOllOffiOU! dishibutions
el,e",he'e, l1>ere are, afte, all, acti,'iti", more central to the Illalling
of membership than O"'ning afld usillg cotlHrlOdities.
Our JIIlrpose il to lame "the inClor.lble dynamie of. econo-
my," to make mon.ey harmless------<K, .1 lea$I, to make lure Ihat the
halml eXpl'lie"ccd in the lJlhere of r11Ol1ey are nol morlal, oot to life
.00 not to social ,t.nding eithe,. But Ihe market remoins a comP<"lili,'e
,phere, where rilk is common, whe'e the 'eadinC$! to lake ,ilkl is oflen
,'irt...." aoo w'he,e people ",ifl .nd lose, Afl exciting place: for C"o'en
wilen lootlCf bu)'s only ",hal it ,hould buy, it illlill a "ef)' good thing
to h..oc. It amwe,elh some thingl that nothing else can And
01>cT:- "OC ha,.., blocked every "'rongful exchange .nd controlled Ihe
lheff ",eight of nlOllC)' iudf, ".., ha,.., flO ,cason to worry .bout the
.n,,,oc,, the m.,kct p"",;o.". Individual mCTl and "''O!TICTllti11 haloc Tea-
IOn to worry, and so they will If)' to minimize lhei, ,ish, or to ,ha,e
Ihem or ,pread tllem oot, 01 to buy themselves imurantt. 1n lhe regiml'
of complex equality, C'Crtain _Is of ri,h: will 'l'gub,1y lie sh.,ed, be,
caUS(' the po"'e' to impose ,isk$ on othen, 10 m.ke ,ulhorit.ti"e 0:1;.
,ions in f;teto,ies and cotporatioll$, i, nol a ma,ketable good. Thil i,
ooly 001' more example of a blocke<:! [wililakc it up in delail
latn. Ci,"Cn Ihe right bloch, lhere il nO such Ihing u a makliShibutiOll
of COmume. goods. II iusl docsn't maller, from the ,Iaoopoint of COm
pin equality, that J"'11 hal'e a )-acht and I dOll't, or Ihallh., sourn:! ')1-
'07
SPHERES OF' JUSTICE
tem of hn hifi set is g,utly superior to his, or th:lt "'-e buy our JUP
from S c ~ n Roebuck and they get thcin /rom the Orient PCO\lJe ""ill
focUIOIl sucll matten, 01' not: th:lt is a question of culture, not of di$-
tributh'e jUltiee, So long as yachts and hi-fi sci. and ru&, have OI'lly use
,,,lue and individ....lized $)'TJ,boIic ,,,luc:, their uneq....l dilhibutiOIl
doesn't matter,"
The Marketplace
Th..re iJ ~ strongn argument about the sphere 01 money, the romlTlOIl
argument 01 the dd..mkn of capitalism: that mark..t outcomes matt..r
a great deal because the mark,"" if it iJ f_, gi,'co toeach pel'lOfl r:uctly
what he dclcrvco. The market rewardl us all in accordance with the
contributions we make 10 one anollle,'1 well-bcing,16 The goods ar>d
services we PfO\-'ick: are wlued b,. potential C(lIJ$umers in such-and-Iuch
a "'''y, and these valuesareaiirq:ated b,. the market, ",'hich o:Jctermines
the price ""e JCi'e. And that price il our desert, fur it expresses the
only "''(lIth our goods and services can ha"e, , .... worlh they actually
h:I,-e for olher p<:Ople. But thil is to misunderstand the meaning of de-
sert. Unless there are standards of "''Ofth independent 01 what people
""lInt (and arc willing to buy) at this Of that moment in time, there
can be rIO dc:sc:rvingncu at an. We wouk! never know what a p<"rson
deserved until ,,-e saw "'hat he had gotten. And that can't be right.
Imagine a 1lO\-elist who ""ites what he hopes ",ill be a best seller.
He studies his potential audience, designs his bool: 10 mttl the C-UJIent
fashion. Pahaps he had to "ioIate the canons of his art in order to do
that, an<! ",",haps he is a llO\'dist for wholll the violation w2s p.ainfu1.
He has stooped to conquer, Docs he now dc:sc:m: tbe fruits of hi. con
quest? Does he deKr.-e a COflquesl thai bears fruitr His nO'-e1 appc2l1,
Jet's say, during ~ depression when 00 ooe has mOIler fOf boob, an<!
'CT)' few copies arc sold; his reward il small. Has he gotten less than
he dclc,,-es? (His fellow writers smile at hiJ disappointment; perhaps
that's "'hat he do::tava.) Years Later, in bettel times, the boo*. iJ rei.-
sued and does well Has its author bcwmc: mOl'e dc:sc:r"ing? Surely de--
selt can't hang 00 the st2te of the economy. There is 100 much lock
in\'Oh-d here; talk of dc:sc:rt makes little sense. We would do belter
to say simply that the ""liter is entitled to hil roya.lties, Large or Sm.all.
17
",8
Money and Commodities
He il like any other entlcprc1lC'Ur; he has bet 011 the market. It's a
chancy business, 001 he knew thai when he made the bet. He has a
right to what he gets-aftel he has paid the ('lOIts of communal pfl}\li-
sion (he li'"a not only in the market but also in the city). But he can't
claim thai he has gotten lCSll Ihan he wr"C'!, and it don:n'l mattel
if the ral of us think that he has gotlen more. The malket doesn'l
ro::l@:nizcdesert. lnitiath'e, enlerprise, inllO'o-alion, hald work, ruthlcu
dealing, rccklal gambling, the proslitution of talent: allthac are some-
tima fCmlded, sometima not,
But the rewards that the market provides, when it prO\'ides them.
ale approp.iate to thac sorts of effort The nun OI"''Oman who builds
a better mousetrap, or opens a reslaurant and sells deliciow blintzes,
Of does a liltle l.-aching on the side, is looking 10 Cam money. And
why No 0"", would ,,-ant 10 feed to strangen, dily aftel
dily, melely to win thei, gT;llitudc. Hctt in lhe "'Ol'ld of the petty bou.
geoisie, it SCCmS only right thai an enlrq>reneur, able to plO\'ide timely
goods and servicn, should reap the ,,,w:nds he had in mind when he
wenl 10 ""Ofk.
This is, indeed, a kind of "rightflClll" lhat the community may-'
10 enelosc arK! 'L'Strain, The moralily of the bazaar belongs in thoc
bazaar. The malket is a w"'" of the city, not the whole of the city.
But it is a great mistake, [ think, "'hen people ,",'Oflied aboul the t}'I-
anny of the market sed its entire abolition. It is one thing to clear
the Temple oflraden, quile another to clear the str.,.,ls, 1bc laltcr
mo..'C: "'Ould requirc a ladical shift in 001 undentarK!ing of what mate-
rial things arc fOl an-d of how we relale to them aoo 10 other people
through lhem But the shift is not accomplished by the abolition: com
modity exchange is merely drivcn underglound; or it takes place in stale
slores, as in p;trts of Eastern Europe today, drearily and incfficienlly.
The ti ..'C:liflCS! of Ihe open market re".-cls OUr senSCof the I:,.,;at ..-ar;
dy of ooirable and so long as thai is our sense, ,",'e ha..'C: flO
realOll not 10 lelish the helil\Cn Walt Whilman's a,gunlCnt in Dtmo-
Cntlic Vr$/4f 10 nle euctly right
FIN fear of mistake. I m.y u wrll di$linetly specify. cheerfully incluOod
in the modd .nd uan<\ard of these Visl, a practical, .tiffing, "''Orldly,
moneym"king, ",-en matni.lislic cll.racler. It n undeniable lhal ou, fa.ml,
dorn. oIIira. dry <:ool.od groceriet. enginery, c,..11 .rarunll. trad-
en. earnings, ma,kels, etc., should be aumdtd 10 in n.nc:ol, .nd .a<ti...,1y
pu"....J, iusl ;u if Ihty had real .nd pe,manenl
Tnere is nothing dcgr.odcd aboul buying .000 selling_nothing de-
graded in ",,,nling to o.....n Ih"l shirt (to "''Ca' it, 10 be seen in ill. or
"'9
SPHERES OF JUSTICE
in want ins to own this bool; (to ,ead it, 10 it up). and nothing
degr,oded in such things lor pritt, t'\'en ilthe pritt
is such that I can't buy both the shirt and the bc:lol at the ""me Ii"","
Bul [ ....nt lhem bothl That is another of the misfortunes ....ith ",'hich
the theo<y of dist"buti,,,, juslitt is not c<>nrned
The merchant p.1llders to our desires. But so long he im'l ",,"ing
people 0.- \"Ote. 0.- political inRueott, so long as he hasn't cornered the
in wheat in a ti"", of drought, so long as his can a,en't death
haps, his shirts inflammable, this is a harmleu palldering. He will try,
of COlIne, to sell us things ..'" don't really want; he ....ilI show us the
best side of his &oods and dork side. We will ha,,,, to be
protrcted against fr.loo (as he ""ill against theft), But the exchange is
in principle a relation 01 mutual and neither the moor)' that
the merchant makes, nor the of thinss b this or that
consumer, posc:s any threat to oomplc:s equa[ity--not il the sphere 01
rllOrtey and commodities is properly bounded.
But th.. rnoy work only fur the petty bourgeoisie, fo.- the
world of the bazaar and the slreet, for the 00TllC\' grory, the OOokshop,
the boutique, the restaurant (but not lhe chain of restaurants). What
are we to think of the RlCC.'essful enbeprcn.eur, who turns himself into
a man of ellOl'mous "'"Calth and power? I should slress Ihat this $OI't
of SllCCCSl is not the &Oil of t'\'ery shopkeepe., not in the traditional
h..zaar, whClC 1on,,lenn JrOWlh, a "rags-ll>riches p.111ern of lin.ear
progress:' does,,'t ligUle in the eror,omic eulture, and not t'\'en in our
own society, ,,'hClC it does.19 ThelC are rewards in making do, li\'ing
comforlably, dealing O\'CI the yean with famililll men and women. En
trepleneuru.1 t.iumph is only one of the ends of business. But it is an
end intensely soughl; and ,,'hile failure is not problematic (failed enlle-
preneUls are still citium in s!llnding), mcccss inevitably is. The
problems ale of two lOris: finl, the estraction not only of ",,,,,,!th but
of p",stige and influence from the rnorkel; second, the deployment of
P!l"'er within it. I will lake these up III order, looking finl at the history
of an enterprise and then at the politics of lOme commodities.
Worlds
Consider, then, the case of Rowland r.lacy, and the Strauss brothers,
and their famous sto.-e. Macy wala lrader, a prolotypicalmcm
ber of the petty bourgeoisie, "'110 ()Y.'ned and ran a succasion of dry
p:>ds btJsineues and failed in t'\"ery one of Ihem-lJIltil r858 ....hen
he opened a stOfe orl Sisth ,\...enue and Fourleenth Slrrct in Manhal-
'"
Money and Commodities
In the course of hil13ilures, had with ne><'
thniqucs 3nd let3il polieics: cash on the line:, 6xed prices,
3 root to be undersold, Otbc:r mcleh3nb ...
in mole: or Icss weensfuUy; but Macy's ne:w 1l0le:,
fa< rc:aKllls not e,uy to gnlSp, an extrao<dirullY success, And
it grew, I\I:IC)' dh'(1'lificd hil stock, gnadually creating new
kind of entelpli5c:, What "'I': can think of 3S the in''I':ntioo of the depalt-
ment store: lool place at roughly the Anle time in a number of cit-
Loooon, and New Ofk; and it is probably
true th3t the in'",ntion was (somehow) called fOf by common social
ecooomic condition,,21 But Ro.... Mac,. rode tk tide ,,'ith oon-
skill gleal boldness, md he died in 1877 3 wcalthy mall,
Macy', only KIll w:n an alcoholic, who inherited his lather's money hut
001 his business The: ston:, after a short interlude, into the
Mllds of Nath3n and Isidor who for some )'earJ had run ron-
cellion, selling ehinawale:, in the oo5c:menl.
Thill far, there alc no difficulties, s sUoCCeSS no doubt left other
mClch3nl! floundering in ill or r\'t'n ruined, But We
can't shield tile othell hom the lisks of the m3rke:t ('" long as there:
is 3 .... rke:t); we em only shield them hom the further risk.! of penul)'
and degradation, In Japanese gO\'e!nrnent does 5OIne-
thing R>OI'e than this "it has established limits on the construction of
new dep;ittnw:nt ltmcs, disrount hous.es, and shopping eent(1'l, thU5
.Iowi"g oo...'n the: impact they ho,,,, on small rclail.tOfc:l. "lIll,e: policy
is 3imed 31 maint3ining thc st3bility of ne:ighhothoods. and that m3Y
well be a "'i5(" policy; gi"cn a celtain of neighhothood
as 3distributed good md of the city as 3duster of differentiated zoocs,
it may e"en be a mOnlUy nessary policy. In 3ny cas." it offcrs pmtrc--
tion only to mc:rehontl who I""'e out of the: Ialget" ronlpctition.
is 00 hc:1p for Macy'lli'-ak except as they COIn help them-
...I\cs. And SO long as a sUCCCSIIlike of ReM'larni Macy is rontained
within the .phcle 01 lllOIley, the rest of us only " .. it with the
g",e admir.tion (0' e:nvy) thot "'C might feci 10. 3uthor of a best
seller.
The.e: is, I,uppose, 3 loose lC115c: in it might be 13K! that sue-
cessful entrepreneur! Ole monopolists 01 wealth: as 3 class, they
uniquely enioy its special prc:rog3ti,'es; thc goods it can purcha...
3t thei. beck caU as they are 3t no Olle el...' . Simple c:qwlity would
make thi! sort 01 thing imposs.ble, but simple equality canool be sus-
tained ... ithout eliminating buyi"i and selling (3nd "''''I)' othe. sort of
exch3nge lelation, too). Arnl3gain, .. long as montyrontrohron",lOd-
no
SPHERES OF' JUSTICE
ilia: nothing else, ",'hy shoold we WOI'ry its aocumulatioo7
The ob;ections are xsthclie--;as with Timon the
widcMo"-not IIlOI1lI. They 10 do moTe with with
domination.
Bllt the ruccess of the Stl1l\IU famIly ""1.1 001 in this WoIy.
I.idor and their yOlmgeT blOthel Osear nlO'Oed easily into
wider world than Rowbnd /\bey h;td e--er known Isidor was a friend
and ;tdvi5eT of Pre:lident Clevebnd, took an active p,art in \'aTiow aim
paigns for tariff reform, Tan sllCttSSfully ro.- Congress in .894. Nat .... n
WoIS in New York poIitia, a member of Tammally,sllCCali\'e1y
park commissioner and president of the board of Oscar was Sec-
retary of CommeTce: and Labor in Theodore RClO$C\'elt's cabinet
latel held a numberof appointments. The thrcc together
make uleflll example, for tllac were not robber Nroll! OT Unioo busl-
ers (Macy's cigar makers strock sllCCaIluUy for higher "'ages in 1895,
and the store's prinbhop WoIS fully organizM lI)metime in the .8<;Jos).1l
By aerounts they ....'ere dent and capable public ie.vanb. Ami )'et
it can hardly be doubted that theiT political influence: to theiT
wealth and rontilluing bwiness sUCttSS. It might be $aid they did
not, after aU, buy their inA""""" but .athe. ""me by it bec;,UIC of the
resped they had won in the market-relflCCt much for thei. intelli
gcr>ee as lor their money. Isidof StmlA did have to
for election before he could SC1""e in Congml'. And he lost his fight
for briff rero.-m, AU that is true, and yet otl,e. men of limila. intelli.
gence: did not play IIIch paTt in tllei. ooonl1)'1 poIilics. 1lle problem
is hard, fOf IlIOlleY in subtle ami indirect and IIOnletimes,
no doubt, the people fOf whom it are a-dminble success
in the market does not COtTle only to ruthkN and ,,,,If..,rving
ne-urs, Still, this is insidious Talk in a state, it .equiru
us to scrk lOme WoIy 01 limiting the accumulation of money (mud> as
we mwt limit ill .....eill:ht). An entelprise like Macy's grows because mCfl
....-omen find it helpful; those same men and women may just
coneeivably, fiml it helpful to be llO"erned by the O.....ne.. of loch
enterprise. But these must be two entirely sepa.ate decisions.
Milchint.. Ttln'ision SeIJ, Shoes. lind !lu/omahil,.
In principle, stores like Macy's provide people with what they want,
and then the stores succeed; or they don't, then they fuil They
helpful, or not. Long before .. become public: servants,
they pri,,,te sc-rv:;Inll who respond to the 01 the $O\'cr
."
",'loney and Commodities
cign ronsumCf_ This is the m)th of the mnket But it is,,'1 difficult
to offer an alternative account of market rclatiolll_ The markel, accord-
ing 10 thc French social theorist Andll! Carl, "is a place where huge
prod\IClion and sales oligopolies, , ,enrounte. a fragmented multiplic
ity of buyers IVho, becau>e 01 theiT dilpC"5Cd state, are totally poYo'el'
less," Hcnce the consumer il not, and ('Ill nC"er be, "He
is ooly able to choose a "niety of products, but he has 00
pll"'eT to bTing aboollhe production of other articles, suited to
hil in place of those offered to him."1< The crucial decilions
are made by corpotatc owners an<! managers Or by brge-seale retailen:
they determine the range of commodilies within which the resl 01 ul
make our choices, and lO the relt of UI don'l necessaTily gct the thinjp
we (Teall)') "'3nl. Gorz concludes that these decision$ Ihoukl be coIlectt-
viud. It'l flOt enough Ihatthe market be limited; it mUlt in effect be
,epIaccd by democratic politics
ConsideT flOW some of Goril cxamples_ Appliances dcsigrlCd for in-
dividuals, he argues, are ir>rompatibk ""ith those designed lor rollectil-e
use. "The privately owned "Ollhing machine, lor nample, operates
ag.ainst the installation of public bund,ies." A decision mU$t be made
about which of these to foslcT. "Shookl emphalil be bid on the im
pJO\'ernenl of rolledive ICrvm Or on the supply of individual equ;p.
men! ... ? Shouklthcte be a mediocre television receiver in C'l':ry ap3rt
melli. or a tele"ilioll room III e--ery ap3rtmcnt hOUle, "'ilh equipment
of the highest possible quality?"ll GOII believes that these questions
can be allswered only by the "associated who are also con
sumers-that i$, by the democratic public as a whole But Ihis 1111$
an odd w:ly to Joc"te decUion-making power with rt'gard to goods of
this SOft. If a collective decilion il Clliled lor here, [ shookl think it
would bell be JIl3de at the lel'el 01 the apartment house or the city
block. I1t tile 'elidenll decide what kimll of public room they "OI"t
to pay for. and thcle will 5001' be different SOfls of apartmenl house,
diRe,enl .!10ft. of neighborhood, Cllte.;ng to differeut taltes_ BUI dec;
lions of this kind will figure OIl the market in cxactly the sallie way
al an imlividual decision doe1; they ",ill merely hall': greate' weight.
If the weight i. g,eat enough, thc 'ight machines will be produced aud
sold, Eltablilhed manulacturers and retailers may be unready Or unable
to lIcher "'hat il wanled, but then new manufacture" ami retailen
""ill come I",w;ud out of the workl of in'"enton, crafl1men, machine
Ihops, and lpecialty storn. The pC'tty bourgeoisie is the roc:rl'e army
of tile enhepreneuri:T1 class. 111 memkn ue "OIiting, flOt for the deci
of the producers," but foo- the C'all of the m.rxet.II'11-
"3
SPHERES OF JUSTICE
nopoly in the driet sense-the exclusive control of productive means
or lelail oollels---woukl make it impossibl.c 10 anSWCT the call. But thil
M;KI of markel power the state C,IIl rightly block. It don 50 in the n.:IfflC
of free e_change, oot of political dcrnocr.JC)' (and not of .imple e<jmlity
either, there iI, "'8ai", f>O ......y 10 gm"mtcc equal SUCttJI to C\"CT}' enlfo-
prmcur).
Nor would OCfI>OCf:lcy be ....ell 5CT\oW if such mattelS as the choice
of ......shing machines md Iele\ision sels had to be debated in the assem
bly. Where would the debates ltop? Corz is full of queslions: "Sho<Jld
.... hne Four pailS of shortlived shoes a ycar, or one solid pair
and t....o short-li--ed ooesr'l6 One COIn imagine a waltime rationing sys-
tem within which such decisions woold II3\e to be made coIlecti'ely.
Similarly, one can imagine a ......ter .hortage thatlcd the political com
munity to limit or C\"Cn to ban the p.oduction of the oomcshc w:uhing
But su,ely in the ordinary cou.se of this is the platt
for private 0.1ocI1 md tben for market lesponse, And tlte mal
ket, as I ha\'e ahcady ouggcsted, don 10 genelate both solid and
shoddy shoes and brge. and smallel ....!Shing machincs.
But something mOle is at stake be.e. Corz ....ants to luggat that the
rising lide of pli"'te goods m.kes the li...es of the poor horde. and
har<k. As incr=ing numbers of COOSUfflCII acquire their o....n "-..shing
mothi"""" bundries .re bcd out of buJincss (0. their prica arc
puJhcd up, and Ihey hccome a lu_ury service). Then C\eryooe nds
.....:"hing Simibrly, as public lo.ms of entert.inment Iosc
their hold, as ncighbOl'hood movie houses close, e'"Cryone needs a lek,i.
sion set. As public transportation dttll)'S, (\'e.)'oo... ocds a car; and so
Oil Th... costs of J'O'e.ty irte.e3se, aoo the poo< arc dl;"'en to the mar
gins of society.:? Thil i. th... Ame problem Ih.t R.in....lIt...r nliscs. lI'wl
it requi,,:s the Arne Klrt of ,edillribution, In IOrne perhaps, subsi
dicJ .Ie possibk, as with buJ and .ubW:l)' bles, 1\,lo<e often, onl)' addi
lion.:ll inoomc ...i11serve thr pu.poses of social membc-nhip and integra-
tion. [t may be II misl.1ke to tic ITKmbenhip so dosely 10 pri\...te
coosumptiofl; oot if the two arc tied, lhen members must also be con
sumers.
Om: might, howC\CT, stress the politiclll r.llher Ihall tbe ccol>Omic
aspects of membership. I suspect that Corl really prefers the bUfld,y
room and the te,"ision fOom because he thinks oflhem as commuflal
.llem.oti,'CS 10 bou.geois pri,...tiutior>--pbccs ....here people "ill meet
and tlllk, plan assigrl3tiom, ma)"be ....'en .'gue about politie:s. ThC$l' are
public goods in the sense that ....-cry len.nt, ....hethe. or 1>01 he uses
the .ooms. will benefit ffOOl the heightened soci.bility, the rf>Ore
"4
Money and Commodities
friendly atmospher.... 01 the apulln...nt hCJ,."e as a ",hole. Yd they aT'"
the Jllrts of pxIs lhat tmel to &d bt in the indi\ldu.alillic shullk ol
the market. They don'l cd bt b:a1lSe ol the power ol t(Mplulo: man-
aco:n and departmenl II...... OOlTleT'1.... noI primarily beawc olthal,
but lalher because ollhe ",duuit'el ol alml""...,n. lOtio mab tOOl
thoica. as it .. ono: b)' one. each ono: thinking only ol himxlf (mort
atamItdy: 01 his home and bmilyp. Wouk! consumo:no:'- dill...,
enlly if they voted as membtn of a voull7 I'm noIll".... but ttrbinly
lhe market would at'(OOlmodatt them if lhey dad. n.o.e people ..'110,
lib Con, b,u coIlo:ctiw O\"U' ",ivalo: ronsumption would h:l\o: to
mab their taX, and they would win or be, or "in in this noeighbor
hood 01 apartment howo: and \0$0: in that one. $lIong point in
CoIZ'J argunJo:flt i$ th... o:laim that thero: $hould bo: a forum who:ro: tho:
caw: can be mado:. Tht maTko:! il not lOCh a forum, bul to l3y that il
not to nilitiu tho: market; it il only to ir"ist that it mUlt Iland along
$ido: of. and not replace, Iho: Iphero: of
point is tTT<)$t \i\-idly made: ",;th refo:ro:nco: to tho: automobik,
...bly tho: IOOIt important of modem almmoditia. Standing in
"'hat II 00\0' a cmtraltradition 01 JOCiaI criticiJm. Corz it: ready to.ro
IlOUnto: it. '1110: pri.... to:!y 00l'Tloed ca. up$W the ..-hoIe mban
. ,hampm the rational apQlalion of public lransport and mililatfS
apilUt a er.....t mall)' 10m" ol &f'OUIl and community Io:iwro: acti\ity
(noub!r by destrori"l the nftchboo hood as a hi"l en.il'llllmo:nt).'l'O
He iJ probably right, but the cal is aha the J)"II1bof of indi>ldu.al freo:-
dom: aod I doobt that any dtulOlntil' public ..ithin Inilli mo:mory
..'OUk! ha.'e voted apimt ii, o:vm il the bnc-to:nn tomeq\Io:fIto:S ol its
lfW,$ production and UJC: had bttn koow.... in act....nte. In this o::aso:. in-
deed, .. mmmunit),..;dt dtcisOon is n'fS:l:I.ry, for the pm... te ca. re-
quiTelan enf)Imoussubsidy in the I...... of roads and theil mainteNneo:.
Today ...... lTI,1y he locked into thai JUbOO)'. without a great deal ol room
to nl;lnt:\l\'tT. But ,"'t are not locka! in mero:ly becaUJo: Henry FOI'd
made: rno<e lnoney Idling aulol1lobiks than he roukl ha\'o: mado: Idling
It.co:tcafl. An explarnltiOll of that 5011 miuea a great deal of cultural
Ii ,"'en al political and economic hillary. And it iJ. of l'OUl5C. It ill roo:en.
sary 10 afl...... about the lize of the sublidia for p'ivat... cars
and public tnnlpOfution. TIIIt is propelly a political. not a malk!.
deciIion; $0 the cilizcn$ "t.o make it h:l\'I: to bo: one another, equals,
and their ,nterabi at productn and alnSUr1'lef$. apartment
dw'eflo:n and home OOlTleT'1, eo:nlral city raido:nll and suburban-
it.................. to be repftso:nted in the political prooess.
us
SPHERES OF' JUSTICE
The Delenninalion o( Wages
8:luse votes ClInr>ot be tradffl. while money and goods and SCT\'ices
can k, tm, of citizens will nC"cr k reproduced in the market
place. The laourca that people bring to the malkel a,e themseh-es
determi<>r:d, at least in principle, by the market. and wornen h"'e
to "m.ke" money, .nd they do that by selling thcir labor pen'o'er and
thci' lrC'quired skills, The price they get deper>ds upon the a,-ailability
of labor and the demand for particular commodities (they can't make
money prodocing eoods that r>oboxIy wants). We could .boIish the maT
ket in labor in the Arne way as the OIaTI.:et in commodities-by assi&JT-
ing jobs. by assi&JTing sbon, through tome political or
process. The .rgun>e"t .gainst doing tMs is the sallie i" both cases.
Leaving aside questiont of ellicimcy. it it an algllment about how indi-
viduals relate to jobs and commodities, what these t,,"O mean in ir.divid
ualli,'eS, how they are sought, used, en;o,..ed, I dOIl't ...-ant to JuCiest
.ny ne<:ess;IIY similarity between the two. For most of us, 001 work.
though il is instrulm11tal to the pouession of things, is lUOTe important
th.n any set of possessions. But that me,ms only that the assignment
of wo.-I.: is e\'en more likely than the assignment of things to be ellpai
enttd as an ;let of tyranny,
The case would be different if ...'Orl.: "..e,e assigned b)' birth and
",nl.:----ar.d di/Jerent ror things, too; for in societies wllere work i. hed-
itary alld hieralchical, to il; OO\lsurnption. Men and "'Omen who are
.llowed to perform only certain sorts of jobs a,e usually atlowed to usc
ar.d diJpbyonly certain _Is of commodities, But it is a crocial feature
of individual identity, in the United States today, thattholJ&h ORe does
this, one could .1$0 do that; thou&h 0IIe has thit, one could .Iso h..
that. \Ve daydre.m .bout 00. options. gel oIdel. the da)'d,eams
tend to collapse. especially alTlOl1g the poor. "'00 gradually collle to real
ize th.1 they bel.: root only tile time btlt also the resources to exploit
the opportunities of the malket. And they Iacl.: those resources. so they
are told, kause of the market. The pritt of tlleir freNo!n ilso tm,
c.use of their lost, 1ltcy were not born to be poor; they hal'e simply
failed to make money.
In fact. the more perfect the m.,ket. the smalk, the inequalities
of income ,,;11 bend the Iev.-er the failures. If assume a rough
io mobility. information. and opportunities for training. it
ought to be the case th.t tile most ;abo ",ill draw the mOlt
..6
Money
so the wages they p,ay will fall; Ie allraetive jobs: ...iIl
be shunned, and so those ""'3ges ",ill rise Special skills and combina-
tions of skills ....,ill still M'"C theil premium; I don't mean to deny the
earning po...er of talented (nd ,-ery lall) basketball players or of mm'ie
stars. But many people will WOIk to aequirl' the reb':lnt skills or to put
tOf:ether the right combination!, and in many areas of economic life,
the success rate ...;0 be high. So the gTl)$J inequalities that "'C' $'
around us today rould not be sustained. They derh'e more signillantly
from status hierarchies, organizational struetme!, and pow:er rdatloo
ships than from tile frox market.
1Q
(And they are sustained by inheri-
tance, ...hieh I ...ill come to a little Lated Try now 10 imaginea situation
in ""hich hier.lITehy, organization, and 1lO""CI' ""Cre, not eliminate'll, but
ncutralized by equality, so that the inequalities of the market
stan.<! oul. What JOrll of income diffeml would penistr The remain.
ing bundle of :Ietors that make for differences is not easy to disentan-
gle; its <;nmpkxit;"s are .till debated among economists and soeioJo..
lI,isls, and I have roo "':Iy of resoh-ing the debate. n [ intend only a rough
and specuLati\"C sketch-based on a minimum of empirical ""idenee,
for the conditions that I shall docribe ha'"C been realized in only a few
pl;oees: and ;n incomplete fonn. Imagine, then, a democratically run
farm or faciO<)' in a market $OCiety, a producers' commune. All the
members are equal in status; the proxise: st.ucture of their enterprise:
lies ...ithin their own control; power i. col1tively exercised through
c(lIumitten, aJlemblia, debates, and dtttions How ...i1lthe members
pay Olle molher? Willtl!ey establish diffe.ential pay for iobJ .equi.inll,
g.eate. nd lesser skin? For ha.del and easier jobs! FOf dirty and dean
jobs:! Or ...;1[ they insist on equal p,ayl
'1bl: ans\':ers to these: questions are likely to be similar to tile an....ers
to Con's questions; different for different filCtories and fa.ms. This is
the subjttt malle. of factory and fa.m polilieJ, jusl aJ public ...d pli.
''ate ronsumptiOfl is the subjed mattel of ap,a.tment house politia.
And democratic disioru ...;11 "'" Ihis way and thai, on
prevailing ideology of the wo.ke.s, the Cha'ilCte. of their enterprise:,
the course: of the debates. Ci"en the requirements of deci-
siorl ma!<inll, and ill general elhos,...., can eq>ttl that differential! will
r>oI be la.gc_ This has been experierltt so :Ir in factories 0WllCd
Of managed by ....1)<!<en. In YugosLa"ia, for example, "Ihe geneTal trend
of eouocil-made w:oge .scbedules has been egalita.ian. "n A.ettnt study
of American experiments is simila.ly empholtie; "In each of Ihe C<lJCJ
.epo.ted he.e, if Ih., wor!<er-owned .... did not wages
completely uni/orm, they at least equalized them signillantl)' oom
"7
SPHERES OF JUSTICE
p;lred wirh c:lpitali,t-.owr>ed fi'm, and even ....ith the public bme:lllcn-
cy."" new distributive rules seem, mOfro'.-er, 10 ha,.., 110
cfFects on productivity,
If the mw rules did have llq,:ative efFeds, they "oold praumably
be changed--:lt least. the'e "'Ollld be Slrollg re:lSOrlS 10 change them,
"Of the worke" mwl "iIIli"e .... ithin the ronstrainls of the marlet.
They c:ln only dislribule ...har rhey earn, and rhey ha,.., ro 'ecruit
new members as needed, often lor p;lrticular pbcn rC'(juiring parlieu
la, slills. HCflCC inequalities ue cerlain 10 arise, withm a p;lrticubr
faclol)' if 'ecruitme:nt Of ""OI"k assignmC'nt ,equires differential p;ly,
and il il does not, then betwcm and among different betoria. Some
Ia<'torin: will be more successful than others, iusl as fo.hcy's ,,'as mOfe
SUC'SSlul lhan other lIorcs. Their Inembe" will ha"e 10 decide
whether to inv",1 in C'Xpansion and lurther rucen:s or to disrribute
the profits--and il to distribute, whether to do SO in the lorm 01: per
!IOrul irlCOm.. or communal Other factories will Rounder and
I;.il, perhaps because they bet on the ma,ket and lost, perhaps be
c:lUSC of inter",,1 dissension and miSl""nagemenl. Alld then the rest
01: uS will ha,-e 10 decide wheth.-r 10 subsidize the the
sake of a town', !Urn",,1 and pn.>sper;ty, S2y---.,xactly a. ,,., do .101I'
with c:lpilalisr firrm.
Income is delennined, lhen, by a rombinatio" of l'QIitical.nd m.r-
kel factors. I shall have to defend in chapter u the p;lrlicula, aceounl
oflhe poIitiC<l1 beto" lhallhne jusl gi'C'n. Here I wan! ouly to argue
thallhis accounl ,eproduces, unde'lhe condilion< of brge-leak indus-
II)' and agricultU'e. jwl those IC<lh"es of the peltybourgeois economy
Ihat rrulle ils risks, .nd the inequalitin: that follow lrom lhose risb,
defensible. Democratic decision rrulling, like peltybourgrois small
holding, is a ....y of bringing: the marlet borne, connecting ibopportu-
nitia and dmgo:rs to the aclual dforl, initiati,-.., and luck 01: individuals
(and groups of individuals). This is ....hat complex equalily requites: rIOt
that rhe muket be .bolished. but thai 00 OIle be cut off lrom il> poos;.
bilities bec:aU-'iC of his low stalus or political t'O"'erlcssllCSl,
I ha'-e followed in the3C LUI pagt';I an argllmc:-n! first slekheo:l out
by R. H. T.....ney in t.... )flr1 before the FilS! World War. The algu
me:nt is worth qooting .t !lOme: length:
\\Ihen most men W<1'C .",an bnd-boldefJ 0.- s",an , . t!>q look
.db. But at the ..me lime 1hey 1001: prnliu and llI'P!Wd. At the prnelll
day, the workman takes risis .. , bur he has 001 gotlhe pr<.!ilpt of en:",p"
tiooul pins. rhe opportunities 10.- .mall the _"" to di""'t
I,i. ""'11 lif., wbich m,ka rhe "-'ari", of ,i.ke> ..",tb,,'hik.
,,8
Money and Commodities
T;wney didn't doubt the bearing of rish is ..-orth,,'hik, Not th;t
muses of men women must ;tthe very edge of doInger:
that.sort of life, the community must provide protection, But
protec:tion hu its limits; beyond those limits. individuals
groups of individ.....ls ;re on thcir own, fm: to seek oot !Unger or avoid
it il they elln. If they "'ere not free, neither iudi"iduab: lM)f groups could
be what oor culture Tequires them to is, ac
tive. energclie. e.nti"e, democr.ltic. gi"ing shape to their own publi<:
prilOlte lin5, Risk is '"bracing.'" Tawney went OIl.
il '/;1 bttaU5e in lI",t man bobnca probable
lains and hues and ltakes his buinl charoct.. on suocess. But when
tM .....;oril)' of penon. are hired .....OInts. tllq do not decide what .isks
they shall bear. II is dttided 1m them by mast ..., Th.,. pin nothi",
if ,he entrTpri5e mc<:et<k: th.,. ha,.., ncith.. tl>t res",;nuibil;ly ol d'fort nor
the pride of ;l<:h;.,.,,,,,,",,,; tllq merely ha,.., the ..,lfe.i,.. ol No
...'OfI<kr that. al Ion& II this i.",. th.,. desire above all thin....emily.
In "",h circumstances the plea that men should allowed III take
riw ... is an atbel 001 upon nlOdcrn attemptl a,I;Y;n,lhe ...Olg..... ,,-.c:
....",.ity. bul upon ,he ..,hole .... IY'tem."
The ../toi. ,.. system is. pe.haps. an exaggeration. 1bough ..mken
unde. the distributive rules tll:lt Tawney la'med "'ookl 001 literally
sen thciT !abo!' poweT and their acquired skill they would still present
th.mscl,..,.. poy.'.f and skill. in hand. lx:lo th. per50nnd di.eclor or
the personn.l C(lmmiUee of the: local factory. Th. t.om on which
they "'ere admilled to the <."I'lOper.Itiv. ;nd the income they received
"'oold .till be dete.mined in p;I.t market if they were
oo-detCfmined through; democratic political process Tawney "'OIl
!lOt p.oposing the abolition of the: blxx mnlr..t; h. "'OIl trying, U I
been doing, to delin. the within which it

Redistributions
One elln roncei,'. t'" as a Jp"'Te without hound..ies, an un
wned city-for money il imidious. and market .c:latiom are .
A [tli.s".ftl"" wookl be like, stat in
""ding every other spher dominating C\"CfY otheT distributi,.. ptorelS.
n9
SPHERES OF' JUSTICE
It ...."O\Ik! transForm every social good into a cornmodit This is market
imperialism, I suppose that it is less dangerous thall state impclia\ism
beca1J2 it is cosie, to control. 11>e blocked eKhanges are so man COlI
tr04, cnfo<ced not onl by officials but also try o<dinary men and women
defending their intCTesb 3r>d asserting their rights. The blocQ don't
aMYl hold, and when market distributions can't be con
tained within their proper limits, we must look to the oi
political redistrilmtioos.
I am not talking 'lOW about the redistributions out of which .....e fi-
nance the ....,elfare state. These come ftom a pool of ....,ealth, the
"common wealth," to which evel}"One rontributes al'OOTding to his
.... ilable resources. Out of this pool we pay lor physical 1CC1IIity, com
munal worship, civil liberties, schooling. medical care--whate.e.....'e
take to be the entailments of membership. Pri,.. te ....'ealth coma
later. HistoricalI)- as _11 as sociologically, pooling md sharing are
prior to buying and ",mng," Lat.... conceivabl)-. communal prm'ision
can encroach upon the malket This is the elaim made try the leaden
of e.'ery bx re.-oIt from the f',enrn Poujadisls of the 19501 to the ad
,-ocates of California's Proposition l): that the huron.l of membe,
.hip h,,'e grown too heaV)' and Ihat tile)' COll.train the rightful enjoy
menb. undul)- limit the rilks and incentives, of the sphere of mont'
and These Clitia may be right. at least sometimes;
certainly there are real conflict. here. And hard pladical choices: for
if tile constraillts and limits a,e too .e.'e,c. productivity llI:1y fall, 3r>d
then thne wi11 be less room for the social ,ecoguition of needl, But
at some level of taxation. if oot neces.saril)- at prCl..iling levels. the p0-
litical communi\}' can't be said to ;n...de the sphcre of money; il
merely claims its o.....n,
Market imperialism ,equi'a anoth sort of redi,tributioo. ,,'hich
il not so much a matter of drawing :I line ., oi redlawing it What
is :It is",e now is the dominance of money outside it. Iphere, the ahili\}'
of wealth men and women to ":Ide in indulgences, purchase state of
fices. corrupt the COIlrU, exe,cise political power. Commonl)' eoough,
the m:l,ket hal it.. occupied territories, and ....'C ean thillk oi redistlibu
tion as a kind of moral irredentism, a process of boundary ,e"ision Dif
fe,ent princip\c$ guide the process at di!ie,ent poinb ill time and spacc.
For my immediate purp<'.lla. the most important principle has this
(rough) form: the exercise of power belongs to the sphere of politics.
while wh:lt goes on in the market should at least approximate all ex
change bet,,'ll equals (a free These lall wl)Ids don't mean
that every commodity will liell for a "just pricc" OJ that e,ery "'Orke.
Money and Commooities
will =ci,'e his "just r......':Ird," Justice oltlut Klrl iulien t(lthe market.
exchangc must be the ,esult olabilrgain, not of a command
or an ultimatum. If thc market is to work properly, "exchanges hom
of desperation" must be ruled out, lor necessity, as Ben Franklin wrotc,
"nC\n made a good b;argain."JS In a scnsc, the _lfalC slatc uOOn:-
writes the sphele of money when it guarantees tlut men and "'Onlen
will be fofced to bilrgain without resources fO! the ,"cry means
ollilc. Whcn thc state actJ to beilitate union organization, it scrves
the Amc purpose. WOIkcn whostand alone are liable to be forced into
tTlldes ofl.ut resort, driven by theil or their lack of particular
markctable skills, or theil inability to mm'C thcillamilies to accept thc
ultimatum ollOlllc local employes. CoI1ccti,-c balgaining is morc likely
to be an C'lchange bet\Oun equals. It doesn't guarantee a good bargain,
any more than oommunal prO'o'ision does, but it helps to sustain the
integrity of the malkct.
But [ am COt\C'CrnN now to sustain thc integ.ity of the other distriblt-
spheres-by depriving I'O""C'"ful ent.ep,enaJlS, 10. example, of the
mCOlm of capturing politicall'O""C1 or bending public olIicials 10 their
",ill. When money carries with it the control, not of thingJ only but
of people, too, it ceases to be a p.i';Itc rCSQI.nce. It no Iongel buys goods
and !'C.viccs: on tile malket; it buys something clse, somewhcre e1oc,
"'here (gh'C11 001 democratic undcntanding of politics) buying and !'C1I
ing is ruled out. If I'o'e can't block the pmclu!'C, then I'o'C havc to :ial-
iu thc money, which is only to that it has taken on a political
choaracler. The point at which that becomes necessary is opc1l to di$-
putc. It (In't a point but changes with the relati,"C strcngth and
colJtrencc 01 the political sphere.
Itl'ooold be a mistake to imagine, hO"'C'cr.that money Ius political
cffeelJ only when it "talks" 10 candidates md officials, only wilen il
is dilCTCCtly dispb)"Cd or openly lUunted in thc corridon 01 powcr. It
also has political eflects closer to homc, in the malket il5clf and in ils
firms and cnterprises. Here, too, boundary .C\-'ision is called for Whcn
union negotiators first demanded tile establishment of griC\;I11Ct ma-
chinery, lor eIOlmple, they argued that plant di""ipline had to I,., han-
dled like criminal justice in the state, on a judicial or semi-judicial basis,
".
SPHERES OF JUSTICE
and not like the decision to buy and Sl:ll <'OtT1moditil"s, on the hasis of
judgments (or the: whim of partieubr entrepreneurs). lq
At stake w:;IS the goI'emment 01 the: workpbce, and government ts not
a market matier-llOt, at \ea.st, in a democratic 5OCicty. Of comSl:, the
light for llriC'\'anee procedures was not only a dispute ahoo.lt oour>darie'l;
it was also a cbss stnJggk. The "''!lrkcn defended an enlarged politiclll
sphere becau.se thef "'-ere mo: likely to do ell within it; they had
an interest in drawing the: lina in a '<tain ay But ...... can still say,
as I would be inclined to do, that their cb;ms _re just. These are mat
ters that admit not only of struggle but also of argument
The argument can be carried 01lC step fmthet. Even within the ad
l'en.ilI)" relation of ol'men an<! workas, with uniorls and llriC'l'ance pro-
cedures in place, OWIlas may ,till exercise an illegitimate kin<! of powe.
They make all sorts 01 decisions that !e\"eJel}' comtrain an<! shape the
lives of their employees (and their fellow citi1.ClIlI. too) Might not the
enormous C"apilal investment represented b)' plants, frlmaces, rna
chines, and assembly lina be better reg,nded as a politiclll than an ec0-
nomic goodr To say this doesn't mean that it can't be ,hared among
in<!il"iduals in a ....riety of wa)'S, but ooly that it shouldn't carry the con
nnlional entailments of owllC"hip. Beyond a ""rlain $Calc. the mean.
of production are rlOI properly caned commodities, any more than the
iigation s)'slcm of the ancient Eg,'ptiolns, the roads of the Roman!
or the Incas, the cathedrals of mediC'\'aJ Europe, or the ......apons of a
modern army are called commodities, for they gene...te a kind of power
that lifts them out of the erooomic sphere. I ....iIIcome bolek to these
issues when [consider in detail the sphere of politics. Here I only want
to stress that C'I'en this last redistribution would still k""-e, if nut the
capitali'l markel, then the market itsoelf, intad.
Redistributions are of three IOrts: lirst, of market powe. as in the
blocking of desperate exchanges and the fostering of trade unions; Je(".
ond, of money directly, through the 1Lc S)"'tem; third, of property riChts
and the entailments of ownership, as in the eslablishment of griC'l-a1lre
proudures 01' the cooperative control of the meanl of ploductioo. All
three redistributions redraw the Ii"" bet"'em politics arwl economies.
and they 0050 ill ......ys that strengthen the Ipkreof politics-the han<!
of citizens, that is, not necessarily the l'O"...r of the state (In Eastern
Europe today, a ,imilar kin<! of 'moral i.dentilm" would strengthen
the OJlOmic spooe and Cllpand the leach of market relations.) But
hOWC\-et .troog their harK!, citizen. can't make just any decisions the}'
p1ea<e. The sphere 01 polities has it< own boundalies; it abuts on other
sphere! arK! lirwll it! limits in those abutments. Hence rrdistributioo
'"
Money and Commodities
can $imple equality. r>ot $(I long aSllKmcy arid rommodi
ties still eoisl, md lhere is IOIne legitimate iIONl wilhin ....hich
they an be exehangcd-(lr, fOI' that matte,. gh'<:n a....ay
Gifts and Inheritance
In tlK: Unit..! States loday. the gilt is <ktermined by the rommodily
If 1can ""'n this object arK! it fOf somelhing diIC {wilhin
the sphere of mo'leY and rommodilies}. then 1Urt'ly I can givt' it to
""home"e. I please. ilion shape my idenlit) thlOligh my possnsions,
thCIT I can do,o thlOugh my dispossessions. And. C\'ct1 lllOfe surely,
....hal [ Cln't possess. I call'l give a....ay. BUI it ....ill be usc/ullo Ihinl:
JOOfe orefully about Ihe gift, "" in its hislory Wt: COIn leml a great
deal about ou,seh'es-<md lind. too, some inl....esling "''ays of being dif-
feu:nl. I will bq;in ""ilh OI,e 01 lite best I:r>OWn of anlhropologie:JI ac
counts
Gift Exmdnge i" the Western Pt1d/ie
Bronisb.... Malino....'1lisstudy of 'elatioos among lhe Tro-
briarK! hlan<ien and lheir island neighbors is Ioog arid full of delail:
I cannot begin to I\Iggcst its rompJe.ities.+O I ,hall attempt only a brief
r""jew of its central foclls. the Kula. a S)"ltem 01 gilt in
....hich rteel:la= 01 ,cd shell and bracelets of ....hite shell tra,'<:l in oppo-
sile directions. O''<:r many mile'S. alOund a dIck of islands and gill part
ners. n.c and h<xelets arc ritual objects. ste,ffilypical in
lorm lhough ''arious in ''aloe: the linest of them are ''<:ry "aluable in
deed. the mOIl Y.1luable Ihings Ihal lhe i$bndlors ha't:, moch soughl
afle' and greally che,ishcd, The tv."O obieets are e.ehanged !Of Or>C an
othe, arK! fOf nothing cI"" Bul this i.nt a "trade" in OOr sense of the
....old, ncelbces and bracelets "can nCVe. be neha"ged from ha"d to
hand.....ith the equi''alence bet....een the I",.., objects discllssed. ba,
gained about and The "",,change ha, the foIm of a ",lies
of gilts. I gi"e my KultJ partner a 'letl:lace; and IOI1lr lirnr biCT. pe,.
haps as mIlCh n a )'car latel. hr gives lIle a bracelet Of a ",t 01 Mcekts.
NO!' does Ihr sclies rnd the,e, I pall OIl Ihe blacelel5 to :some other
paltnel a"d rttei\'e allOlhe' rteeklal'C. which 1in lum a......y. Thae
ob;ects are only lrmporary possessions; e,'eIY iIe\'C1111 )'<:111'5. the)' ,00\,<:
"3
SPHERES OF JUSTICE
around lhe ci,c1e. the Kula ,ing.necldace'l;n a clockwise. brattl"'5 in
a counterclocb'ise, direction. "Om: transaction does not finish th.
Kuia ,ehationship, the ",Ie being 'on.ce in the Kuia, alway, in the
Kuia. . "41
E"ery gift is a rdurn, thcn, for some previous li:ilt. Thc "'lui,,,leoce
i5 kit to thc gi,a, lhOUllh "he is expected 10 gi"c back lull and fair
value." Indeed, "",,"'}' TTK)\..,ment of the Kula a,ticles, ",-ery detail of
the hanuclion, i5 ... regul.lJted by a sd of traditionalr\l!e5 and coo"c,,
tion....
4l
TI",re i5 room lor gene=ity and room lor ,ese"tn''''lt, but
the fundamental .tructure i5 We might betic, thrnk of it 35 a
1)"Stem of alliances than as an economic s)'ltem, though that diltindion
would be lost on the Tmbriand Islande,s. The Kula rillg has its ana
log"" in our """ial 'ound, whe'e friends exchange presents and invita
tions in what is necessarily a c(m'-entionalizc,<! pattern. The exchange
is not a bargain; one COIn't buy one's way out of llle obligations it entails.;
,eturns must be in kind, And the ,dation isn't lcrnlin3ted by the re-
turn: the p,es.mls and im'itatiom go round and 'ound, back and forth
within a group of friends 1be Kula ring looms I.lJrger in the life of
its participanh, hOWC\-er, than the social round does in OUIl. It is, as
I\.brshall Sahli", ha' argued, rhe acting out of a social conrract. and
all vthl'f r<:l.lJtionlhips md h31lS3c1ion. take pl.lJc.: in its (II bet
te" unde, tbe protection of the peatt it establishes and lPI'l,anlees"
Alnong lhese is ""hal Malil1O'lo',ki calls "l'ade, pure alK! simpk" and
whallhe iwnders call gim...'tIIi. He,c lhe tr:ode is In commodilies, J>Ot
'itual objects; and it is "'lti,,,ly legitimate 10 bargain. tv haggle, to 5k
p,i''ate advantage. The gim...'ali is flee; it can be COIrricd on betwn
any two lIromg"rs; and the shiking of a b.argain le"ninala the trange
tioll 1l>c i'l.lJn.dcrs dr;lw a sn.,p line betwn this ""t of lrade and
the of gifl5. When criticizing bad condoct in tt", Kula, they
""ill lolly that "it "''a$ done like a gim"",li. "., At the Arne time, iUCCCS$
in hade pUle and simpk will one'i itatu, in the Kuia, for the:
exehallge of ncckl.lJces and br.lCl::kls is acrompanied by other KIrts of
gilt gi'-ing and by cl.lJooratc fcaslings, md 10 r"'luirel comidcrabl-e re
SOtlfces. IlUppooe it is Ir..eo{ us, too, that SllCCC$$ ill buying and selHng
changes one', position in the social round. But "'.., ar<: more likely 10
spend our mollcy on oursc!l", tn.n on otheli. Among lhe i.l.lJnden,
by COnlr:l.t, ",cry form of produdion and aumulalion j, .ubordinated
to th<: Kul.:_thc freedom of "getting," to a highly COlll'entionaJiu:d
and lI1()I1l11y COCIci,e form of "spending."'
1l>c gift. then, is not determined br the commodity. TI,e isl.lJnde'$
ha"e, indeed, a conception of ownership; and though it less free-
"4
Money and Commodities
<10m lhan oor own co",:eption does, il dill leaves room fOl' persooal
and priv;lle (or familial) usc; hUI it does nol extend to tM Ku/a
objects, These belong to the ring, not 10 the individual. They can't
be hekl fOf too long (else one get. a reputatioll for being "slow" in the
Kui4) They c;ln't be gi\'en to 0""" chiklten 13ther than to one's part-
nen. TIle)' can't be passed the Wr(>flg way round the circle or traded
fOf other IOrts of things. They nJO\'C in;l diredillll, 00;1 ccrt.. in
schedule. to the accompaniment of ttrlain rites and <:e,eI11Ol1ies. 1be
gift, the islanders might uy, is too important to be left to tbe whim
of the gi\-cr.
The Gift in the Na{X!/l'Onic Code
ArnOl'S the Trobriand Islanders, gift. m;lle friends, build tnl$t,
shape alliances, gua13ntC!' peace. The gi\'el is a man of inftuentt and
prestige; and the more he can gi"e away, the gr<"3.ter hil largesse, lhe
larger he will loom among his peen. But a \'ery different view 01 the
gilt is dominant in many cultmes, attOfding to whi<:h it i.leu an en
01 the ,tatus than a dissipation 01 the eslate of the giver.
1l>cre i. ooly 10 much wellhh, land and mooey and thingl, and e,'ery
gift male'S it less. But this walth OOesn'tsimply belong to the individ
ual (and stilllc:ss to his circle of friends); he is its legal ow""r only under
<:ertain desc,iptions and lor purposes, Undel othe. desc,iptions
and fOI' other I'UTp<!$C'I. it belooglto hi, family or, bette" to hislincage.
And then the political authorities step in to prnlect the inteTe$l.I of
the next generation.
This \iew of ,,'eallh ha, ifs origins in trih;.1 and leudal law; it I",.
a long hi,tory whi<:h I ,hall not recount. Ou,ing the French Revolution
an elrOlt """ made to break up .. ri,tOCT:ltic e1t..tet and all g,eat Cllneen-
tratioru 01 wealth by guaranteeing equal legacies to heirs of equalranl.
Thisgumntcc foo"d it. place in the Napoleo::micCode, though in mod
form; an<! it obviously .-cplescnts a lC\'ere resll3intupon the testa
mentary power 01 individual ownen. EV'Cll more impoTtant. I think,
the Code aimed lo 'egulate the power of the """'T1C1" during hi. own
liFetime by limiting his ,ight to bestow his money al he pleaoed. to
plealing Itlangers or to relatives outside the di,ect line of descent. TIle
Iq;illalon a resc....'e, a perttT1t..ge of the total estale the prop-
erty that the individual had e'>'CT owned), that could not be given away
and had to p;lSS by int....taey. '''The ,ese...'e \""ied ,",'ith the number
and kind, of ... heir! that .u...i,-ed--<J.Te-hall of tlte estate if there
were no children. three-lourths if there were th,cc Of few"" children.
SPHERES OF JUSTICE
four6lthl if thele "'C,e foul, and 10 on:' If tl>c right amOlJnts "'Cre
not a,,,ibblc for dilllibution, testamentary gifu ,,"t'rc Cllnl'CIcd, in/tr
rivof giftt "redU<.:Cd" or "Idurned,"""
HelC again, the Jift does not follow the mles of thecommodity.lndi
vidual o-nerl can do ",h.at they like with theil I'I'loOney 10 Ioni as they
Jpend it on themsej,'ca.1bey can eal gou,met foods prtp;olcd by JOUr-
met chefs, on the Rivicn., risk their cabte at bbc:kjad Of lOll
Iette. The \;r.", rqubtca theil IcncI'OIity to stlllogas, not thei,
xlfinduJemce. Thecontmt xemsodd, but it isn't irK'Omprehcnsibk.
It would require a hanhly rqime to poIicr: xU-indul,cncc,
...hilo: the control of lifb. or 01 brlNcalc Jifls, 100b caicr (il has
Pf'O"-m in fact to be >"fly dilT.ro1t). &, thcl'e is a <Wpcr distinction
at ...'OCk here. Cdti.., and lpCO<inc. in tl>c ordinary xnx oIt"'-
wordJ. bdonp to the Iphcre 01 money and commoditin, and it is gov.
erned by tMprinciples 01 that spnne, "'hick are 01 f,eedor".
&t tM distribution of the: family estate beIonp to another
sp/>ere-the of .......t..eh is p'Cmcd by 01 11K>-
tuahty and obIiplion. The boundaries ale as h,ud to dra... here any
"'Me eIx; in the United States tolby, they a,e dra..'U fa, more na,
IOOl'ly than in tnc l'apoIeooic Code. But ou, 0-... conorptions of
mainlcNntt, alimony, and dwd elle AlgOl tnc existence of a pool
of bmilial W'C:lIlth.llIlher Iik the pool of communal.alth, ..-here IIClC
disbunement it not pa-1I\ittod. It milht be that
A)", it mob/iption lredy ....he-n one marries and has childrm.
But no il'ttmmt. no contract, no indmctual undenhndi"l IICU tnc
shape of the obIiption, This OIl cd\c'Ct;"'dy. not indi\-idually. dcta
mined; and the dctnmination rdIa:b our col\ccti>e undentandi"lil of
.'hat a family is.
1Cll'=fi1ly. how.'C\'c:r, in:Jm the founding of the I'CJ'O,IbIioc on.
Aroma"" ha>'C bcm 'ClNrbb!y flClC to do ,,-hat they hh ....th their
money, The bmily has been las omtnl hcIC than in Europe. probably
bcalDCof theabKnl'Cof a put; and:lli a rauIt. wealth has mo.-e
readily paucd out of bmilUl control I n hit Principia of PoIiac.t Econ-
omy, 6nt pubIWted in .8.+8. fohn Stuart MiD pnitcd this feature of
American life, quotiDi Cha.1a LydI'l TrIIt'tb;n Nol'th ..... meriaI:
Nat only iI it a>m_ ro. rich apiulisls 10 br a ...;/1 , portion 01
Ihrir fortune Iow.Irdo lhe caodow".enl 01 "'1.....1""'iNtlOllS, ....t indmdu-
sis du..... lhm hfdime ma4 1IYIfl.&ra.1 annlS 01 .-.ey ro. the I'U""
ob;ccts. iI here ..... a>mpuloooy b", loa- the equal partition 01 ptOPt111
"''''''I childma, "" III on the llIbc.-luind, ..... C\I$IOm 01
Of primOI"'''!IIIC, in Encbnd, 110 INllhc ,fllunll fttllhcrnor:h". allib-
nty to wre Ihrir """,lth bct...ftIl their kindml and the public."
l\'loney and Commodities
Bul if phitmthropy il uncontrolW, e'o"Ctl encouragtd by the sbte, liftJ
and bequests of othtt sorts aoo Iepcic:Ilo kin are stm IUbjed to the
bw---flOt as to theil so to speak, but as to their silt, Allhe
moment, Ihis \cpl control dor5n't alJ1(Unlto much, but 1M principle:
is establishtd, and it is important to tty to understand its moral bIsis
aoo to altl"nlpl _ condusions about its pn;lpft pIXIM:a1 ellient.
Mill oIJemla utilibrUn X'CDJnl of the IimibtOom on Ixquest and
inheritance, If .. estinute a brge fortune al ib true \"Ilue, he aid.
"tldl of lhe p/owro and that an be with il,"
lhen. 'it must be applolOlt to e'o'ayone, Ildllhe diHncntt to th.: pol'
__ beho'CCII a noockult indrpmdmtt and Ii\" lima as much. ill
inRcniliont ..'hen wrichal against the mjo)menl Ildt micht be,n'Ol
, . , by toIl'IC other dill> wi 01 the fourfifths,"'" But I doubt ''elY much
tldl Ihil 01 the: ma<&irW utility oI ..ahh 0"'. prnuade any poten-
tial 010_ of a blJC fortlll'le_ l'l>ere i1110 much dK, beyond lI.od<nle
indepmdencc, Ildt buy. MiD sugaled a better ICUJII for
the policies he achvcated ""hm he summed up their intended decb:
10 nuke the "ft>OfnlOUl fortunes ""hieh no one netrh for any penoN1
pllfpoK but OItOlliltion or improper JIO'"'"et ... leu 01-
tenlation is wlety unimportant; it i1a common foible ..ithin the sphere
of money and, shott of sumptuary 1<1 ..., rigorously enlort'td, impouible
to control, But improper power must be contro1kd if the iulqrily of
the poIitialsphere is 10 be upheld. Ideally, perhaps, rnorrrlOUl fortunes
should be broken lip before: they <oln be tranlferra;l. But there may be
l'OUoo, for permillins substantial (Ihougll lIot unlimited) areumu/a
tion within a single lifetime: the majo. poIil;al effects ale otten not
felt unta the nextlennation, "'hose nlClllben ale raised to a habit of
romrnand. In anya5e, the chief purpol<"of limiting bequcsl and inher
itan, ISof eve-ry other form of redistribution, is to ..:cure the bourMb-
ries of the different spheres. Once this is MiU, tna'liual utility
a..... menl "'ill look lOOK pUusible, for there won'l be aD that much
that an illdi.-idual nu do with his money. It ,tiD isn't that argument,
hooo'C\"et, that fiu::II the limits on transfers. 11le limill.,.,;11 been
lUed already .....th .derenc.: to the streneth 01 the, boundaries
(and tM SI.Itn::III of othe.- $Orb 01 boundary OdenK'). If """ lU(<<ukd
abtoluto:ly in bani,. the con\Tnion 01 money into poIitieal pawn. for
a3mpk. then "''C milhl not limit ill acalmubtion or alienation al aD.
As thinp are, """ 1d\'C strone ratOllJ to Iimil both oIlhtle raaoIlI
that 1d.'C bt to do .'th the nwJlnal utility 01 money tldn "';th its
ellinmur.al dlect;"-mas.
11le ript to gi''C and th.: richt to follow from the, IOCiaI
mean,,,, 01 mone,' and rommoditia-; bul the ri&hll pr'C'"i1 only,,;r long
"7
SPHERES OF JUST[CE
thes<" t...'O thingl, and only th=, are gi,-en rl':'Cei,-ecI, O\<-n
crship of thing." as Mill aid, "cannot be looked upon :u completc
without the pcM'e, of batowing il. death 01' during life, the
O\<"oe"s pIcaIUTe,"H1 can be owned can be away. Thc
unibteral gift il p!>coomcnon uniqllC' to the spltcre of mOlley and
commodities al it hal bUn in our O\<'n society. [t doesn't
in the Kula 01' in any other 1}1tern of gift exchange, It il oon
Itrairled, if not ruled out entirely, w!>cne'"cr owncnhip is "ested in the
family or the lineage_ It is xpeci;rl fature of ou' eulturc, opening thc
"'11)' to spcciallOfts of gencrolity public-spiritedness lpeci;ll
sortl of whimsy me,lnness, too) It isn'tgenerous 01' publiNpi'ited,
ho\o.'cver, to try to p.:ISI on a political ofIice---<K any position of JlO"'er
(I\-'el others-to onc's frieool rebtives. NOf can prof=iollalslolnd
ing or public hono.- be transferred at will, for such thingl lie wilhin
no one'l gift. Simple equality would require a long list of fUTthe' prohi
bitions; in<ked, it would require b,,,, on gifts. But .",ely the
gifl is One ofthc npressions of ownenhip "' ""C know it. Ami
so long al they act within their sphere, ""C C'"y 10 resped
those men and women who gj"e thei, money away to penorll they Io\'e
or to c.uses to which they arC committed, C\-Cn if they nukc diltribu
outcomes unpredictable and unC\"en, Lo--e and commitment, likc
enterprise, thei' 'isks and (lIOmdimes) their windf<llls, which it
is no n<'CUSlIry put of a theory of distributi,'c iustice 10 deny or repress.
,,8
,
Office
Simple Equality in Ihe Sphere of Office
According to dictionary, an office iJ "" platt of IrUII, authority,
Of l'ervitt under conltiluled authority ... an official position or employ-
nlffit" I prClplH a broader definition 110 al to encompass the exp;mdcd
range 01 "constituted authority" in the modern world: an i. any
pQiition in ....hich politic.ll community as a ....OOk takes an inlC1"l:l'l.
choosing the person 10.'110 holds it 01' regulating the Ilflltt(lures by which
he is ch<:.1oS"lI. Coolrol Q'."eJ appointment. iJ croc;;'!. The distriootion
of offices is not a mailer of individ1J3\ or 'mall di$C.ction, Offi=
cannot be appropriated by prj'lIl.. perSOn!, passed down in families,
or sold on the market. This is, of course, a .!ipubli"", definition, for
soc;;,1 and eronomie positions of the sorllhat it Cl)\'ef) hi"", in tile p;..t
be"n di.tribute<! in .lIthe51: "';IY$- In the societies that Weber called
"patrimonial:' e-.'m position, in the ,Ial.. bureaucracy "'....... held as
pfOPC'rty b" individuals and harnkd 00 from lathe, to ""'.
No JppointlNnt was ntaWry; $011 suee<kd to his offitt JS to
hi. bnd, .nd though the ruk, "'ight e!Jim the .ightto 'oo:>gni7-c, he
could not dispulc, the titk. Tod;ly the ma,ket i. the maiof .hemali"e
to the oyltcmof offica, Jnd the hoklc:rs of m..ket pll"Oo"CT Of their .ulho-
rizcd ,ep,cscnbtivu--pcnonnel mJnJgeTJ. pbnt ro.eTTlCT'. Jnd 10
on_,e the m.iof .lternJlivcs to the constlluted Jutho,ities, But the
distribution of position uK! pbct: through the ma,ket ill inc.easingly
sub;CC1 to polilial 'egubtion.
The ide. of office: is "cry okI. In the Wal, il oo'dopcd most ckJ'1y
"9
SPHERES OF JUSTICE
within the Chlisti;tn church and took 00 ib lptti;tl edgc in thc COUIK
of the loug shugglc to disrngagc the church from lhe pri\'ati1-cd wo<1d
of feud:llism, Church bOO, made Iwo argumenls fi.st, lhat ecclesias-
tical positious could IlOt be 0'<"1lCd by the incu1l1bellu Of their kud:ll
patrons and gi,'en out to friends and ,ebli'-a; Iond, that they could
r>(lt be traded or sold Nepotism and simony were both of them sin!,
anod sin! likely to be committed so long as pri'"ale indi"id......ls oontrQtled
lhe dil!ributioll of ='iiiow offia-s. Offi= 10 he dislributed in_
slG<! by Ihe constituted authorities of lhe church, acting On God', be-
half arid for lhe sake of His snvice. Cod, "'<' 1I1igl,1 say, was the filSl
mnitocrat, and piety and di\"iM knowledge ,,'<'Ie the qualific.lioos He
required of His officials (also, no doubt, ma""gerial r:lpacily, skill in
handling mOrley, and political S<!I'O;r faim). Discretion "'as not abol-
i,hed bill W:lIS lekx:ated within an official hierarchy and 1l1bieclcd 10
a I'ariety of COnslr.llnll,1
F'OO1 the church, the idea of office: was taken O\'e. and lttu!;t,ized
by lhe ad"ocates of a ci,,;l 5C:1'-'ice. Thein. 100, was a kmg struggle: fint.
against the pcnonal disc,etion cbimed by arisloc.at. and gentlemen;
arid lhen, apimt the partisan discretion claimed hy radical deniOClatS.
Like the ..,,,,ice of Cod. so the Jel'vice of the poIilic:l1 community "'as
slowly turned into lhe work of qualified individuals, be)und the 'e;!ch
of plI"''<'rful families Of Iriumphanl faction. and partid, One might
"urk out a democratic delenKof lactions and parties, and Ihell of "'hat
C\lllle 10 he C\llled the "spoils Sl,Ien1," for hele discretion in hiring
lttmslo be mmwted by" majority of the citizens: 1shall pursue: this
line of argumcnllatel, But the fight for the spoils system "'as 1os1 as
lOO<l a, thai name IIo'3S established Offices are too imporlanl 10 be con-
ceived of as the spoils of "ictOfy. Or, "icIOl'iCI are too transient, majori-
ties too un'lable, to shape lhe civil snvice of a modern .Ialc. Illlle;d,
the e""minatio<! has become the distribuli,.,. mcchanisrtl-fO
today. in a state like Massaehu.dll, to< eumplc, ";rhully the oni)'
slale;ob lor which thne is rIO nami""tion (lea"irlg aside the go>"ernor
and hi! cabinet and a number of ;od";sory and regulatOf)' commisiorll)
is thc ;ob of "laborn," and "'"CI1 !Of it hiring procroures arc emly
lupewisc:d.
1
TIlere arc no spoils Ielt. lobs ha,,<, studily been lurned
into offices, lor tm: sake of hollCSty aod efficiency ("good !lO"cmment"')
and also for the sake of justice and equal opportunity
-11tc fight for lhe idea 01 office: in church and stale makes up two
part' of a stOl)' that [lOW has a Ihird part: the gradual eXleosion of the
id"" inlo eivil society. Today mcmbenhip in most profCSilions has be<:'n
made "official" insofar as Ihe Ilate conhols licensing procedurd
'3'

parlicip;llcs in the of standards for profes:lional practice.
Indd. any for which academic is required
is a kind of office:, since slale also controls the accreditation of aca
demic institutions and often ruOS them itself. In principle, at least,
grades and degrees are oot for SOlie. Pe,haps ;1 is the pre$Sure of the
markl"t that fof= emp1o)'''''' to require (increningly advanced) .li6-
cales; but in the process of ac.tdemic ..,kction, training, alld oamin:a
tioll,llanoh,d, arC brought to bear th:lt arC not simply markd slamurds
and in which state agenll take an acli\'c interel't.
The inle.l.'$! in this case <loan', h..,-c to do with Cod or the commu
nity as a whole. but has r.iihcr to do with all the individual clients, p,a.
lienls, consumers of goods and services who d\"ptnd upon the
tellCO' of office holders. We are nol ioclinal to cxl'O"" helpless and
..dlul people 10 officials sclttted by birth Or a,bi!",rily p.:IlroniU<! hy
(lQ"..,rlul individuaL '00 not inclined 10 "pose Ihem to
sell-sclted official. who not through some prQtt$S, Jtl<lK
or leu of Iraining and tating. Since offices
scan.'C'. these pTOCnse:S mrut fair to all candidata, and mUlt k seen
10 fair; and such lairnas. too, lequires thai ooign be laken
out of the hands of pri,..tc decision and this au-
th01"ity has bttn politicized, that is, made into a matter of public de
bate, .ub;tn! to KlUtiny and regulation. The process
began "'ith the professions, but it has rcnlly httn utended 110 as to
impose comtr:aints on many difFer""t sorb of selection p.-ocedure. In-
deed, laws Ih.t "fair employmrnt practica" and judicial decisions
that rajuin: "affiIl'Nti\"e action" progr:ams ha"c the efFt of turning
a1\ Ihe jobs to which lhey apply into ..,melhing like offices.
In IheK lad rumpla, iustice is lhe main concern r:alher than effi-
ciency or honesl compelence, Ihough these 1...'0 may ser\"ed as .....,11.
I think it is lair to $oay that the current Ihrull of both politia and politi
cal philosophy is tOW-lid lhe rcronceptualization of t>"rTy job as an of-
the sake of justice, This i. certainly I.... implication of the
t.Un (and least contl'O\'ersial) part of Ra,,ls's serond principle of jus--
tier: "Social and economic inequalities are to be .rr:anged so that thcy
are ... attached to offices and positio", open 10 .11 under conditions
of fai' equality of opportunity,") Any position lor which people com-
pete, and ....here the victory of one comlituh:. a social or o:wnomic ad
vantage the others, must be distributn! "fairly," in accordance
with ad"crti$ol'd niteria and tr:anspalCllt procedura. 11 would be unjust
if p.ivate pc'5(ln, lor rea.lIOm of his own or fOI no publicly known
and appl'O\'n! at afl, simply handn! out offica and positions,
'3'
SPHERES OF JUSTICE
Offices m""t be won in open Th( gO;lI is a m(ri-
locracy, the. re;lli>.;>lioll (at lastl) of th( I'r('l(h r(volulionary slogan:
Ik car= opc:n to taknts. Th( re-.'OIutionarin of \789 thought that
nothmg morI' was r>e<:enary to achie-.-e Ihis goal trn.n Ik oolrUClion
of amtocr.llic monopoly and Ih( abolition of e'o'CT)' legal barri(lto i<><li-
vidUOll advancem(nt, This was stillth( "i", of Dmkheim a century Iat(.
when hI' descrikd the good $OCicly as one that ro:<juired an "organic"
di",ion of\abor, wh(.( "00 obstacle:, of whalc'..e, nature, p"",..,nlll [in-
dividUOlls] from OttUpying the place in the -xial fr.llTle'o'luk . com-
p;>tible with their faculti.,,:' In fact, however, Ihis happy OtJlrome.e-
qUill'S the pll'iti.-e ",wk of the Itatr:: adminisle.ing (urns. establishing
crit(.ia for tr.lining md <:ertific:otion, It.I.ch md selection
pnxrom.", Only the sl:.ltI' can ronnte. th( piI.ticularizing (ft'tttl of
indi"idual ma.ket pO"'er, and corporatI' privilege, and gUOlr-
anlee 10 e'o'I'ry citizen an equal chance 10 m(a,m( up to uni..,=1 slan-
do"ds,
So thc old di.-i5ion of \abo!- il .eplaced by a univerlal civi! :leT\'iCI',
and a kind oflimpk equality i. ",tabli,he<!. The sum of Ihe avail;.b1e
opportunitia inli"ided by th( number of inl(,aled citizens, and e'o'cry-
0"" i. gi.,n lhe lame chance of winning a pbee. That at any "'Ie is
lhe t(ndency of contemporary d..".'dOl'ment, though tl",.c il ob"iou,ly
much tha.t needs to bedol1( if il i, to '(;lch it. klgical I'ndpoint: a .yolem
inro.po",ling"""ry job lhe holding of which might concci.-ably con.ti-
tut( a lOCial or economic advantag(, and to which e'o-eT)' hal
(uelly equal acr:ess. n.e pictu,( iJ not unattractive, hul il '''''lui.es u.
10 ag.ee thai all jobs a.( indftd offica, and thallhey must be di.t,ihul-
ed, if not 10. tk Ian", reaotIR" lhen fo.11te Ia",( kmds of .(uon. TheM:
will r>CUa.ily be m(.iloc",l;c .e:llOnl, for 00 olhen ronnttt e:m:co
and taknb. State officials will ha.,., to lhe 'JesAry merit, and
(nforce thei, uniform applicalion Individual citizen.! willll.i., to ac-
quire thoc me.ib and lhen to tum lhe acquisition inlo a new monopo-
ly Social inequalities, Durkhcim wrotI', will expU'$S natu",1
ir>eqUOllit;"" "s No, they will a piI.licula. set of nalu",1 and
cial ir>equatities associaled ....ith png to school, taking an """'mination,
doing well in an interview, leading a di$Ciplin-ed life, and obeying or-
ders. What can a civilsel\'ice be bUI a vast and intrical( hie.-
a.chy within ",hich IOm( of intellectual and bu,ollCr.ltic vi.t\lC1
a.c dominant?
BUltltere is anothe' kind of simple equality aimed precisely at avoid-
ing thiJ OtJtcomI', It i' las imporlant, on this view, that every ioh be
turned into an office thall that <:very cilizen be turned inlo an office
'3'
hol<kr, I6s 10 <kmoclatize selection than to I1Hldomize dil-
t.ibl.llioll (by or rotation, for ThilW3$ the Cleek "jew
oIlht ci,'il service, but in poslclassical time$ it hal nlO:ll commQllly
been rep'SCl1ted "" cerbin SOIt 01 populist radicalism which ha, iu
source in deep rt'SClltmellt of laW}'ers, doctors,
can, no doubt, breed a complicated aoo
subtle politics. Tne sponl<meoos demand 01 populist
radicall, how..,.,et, has often been indeed, death to all office
lool<krs!
A.....y ",lh hi"'l aw>y "ith him! he $ptlIks Lalinl
6
Populi!! radicalism is anti<krical, 3lId anti-
intdlectu.al. In 1'.111. it taka this form because office holders are often
Iowborn men and WOOten who-dass the intere$ts
of highborn But the hOlltility is also conneeted to what Shake-
,peare', Hamlet calls insolence of office": that is, the special claims
that office holders commonly make, that they ale entitled to tlteir of
fices and then to tlte authoTity and status that go with their oItice,
becaUJe they have bttn tested and certified in 3ttOfdantt with socially
appro>'ed st:mduds, Office is their achic\'!:ntent, and it marks tltem off
al luperior to thei, fellow citizenl,
The more .e!locti,.: forms of poptJlis11l pb)"Cd an important part fint
in Protestant, then in democratic an<l.-x:ialist, thought. Luther's can
!of the p,icslhoo:xl of all belic\'!:fI has h<K! its parallel for "irtually c>-ery
kind of office holding Thus, the reiterated rC\'Olutiollary eliort to sim
plify the language of the law... that eititen can be his '-""'" laW}'!:.;
or Rousseau's argument ftx a of public schools where ordinary
citizens take turns al teadterl; or the Jacksonian <kmand for rotation
in office; or Lenin's vision of a society in which"e>-ery literate penon"
is also butC3l>Cr.lt.
7
The cflJC'ia.largument in all these examples
ofFice holding itself, 3IId not merdy tlte power to distribute olli<:cs, 'ep-
rt'SCITts an unjustifiable mooopoly If office holders need not be killed,
it is IlCttSllIry least to rcpudi:lte thcir claims to qualification and pre
rogali.:. A"""y with Latin, then, and with e>':ry othel form of a'C3ne
kllO'to'\edge that maka office holding m)'steriouJ and difficult.
Now .-x:ial eqwlity "nildly" nalural equality-the ability
of every citizen to Ih31e in aspect of .-x:i3land political acti'ity.
Tahn litCfally, hcno'C\"l:I", this sharing is JlOllihlc only in small, homoge-
TICOUS, econOlnically ull'llphisticated socictia: ancient Athem is the
prime eU11Iple. In more compln .-x:icIia, there is cllarilderistic dif
ficulty, nicf:1y c1pressed in the COfltempor.lry Chinese debate about tltc
'33
SPHERES OF JUSTICE
of "experll" md "m1s."8 If mil: devalues knO"'ledgc, one falls Mock
on fOf },ind of guiding principle, lOme Itand:lld refcr-
for regulation an.d evalu:ltion of wor}" il n0'Cn$3.ry in tlK: m:In-
of a me::dem l'O)n<)my. If talenl md Iraining denied legiti-
macy ",'m wilhin their splK:rc, ideoloeical zeal is
likely to rule outsidf, of its own. WlK:n holding il
it is also devalued, and tk ""y il open for tk tyranny
of tlK: political ad-,scr and rommil$ilr.
Rotation in office can coexisl wilh a of professionallll'Jc.clion.
Thc modern conscript army is an ob"ious example, and it is not diffi-
cult 10 imagine Jimilar amlngcmcnll in many othcr arcas of social life.
AJ thil example suggests, it is difficult to do a""y wilh selte-
tion mc;""1 elected their bttause
they thought that this WlII a qu:llificatiom ",<OK r>ettWry
and a inappropriate. And when Napoleon gid that eo.'ery pr;,"tc
cmicd a mmha!'. baton in his knapsack, did lIot mcan that any
pri';lte rould be a manhal OfFica that require klllg I... ining Or opcci:Il
qua1itia of leader.hip canoolreadily be universalized; offices can
0Il1y be Im"ed arnong a limited number of peoplc, and rota
tion of ind;vi<!u:Ils into aoo out of them "'OU1d be highly dillupt;vc of
both pri';lte life and economic aclivity. Not can be a hospital
eo."nI if rigid hierarchy of the hmpital is bro-
kcn down, More: important, not can be a doctor. Not
can be chicf in the factOf)', c.'en iF factO<}' is democra
tically run. important, again, not can WOf}, in the mOIl
JllCttMful or pkaJaot factories.
Against the t,,'O forms of simple equality, J WlIIlI to defend a
complicated sct of lOCial and CCQr><)mic a.. A civil
se....'icc "'OU1d lhe dominantt of p""'er with the
of P""'e1'-and "'ith the of talent 01
educaliOllOf quality Jtatc officials thought necessary for
holding The problem .....c is to cootain the uni''ffulization of office,
to atttnd particularly to the actu:ll job and its lOCia) nlcaniqg,
to draw a line (it will to be drawn in diffcrent cultures)
between those felcction processes that the political community .hould
control and those it should ka''C to pri,,,te individuals and collegial
bodies, Again, rotatioo in ofIKe will only WOI'k for JOIt\C offices, not for
and itl bt,--.:md its bounds rould only be a frat><!, a
m:Isk for new SOflJ of domination problem here is not to break
thc monopoly of lhe qualified, but to sct limits to their
qualitie$ we dl(l(lSe to requirc-tlll: knowledgc of Latin, or
'34
Offitt
thc ability 10 pman cx;lm. deli,'cr a Ilure, or make Cllcu-
Iations-,o,e mull ins;sl that tllne do not become the b.1,il of I)'fannial
claims to llO"'Cr and privilege. 0IIitt holders should be held rigidly to
the purposes of thf,;r office. Al "''C require containment, $0 IlIe require
humility. Were these two understood and enforced,thc dislri
bution of office might loom Ins large in thought than ;1
currently doeI
Meritocracy
Bul processes br which individual men and "tllnC'1l are
for ;K!mwion to medi<::ll say, or for employment in thu or thai
fao:;tory, mel then lor all subsequent appoint"",,,1s and promotiOll5, will
alwa)"1 be important. They requirccardulmd extended diSO:;lI..iQn, My
01"0 purpose il to defend a miled syst<::m uf scltion, bulI lhall begin
by focusing on criteria md ptocedUl61hat might apply in a univer.
SlI1 ci\-il S<'T\'ice. I IhaU join, that is, the argument about meritocracy
Thi, is the cru<:i:d argument;n any poIitiCliI oommunity idea
of olli takell hold, al it has in the Unitro Stato, TlI)t ooly ill
church alld but in ci,'il society, too, Assume, thcll, that c"cry job
il an dillribution il in thc of thl: political
COII1111Ullity as a whole:, and that c\'clY member is cntitled to "fai. eqUOlI.
ity of opportunity." What shook! thc diJltibutivc proo:csscs look likc!
I should stless at the start that therc positions and cmplotmrnlJ
that don't properly fall within the ranle of politieal oontrol; but it will
be cukr tOKCwhat thac alCOOCC rha,'c described thc (toeial
moral) kJgic of distnbution of office.
Thc principle that unde.lies the idea 01 meritocracy in Ihe minds
of ITlOlt of it! sUppoclcn is ,imply this, that oIIices should be 611c:d by
thc most qualified peopk: becaUSl: 'lUOllification i, a ,pee;;'! case of de-
selt. Pcopk: may 01 may 001 dcscl'\'c their qualitiC!, but they wrve
tbose placa {Of which thei. qualit;e, 611hem. whole JHlfTlOS<' of
abo/i.hing pri,,,le di"'n:tion is 10 dislnbule offi<:a Krofdinlto desert
(talent, fflCfit, and IK) on, l" Actually, the case is IOOI"C complicatro than
thac formulations suggest. FOI" many offi<:a, only minimal qualifica-
tion i. required; a '-cry la.gc number of applicants can do the WOfk pcr-
fectly nO additional traininl would cnable to do it bet-
'35
SPHERES OF JUSTICE
tel. Here faillleSS seems to require lhe distributed
qualified c;mdiwles on a "first come, first serva!" Nsis (or through
a lottery); and Ihen i' surely 100 ,trong a term 10 the
61 bet\l.'C'I:n the oflia, hokkr and his place, But other olkd are
with regard 10 the training and skill they r"'l"ire, and fOf
them it might make sense to say thai, lhou&h a number of candidates
are qualified, Ihe most qualified deserves the oflia,. Desert does not
set'JT1 to be in the urm: way Ihat qualification is, but Dryden',

Thai M, ..-ho bat dcxn'es, .Iooc ,eiln,lo
that lhere nuy dese....ing individuals who don't in the final
alUlysis any particubr office, just as the'e ale qualified individu-
who must gi"e way to lhe 1TIO$t qualified.
But this line of argumenl mincs an importanl difference
deserl and qualification, Both terms, nO doubt, ambiguoIII in their
meaning, and we often"'" them in ways th.t O\"ellap_ But I think I
can dlaWa uscfulline belween them by focusing on paTticularselcetion
processes and partiCUla1 social goods, Deurt implies a '"eI)' strict IIOl't
of entitklTl<:nt, s"",h thai the titk p.<:des and de:tcnnines the selec-
lion, "'hik qualification is a m"",h \ooIser idea. A priu, for cumpie,
can be dcsen'cd bause it al=dy belongs to the person who has given
lhe betl performance; il ooly to idenlify that pc15Ol1, Pritt
committees are like juries in that they look backward and aim al an
Objecli,-e de:ci'ion. An office, by contrast, canoot desen'<:<! because
il belongs to people who ser.-ed by it, and the,-' cr lheir agents
are flee (wilhin limiu I ",ill specify bl(1") 10 make any choice they
pleiL'ie. Search committees are unlike jUTies in lhal the;l membe,slook
forward as "'ell bad, they make pr<:<!ictions about the candidale's
fulure pe,formmca, and they eJlprtlS preferences aboot bow the
office should be filled.
Consideralion fOf office falls between lhese 1"0. I shaU argue in the
nnt section thai all cilizens, or all citiuns ",ith some minimal training
or skill, have a right 10 be considered when officn .. gi"en oul. But
the competilion fOf a particular office;s a oompctilioo that no particu-
lar perlOO dClCf\"CS (0.- has a ,ighl) 10 win. Whalco.-e, all individual',
qualification., no injustice is done: 10 him if he isn'l chosen, This is
oot 10 say that 00 injustice can be done to him, oot Ollly that not
ing him is not itKlI unjust. If someon<'-' is chosen without ,efelence to
hi. bul for the sake of bi, a,istocr:atic blood 0.- bcallse
he had bribed the of the search committee, we ",ill uy ;ndeed
Officr
thai he doesn't I"'" offitt. An the other candidates h.:Il'C been
heated unbirly. And ooncci\'ably ... ....ill say of a good choicr thai he
doa deKr.-e it. In this btter case, howeo.'CI, il's1ikc:Jy trn.t a number
01 other people dcscn-e it. too, and llul none of them retlllr dtse,,-cs
it. 0fIica don't iooi\idlUls the .....yvCfdicls do. Assumill' an honc:lt
search. rIO Olle' ean complain that he Ius bel:n unfairly trcated---c-'et1
if, from the standpoint of the oflitt itself 100 the propk who depend
upon it, the wrong c;llldidalc was chOllCn, This is ckaTeS' in the elise
of dccli,-c office. but the ugumrnt 1pplia to all offices exa:pt purdy
hoU0I1ry Ofles, which ale like prizes. (II is probably bttause all
offices a.c, in P011t, ho11Ol'ary Ih.:IlllOtionl of dcscTt lneak into 00' discus-
sion ollhe various clIldidatcs)
The conlr:lst klwffll prizes and office!:. md qualification,
may he sharpened if Yo.., ro",Kkr two hypothetical but not atypic:Jl
cues. {I} X hu ",,,Uen what is rommonly agreoed 10 be the best llO\'d
of Jq80; but a group of men md "'()lne" committed 10 a more experi
mcnt.l mode th.n that in which X writes. pcrsu:Kk lheir fellow jury
mcmb<-u to gi,-e the no,'d-otthe-)'al aWald 10 Y, who hal wrillc" .n
infcrior Illl'\'el in the mode. They aglee .boullhe fl'loli,-c nil'"
ils of the Iwo books bul act so as to encourage expc:limcnlal writing.
Th.t mayor m.y not k. good thing 10 do, but they ha,-c Ir"ated X
unfailly, (z) X is the mOIl candidat.. fot a hospital directonhip
in th
c
sense that he 10 a gr<'.illcr degree than an}'Ql1C' lhose
managmallaknts coml1lOl1ly agrttd 10 be requiml in th.. oflitt. Bul
a group of men an<! "-omen who want 10 tum Ih.. hospital in a Ce'rtain
difl'Ction perltJaoCk> lheir fd\ov.'S on the IC'lcctioo rommill.... 10 choose'
Y, who .har.,. the'ir commilrncnt. They may be right or wrong aboul
what they want 10 do with the hospital, bul th'")' ha,-e not heated X
unlailly
Withoutlhe "common agreement" lhal I h..,c stipulaled, tf>es,c Iwo
calC'll might klok kss 1/ we make lhe ideas of dc=t and qu-ali-
fic-:rtion rontlO'-Cllial, al Ihey are, then il mighl plowibly be said thai
Illl' prir.c: md the oflitt shook! go 10 lhose individu-als who bat iii thc
lHolinilion1 "mlced out. Still, lhe mc:mkn of 1hC' jury ought to
Idrain flOm reading theil prival.. lit..rary program inlo th
c
dcfinition
of desert, the members of lhe scl.:clion commitlC'C alc not bound
by any limilar self.<Jenying ordinan in thci, algun>cnls about
alion, Hence thCl'c will be kgil;mate complaints aboullh.. awarding
01 a IitCl'ary pfizc if thc plOCeD has br:cn ewerlly poIiticizcd-.<-,'cn if
thc ""'itics il "Iiterory." Bul, undcf .imilor circumlla"""", th,.r,. afe
no Iegitimat.. complainll about th.. choiCe' of an office holder (unless
'37
SPHERES OF JUSTICE
the choiC'e is Jrulde on irrclevant poIitial grounds, as when postmasters,
for example, lire ctJ.os.i,n becaU5C of thcir p;uty Jo,_lty, not because of
their vicws on how lhe post oIIicc should be runl The jury, becaU5C
it looks backw.ud, musl .elled: what is bat in a shared hadilion of liter-
ary crilicum; the selcction committee is part of.n oneoing proc= of
polilical or proFCS5ion,a1 definilion,
The distinclion I have beenlrying 10 work out iims to Fail, h<:M,C"-
er, in all those cascs ,,'hcre ...e distriwle ofFica on Ihc basis of examina-
lion JC(na. Surely Ihe title "docto<," for eample, belongs to allihose
indi"iduals who achiC\'C a certain JC(ne on the medial boOlrds. The ac-
lual tesl mc.dy determina who, and how m.ny, these indi,iduaislire.
And then it must be true that anyooc who studies ha.d, ...orks through
Ihe necessary material, and passes the eumin,ation, deservcs 10 be a
doctor: it \\'OUki be unjll5t 10 deny him lhe tilk: But il ,,'OU1d not be
unjusllo deny him an inlnrllhip or. raidc:ncy in a particular hospital.
The hospitalselcction committee need r>Ot c h ~ the applicant wilh
the highest ll'OIe; it Ioob not only bilck to his eXllm5 but fOI'\O.lId to
performances IlO'l yet performed. Nor is it unjust if men and warnen
decline to COf]sult him about their medial proble:ms, His litle: merely
qualinc. him to ser:k a plaee and a practice: it doesn't entitle him 10
either one. The examinalion thallields lhe litle is importanl bul not
all imporlant, and it is ooly because Ihe eumin,atioll is not all impor-
tant lhat we allow il the importanee il has, If offic:cs> "'itb alliheir au-
thority and prefOll.livcs, coold be desef\ed, "'C would be at the me:y
oftbe deserving. Instead, we Iea,'e oursel,'es room for choice. As mem-
bers of the hospital staff (rcsponsible to a gO\'Crning boOlrd Ih.t alleast
pUlali,'Cly reprC5Cnts the generar community), "'C cOOosc our col-
leagues; as individuals in the markelpbee, "'C choose OUr profCS5ional
consultants In both eases, the choiC'e bdongs to the cl>oose-r> in a ....y
thai verdicts Cln't belong to Ihe members of a jury.
Evcn the tille of "doclor," though it is like a p1'i1-c in thai il call
be deserved, is unlike a prize in Ihat it cannot be dcscf\ed once and
for alL A prize is gi,'en for a performance:, and because Ihe performanee
cannot be unperformed, lhe prill: cannot be taken ."..y. A subsequent
di5CO\'ery of Fraud might lead 10 the dishonoring of the ,,"inner; 001
so \ong as the perfmmallCC slands, 50 docs the hoOOl, ",'halC\'e. happens
afICTVo_rd. ProFessional titles, by c:ontrasl, arc subject to ront;nllOllS
p u b l i ~ S(:rutiny, and reference: to Ihe examination sc:o<e thai pl'O\'idcd
tlte original entitlemenl is of no a,.. il if subsequeul pcrform3nces oon't
meaSure lip to publicly eslablished sl3ndards, Disqualificatioo, 10 k
sure, invoh'cs a judicial or 5/:mi-judicial procedure. aud "'C wookl be

ioclinnl to sa)' Ihat only "wr"ing" indi,id....ts un justly be di5'lu;lli-
fie<!. Ontt again, ,emo''allrom a office is a different matte.
can be and gencr;lUy uc poIilicoll in desetl
is r><)l a nec:essary conside"'tion, For some offica. both judicial and po>
Jilin! procedures a.c av;\ilable: plcsi<knts. for elm be im
peached OJ dd.-aled for redec:tiOll_ They COln only be: impeached, sup-
po,nlly. if they to be; lilt')' can be defeated without 'eg:I.d 10
desert. TI>t common rule is that both litles and p;lItirub. oflic,:s 3rc
poli<:ed-thc former I' ..ith .efem>tt 10 qualions of do:zc.l, the laUn
willi refcrcllCC 10 qualiolll arc of ;nl=l 10 ",Iclested men
and women,
If we WCTC to rcgilrd all offices as prilel and distribute (and rcdistTil:>-
ute) both title, an<! p;lrticula. placa on the hasil of d<"SoeTt, the resulting
social llructufc ,,"oukl be a m....ilocTlicy. A distribution of lliis JOTI,
under this fUme, is often ad'waled by people who intend. I think,
to gU;II;,"I only to the qualifed, not office to the <kson..
But 011 the usumptioo that there so",e palpk CQrnmitled to
the establishment of a strict metitOCTlley, il is w(Kth lor a mo-
ment to considel phi\ollophiC<lland the pracliC<l1 of thai idea.
There is no way to establish a mcrilocney by attending
Ji'"f:1y 10 the pasl record of Ihe C<lndidaln. Hcntt the dose cOl1r>Ccti(l<l
bet .. ...,n meritocracy nd testing, lor the test pro"ides a simple and
'ecord. A uni'''<:1.11 ci"il requi,es a uni,e...1e;"jl .
"i No luch thing haJ l:\''''' existed, but lhere is one eum
pie Ihal comes close enough to be useful.
Th, Chinne EXdmin<lt;on System
For thirt...,n ttntu'ies. the Chinese gon:mmc:nt ro:uuited ils
officiall Ihlough an inlricate of examinatiom. ex-
only to IhI- impnial SClVi CivilllOCiely ""IS a wOI"Id of 11I;ue:.
fd;re: the.e .. no eumination. for busi...,.smen, doctors. .",.;n".
astronomers, mu.ician.. h.,.,b:lliIU, lpeciali.lts in occult prognostics. and
iIO 011. The sole 'alOn fOf p.1rticip.1ting in ",halo"" sehobr has c:llled
"thc eumination lifc" "'., to secure a statc offiCi:.
1l
But offices ""f:re
b,- la, lhe mosl importanllO\l'ce of lIOCial prestige in posl-feudal China.
Though thc po":el of mOllCY gil:'" (l\1'r the thirteen centUlies of lhe
examination system, and il "'., possible during much of that lime to
purchase offices. high stalus was o\'erwhelmingly alJOCialed ",ith high
SCOfes. China w., ruled b,- a class of p<ofessionals, and each member
of that class C<lrried with him a certific;tte of merit.
'39
SPHERES OF JUSTICE
From tm, empel'Ol"i point of view, the puf\Xl"': of the
w.lS, to up the heredi!:lI}' second, 10 colkct
for the stolte. 'Ihe world's men of unusual been
in my b;igr" bo:.uted the emperor (617...()49) after
w.ltching procnsion of new graduates. II But the trap would not wOl'k
unless there w:;u equality of opportunity, Or something dose to th:lt,
for the emperor's subjects. So the !i:O"crnment struggled with
inadequ.ate reiOurcn) to prodoce, the a $)'Stem
of local public schools scholarships, took all IOrt! of pr;lutions
to rule out folvOl'itisln The: school i)'stem "'lIS rle\"1:r rom
pleted, the preeautions were never entirely effeC'ti'e. But peasant chil
dren, the Algers of old China, did "mk their way up the "bd-
de, of IUC::SS:' the grading 01 euminatiolls WlI5 rema,bbly folir,
at leas! until the decadenee of the .system in the ni ....teenth ctT1tury.
In numbe, of famous ca_, eumineJi who tried to f"1)r their rela-
ti,'"" ,,....e put to death--a punishment fOf nepotiJm nt\'el equaled in
the Wnt. And the result \021 a JClciI,I mobility that has proba
bly never been e<ju;lled in the West, even in modern lima. Highly
placed p<l\'o'erful folmilies rould not sU('\'i'"1: a generation 01' two of
i....pt ehildren
u
But W:OI the Chinese l)'Item really Were offices held
by those woo "most deserved" to hold them? II would be difficult to
ronltruct a set 01 amrngements more likely to produce a meritoc,,"C)',
yet the history of the examinations KT"nonlj'lo luggnt the mean-
inglessness of the term. During the earliest period (the Tang d)'1Jasly),
the examinations were supplemented alld sometimes superseded by
older syltem in which!oc;ll oIOCi:lls were lequired to n:mmmend meri
tOl'iOUI men for goo.ernment scn'icc. There were some sixty itemi1.ed
"merits" th:lt the officials were supposed to i0oi< for, "broadly related
to moral ch:lracter, literary iKIminiltrati'"1: kflOY,l
edge of military alhir5."14 But howe..er detailed the lilt, Ihe rcmm-
mendations ""1:re inevitably subiective; t(lOoften officials .imply
their friends relatives upon the of their superiors. TIle
bright young men whom the emperor wanted ....ere not
the Onel he got; the poor ,,'efe ,,",ely ,ecommrnded. Slowly, o'er pe-
riod 01 time, the examination S)"ltem emerged u the maio<. "irtually
the JOIe, of bureaucratic sc:ltttion iKIvancemenl. It "'11
more objedi,'e and more fail. But then the sixty "mcrils" had to be
dropped. The eumilUtions cook! test only a moch mOfe limited "'''ge
01 talent and
1 cannot describe the SlIhsequrnt evolution of the examilUtiOfu in
'4'
<kuil here. Tht'Y designed 10;. test tl>o: candidoltes'
kllOl"\edge of tl>o: da",ics and, nlOfe important, their abIlity
to think in a "Confucian" manner. The coodilioos of the test were
alwaYI the special of a rna", examination, the tenlion multi-
plied by the ltales. Locked in a small compartment, with a 11m]] box
olloOO, tl>o: candidata wrole cbborate essays aud J"Zml on the cbssi-
cal texis and also on contcmporary plObkml of philosophy and g(l\'efI1'
menl-I' But long process ol routini7.ation, generated by a lind of rol
laboration bet"-"l:eIl the e:mdidata and the examillC1's, led eventually
to the suppression olthe mQl'e speculative qlleltionx. Instead, examin-
ers in<;:Ralin&ly strased mcmoriz;ltioo, philology, and calliVolphy, and
candi<l.ata paid mOle allC11tion to old eumination questiolu than to
the meaning of the old books. What WllS tested. irn:reasingly, was the
ahilily to take a tal. Thele can't be mueh doubt that that ability was
accurately tested. But it's not deal what meaning we should attach
10 S\lCCC:l'll. "Talcnt," "'role the satirical n(welilt \VU Chin&tzu, "is
gained thro"l'h preparation for examination. [I Confoous Well' prel-
ent, he ""OOld <b'ote himself to prqJ3ratioll foo- eamination. How else
could one gain officel"16 lbat is like saying that were Hobbes ahe
today, he ,,"OOld probolbly get tenure at Harnlrd. YeI, but he
....rite Lr>iallum!
The replattmcnt of intelltu.allilc by "examirulltion liIc" il prob:Ibly
illC\'itablc as .soon as the cxamination the chid means of 5QC;al
alh'mce. And Oncc that has happcned, it is 00 Ioogcr ce'tain that the
emperor's boIg is fun of "It is not that the examination system
can UI\('O\-'Cr extraoo-dinary talent:' wmle a ninctccnth-century
"oot that extraOidinary talcnt sometimes emerga out of the eumilla-
tion mtem"l7 But onc might well m;llC a similar argument C\"Cll
about the in its earlier stages. 11lere are, after all, a ....irk range
of human abilities-many of them rek\'3ntto, say, plO'l'incial adminis-
arc untcsted by the .tudy of the Confucian elassK,.
'fk.re may C\'en be a dttp inluiti"e knov.'1cdge of Confucianism that
can't be toted by ,,'riting examirulltion, An such tats are COll\'en
in character, and it is only from within thc corl\'cntion that OI'l'
can sa)" that SUCttS.llul candidates deservc their degrees and that the
.ubscquent rule of the tkglCC holders colutitutes a meritocracy.
In lact, socccssful e:mdidates did not automatically assume an ofIiec,
The eumirulltion. generated a pool of potential office holders, flQlll
which the lhlld ol Ci"ilAppointment., a permanent search commit
tcc, maJc ocko;tiolu, looking ""Ihaps lor IOIl1C .uboct of the lixly "me,-
its" or arguing about which ""IC.ib" "'ere most necessary at a gi\'en
'4'
SPHERES OF JUSTICE
II...."", il e:;m't he ",id t"'* who paued the n;lmin;Jli(m
to hoId;n only Ih:allhey .... titlcrllo bcronsidnt:d
lor r;lnge of olIica. Any other system would h:ave bttn hope1asly
,igK!, Ieaing no room lor jud(lments abilities othe, than e",m
taking or, bter, lor iud(ln",nl.l aboul perform,,",,,, on the job. But all
soch judgments were p;lItieula,ist political ill cllmete,; Ihey had
none of the of cum SCOlCS; and il musl been Ihe case
that indiiduals in IIOme serlse meritOliow wcre p;lued O\CT
-sometimt:S inlentionally, sometimes not. Simil.arly, meritoriOlJll indi-
viduals sometimes /ailed the euminatioru I don't wanl to laY.
er, Ihat these i"diidu..ls dese",cd an office. 11ut 1'l'OU1d k to sUMtitute
my own for that of responsible of!ici;lls And I ha>'e no
special insighl. any mOle than they did, into the gener;ll Of
"""-:lning of merit.
In the sphere of ollice, committ"" I'lork i, MOle more
today, Ihat Yo'Olk is sub;cctto lqal constraints aimed at ensuring /ai,
ness ami somethmg like ob;cctiity: equal consideration 10 equ:ally seri
ous <:;Irididata But few people advocate doing with commillces
altogether, gi\,ug ",'elY candidate the same ex;lminalion (Ihey can
'JC'\'" get the lame inlerv;""'), and making offi"" !>okling autonutic
lor nndidatcs who get sochamllIlch score. The committee i. appr()-
because of ill rcpresent;ti\c character. What is at ,take, after
an, is not some aMlract oflitt but Ihi. pbce, this ;n lime,
in this Ofpniz:olion or ;gcocy, ,,'here thesc othel people arc ....dy
wOlking, where thc:sc issues a,e being debootcd The committee rC-
/lects the time pl:ll':e, speaks lor the othe, people, is it..cll
a,ena for lhe continuing debale, 11,e choi"" thaI it makes. though <'On-
,tr;lincd by ttft;in uni\-crsal is aoo.'e all poI,ticula,ist in
ter. Cilndidalcs arc not only fit Of un6t in lhey fit
Of rIon', fillhe pbcr: lhey wanl to fill. That btter poinl is ah...ays a mat
ter nl judgment, and so requires tht,e k J groupof judges.
amollg themllel,"CI:. Some I11C:Isures of fitness in the llense of "fitting
in" are ruled out. as we stull Sl'C. Bul lhe lisl of 'ek\'lInt qualities is
Iong--likt the lixty "merits"; Jnd no one candidate pos_
them aU to the utmost. The poIrticularity oflhe is poIr;l1!e1ed by
the poI,tieularily of the candidates They ar" individual 10....
women, wilh widely dilJering strengths and "-c.aknCIICI. EU'n if one
beliC\''''' in choosing the OIIC deserving or mcritorious(or "Iltst
ing" Of most meritorious) pcllOl1 lrom out of the mass, lhere woukl
be no woy of identifying thai penon. The membcn: of the selection
commit"'e would disagr"", the appfOJ'riate haJ.ntt of strenglhs
'4'
Offitt
and weaknessa, and they \!o'OU1d diugrec about the actual in
any gi'-en indi,idual. Here, too, they would begin by making judglTl"nls
and by taking a vote.
Ad''OClIles of meritocracy h.,'c in mimi a limple but faHeaching
g(l,ill a place for ('\'0:1)' ami eo,-.-ry person in tile' right platt. Once
Cod WOI.lhought to cooperate ill thi, ende..vor; OO'W lIatc action i.
quire<!.
Some muo! boo errol "';111u,..,
C"",t tIlmls, And Cod Ii,"" to ... m:m
1bc '-;11.... len'pcr, uOOn.t.ooin,g, talle,
That lift. him inlo life.nd Id. him f:l1I
lu>l in the niche: he 'O'3S Dfdain'd to
But thi, i. a mythic COIlceplion of KlCiaJ order ...d misses entirdy our
comple. underdandill& of both P"'SOIll and placa. It luggesl.l that,
in principle, gi,"!:" fun information, all sekctiom should bo: unanimow,
agred to not only by the seltion COI1llnitlee md the Il.ICC<:3Slul candi
dates, hul also by the ullsl)Cl:essful candidalcs--c:uctly like judicial <k-
ci.iolll, woo.: C"-.:n convicted criminals ought to be ablt- to adrlowl
Ihat they what they In practitt, 5Clections
not that; noc are they concei\'3bly that, imagiTlC'
a"'Ofld coold oot only predict but act\l:llly fOleoC'e the: future:
pC'rformance; 01 all Iht: nndidata, comparing [aclml with ..
tllal the tooome. Even then, I SUlpC'd that the a,gu-
menll o[ s.eareh committees "'ould be diffe,ent from the arguments
01 juries, but the precis.e nature of the difFe:rencc would be harder to
make out.
The Meaning or Qualification
Strictly lpC'aking, there il no luch thing as a meritrxncy. Particula,
choica al"'3)1 ha.e to be made a11l00g polIible "merill" or, attu-
ratdy, among the nnge of human qualities, arnllhen among
qualified indi ...idu.als. There ill10 way oIamiding these ehoica, for '10
individ.....l has any claim on the: officcor any prior title to it; nor is the,e
any .ingle quality 01 ob;ecti,'e ordering of qu.alities in acoordallce wilh
which an imperllOnal selection might be made, To call a job an "oIfiec,"
i.to Ia)' ooly thaI discretionary aulho.-ily has bcC'n poIiliciwJ, II0t that
'43
SPHERES OF' JUSTICE
it has been aboli!lm::I. Still, it is nesury to 6x rtain constraints eveu
on the authority 01 rcpresentatil'C oommittl'tS ar>d 50 to mart off the
sphele 01 oIlice from that of politics. Committte:i arc COIlstrained in
tw<l ways: they mwt give equal a:msidcratiorl to e"ery Cllooi-
date, and they mwi take into aoUnt ouly releva'lt qualities. Thes<=
ho-o constraints O\'erlap beause the idea of rdev-dna= enters into
our unt:lcrstanding of equal consideration. But I will take tI..,m up
separately.
Citizemhip is the the ..cial social political "p1acc"
and the precondition of all the others. n.c boundaries of the political
community arc also the limit. of the process of poIitieization.
NOI1<itiuns hal'e no Cllndidate righll; the procedural safeguards of
equal consideration don't otcnd to them. lobs don't lIal'e to be adl'er-
tiscd in fosCiill journals; recruiters nero not ,'cnture beyond the bor-
ders; deildlincs nttd not be set with regard to the International mails.
It may be foolish to exlude foreigners from ronsideration lor certain
offiCQ (uni'"CIlity profcssonhips "lOIlt clearly, wllere '""e mi&hl al50 feel
bound 10 rCCOjplize membership in the "rcpublicof leiters"}, but (Xclu-
lion is 00 ,iobtion of their rights. n.c right to equal consideration.
like the right to '"fair sharel" of "..ellare and security, ari$CI only in tl.e
coutext of a sharM political1ife. It is one of tile things the members
Q',O,'C to one another
.... molli eitizcru, equal colllidcl1ltion applies at every point of sekc-
tion, not only among candidates for oiIice, but also among candidates
for training, and hence is a constraint not only on this particular selec-
tion committee but on every committee and on all those dttisiom that
gradually narrow the pool of qualified candidat.... Imagine a child of
6"e able to Id long-term goals for him5Cll, to shape a p,ojrct, to didc,
AY, that he wants to be a doctor. He should have rooghly the Ame
chana= as any other child--similarly ambitiow, ,imila,ly intelligent,
similarly 5Cnlitive 10 the needl of other5-to get the ncr:C$!OIry educa-
tion and ,",'in tI.., desired pbcc. [won't try to say here what MOOltional
arrangements tbis equality wouk! ,equire; that iSlhe sub;cct 01 another
chaptC!. But I do "'ant to stms that the equality will al,,'aYS be tOU&h.
The claim that every citizen should have exactly tlte lame share of a''aiJ..-
able opportunities dacon't make moch 5CU5C, not only beaU5C of the
unprediclable impact of partkular school, and teachers on part kula,
studcntt, but also bccau5C of the inevitable placement of difFCTent indi-
viduals in different applicant pools. Simple equality nn be promised
only within a single pool at a lingk time ar>d place. But applicant pooIl
differ wlically O\'er time, and conceptions 01 office chauge. And so an
'44
Offi<,
indi"dual ",ho would hJ"t' looked ",ell qwlified for p.artirula. pbe.:
bli i3 bt in the cnw.'<i this year; Of hit qualities are 00 longer
those the selection committee has centrally in mind. Equal consider
ation don not mean thai compditi,"c conditions mllSt be held conslant
for all indi"iduals; only, ....halc-.'e. the rondiliom, Ihr qualities of
indi"i<!ual mUll he altcndM to.
In fact, not qualit;" simply hut qualifications are al issue here Quali
fications arc pointed qualities o. qualities re!e-"nlio a parlielll." office.
Roo";lOCl:, of course:. is alw3j"s a maltcr of dispute, and the T3nge of
permissible diggn:cment is ...ide. But that range has limits; there arc
some things ,ru.l shouldn't enter inlo the of the sckdion
rommillet-. If thclt' ,,'cre no limits. the ilka of e<jual oomidcration
would coI1apse. FOI ""hal we mcan "'hen _ say that all c;lI>didatcs
should be consideml is that they all should ha"c (roughly) the same
to theil credentials and to make the best COIse they com
On their own The case they try to make is they COIn do
the job and do it wel1. And in OI'dCT to that COIse, the>' h.ve to
be to form lOme notion of doing it "'ell mean" wh.t ,kills
it requires, attitudes and values aTe appropliate, and 10 on, If they
aex:t'pted or rejected for that h.ve nothing to do with
of this, thell it call't be said that theil qualifications h.ve been .ttended
to. I/ ...-e ....'CI'e oot abk to di,tillgui,h lrom qualities. then
"'-e woold n('\'CJ kno..... whether individuals h-e h.d ch.nce to qualily.
Nor "'QUid it be possible lor indi"iduals, like m}' im.ginary IiVe-)"t'al-<Jld,
to..,t gooll lor themselves .nd to work in IOfIle rational w:oy fQr their
achiC''emcnt.
But ...-e do know, at kast in gCllCr.1 terms, ""hat qualities a.e T('1C\.. nt,
for rdC'..nt qualities are inherent in the practice, abstr.cted from the
nperienc:e, of office holding. Selection committcn .re eommitted to
look for those th.t is, to look For qualified candi-
dates, not ooly oot of f.irness to the candidata but also out of a con-
cern for all thow: peQpk who<kpe11d upon the sen-'iceof qualified office
holders. Thei. dependcnC}' has to be into attOOmt, too, though
r>oI necessarily their p,efe,ences eithe, qualities Or candidates.
The 'ight to equal considcr:otion wo,ks like any othe, ,ight, setting lim-
it, on the CIlforcemcnt of popubl plde'cnccs, But ....ithin the ,.nge
of ,ele... nt qualilia, Qr within the '.nge of qitirn.te debate about
,elC\.. nce, popubl p,c1erences should count; .....e should expect them
to be .ept'C=lted on the selection committee.
The ",nge of rebOlllce is best understood by corllilk,ing ....h.tlia
beyond it: abilities th.t won't be use:d on the iob, pCTSOIlal characte,is-
SPHERES OF' JUSTICE
Iiathat won't aflcd performance:, and political affiliationl and group
idcntifie3tiolls beyond citi7.cnship itself. We don't requile candidatcs
for office: to Jump through hoops, like Swift's Lilliputialli. We don't
rule out men arK! womCll with red hair 0.- bad taste ill mavin or a pal-
sion fo.- icc:.sbtillg. Rotari,ml, Sevenlh Day Ad,'enti,ts, Trotskyitcs,
lolls-term memkrs of the Vegetarian Party, immigrants from Norway,
Bes.arabia, the South Sea Islands. are nollC of them barred from office:
holdi"i BUlthesc are easy cascs. 10 fact, al1thrC'C categories-abilities,
char.lcleriltics, and idC'ntilicationJ..--are problematic. It il ekar, lor ex
ampk, Ihat the Chinese euminations, particu1nly in thcillatcr phase,
tcsted abilities that can at bat have been only marginally ,eln-ant 10
the offices at stake. The IilrrtC can surely be Iilid of many civil service:
eurninations today, These arc merely col1\"eT1tional "''')'1 of Teducing
the sizc of the applicant pool; and if candidates ha"e an equal chaoce:
to prepale foo- them, euminations arc not objectionable.
But insofar al theil use plecludcs promotion up the ranl:.. (Ill the b,,,il
of experience: and perfOlmance:, it ought to be resisted. F'Of what we
want is the bat possibk performance: Of] the job, not on the nam.
Cloter difficulties are raised by a number of personal chalaCtailties;
I will hke age .. an eumple. For mOil offices, the age of the candidate
telll W flOthing at all abolltlhe kind of job he ...iIl do. But it does tell
us, IOlIflhly, how long he will do it. Is that a ,ele'.. nl comidcration!
Surely people 0"iht to be able to change not only their jobs hut also
their CllCCrs, relrain lhemsel=, ,tart ag:ain in middle age. Conlistency
in office: JC'Cking isn't alway! an ..,hnilllbk quality. And yet in Ofgani13'
lions built on Ioogterm commitment and in jobs lequiring
on-Ihejob training, older carK!idatCl are likely to be at a diud'''l\lage,
Perhaps their matlllity should be a balancing if
}oungeT candidates romplain that they ha"e not had an equal chance:
to mature. The thollflht of trying 10 balance kngth of sen'ice against
maturity in office: luggestl fOfCCfully how far ",'e arc flom judgments
deserl arK! how committe<! "'c are to conhO\l'1SY about rek
'"nce:,
Thc deepest arK! most divisive controvcrsies focus on Ihe importance:
of connection, affilution, and membership, It "'al ...ith ,delence 10
these that the ide.a of oIficc:. as I hl\'e described it, filSt took lhape,
The fiut quality to be declared irrebant to office: hoklillg "'.., "'mily
COrlllectiOfltO the person making thc appointment. Not that nepotilm
is unco,"mon in the sphere of office:, but it il commonly regarded a,
a form of corruption. It is a minor) example of tl'Jann} to
uy that because _dnd-so is my relati,c. he should e<clcise the pleroga
.,6
Offitt
ti,oti of oflitt. AI $lime time, the reiterated C<lrnp;ligns "83iml
ti,m luq:esl again how problematic the idea of is and how
dillicult it is to apply.
It1lDI's Wrong ...'it"
The term rrierrro originally 10 tile Pl'3ctice of certain popes and
bishoP'! who assignro offices 10 their nephews (or illegitimate sons),
$ttl:ing. Ii"" feudal office holden, to ha'-c lie,.. and not merdy SllCCes-
son. Sinct' il "<IS olle of the purposes of delial celibilcy to cut the
from the feudal 'l,tem and to cnsure a lllcrQ.ionof quali-
fied indi"duaJs, the pQctiee ....'011 identified as sinful cult 00.
19
The
identific;,tion "11$ so sl,;ct (though it could rarely be mforttd in the
feudal period) that it came to ,ule out any appointment of r<:lati,'es
either by ttc\eli.,!ical officiolls Of by p,alIOOS, e-= il they possessed
all the: relevant qualities. The ",me thing happened. many ycars later.
in poliliCOlI life; and he,e the argument was roDHT>Qnty utrnded,
though ",ilh diminishing of "sin," from relativell 10 friends
Sometimes the ban 011 relati"elI been. gi,'cn kgal as in
Nor",,,y. for example, ",here it is lhe Ia", for ''''0 members of
the SlIme family 10 sen'e in lhc SlIme cabinet [n life, tQQ,
university departments ha'"Coften been barred from hiring the relaliva
(bul not lhe fri....<I$) of cunenl members. The Toot id.... is objec.
tive unlikely to be hrooght 10 bear in such decisions. This
is probably lrue; but, still, ban seems What is
wantoo is hiTing procedure that dilC()unll family membenhip, not
one lhat members
Sometimes, hoo.I"C'\'e., memhcTShip .... n't be dilC{)untro. [n <'erlain
politic:ll oflica. for eumplc. "'e officials to ehoose as their asso-
eiatell men and ","Omen upon ",hom they can depend, ",ho their
lTier>ds or in wme party or IDO\'emenl. And then, ",hy not
their relati,'es. if they dose 10 their rebli,ct? TTlISt may ",ell be
lurest ",hen connections are of blood, and trustfulness is an imJlOTtant
Qu:I[ilicali{)n for office. We might SlIy, then, that the Norwegian Ia""
is more strict than is TCqui.ed by the principle of
When P,esicknt John F. Kennedy appointed his brother gen-
=1, it wal without doubt an eumple of llepolism, hutllOt of tile IOrt
that ""C need be concerned to ban, Robnt KCTlnedy was qualilied
enough, and his closeness to his b.other ...'{)Uk! plllbahly help him in
the ..."Orx he hotd 10 do. This permi$li,'cuess, h""'''''CI, camlOt be ex
teuded '"CTY far. We can Itt its difficulties if ....., consider thc claim of
'41
SPHERES OF' JUSTICE
racial, ethnic, and rdilious lrouPS that they ought to be scr,ed ndu
by office hokIm ehosen from amonl their OWn members, Here
is a kind 01 collective r>epOtism. aoo its effect would be to narrow radio
cally the ..cope of candidate rigllb.
It n",y Ix, the again, that for offices (in parts
01 a city, say) mell and women arc needed who share racialorethni<:
i<kntificatioll of residents, speak their bllgu.age, are intimately Fa
mlliar with their customs, and lOon. Perhaps this is a matter 01 routine
elfectivencss or even-<a.I with the poIiee-ol safety. And then
selection commiuecs will locH: for the nocessa.ry people.
But we will want, I think, to limit in which group
count! as a qualification. much as we limit the ways in which blood
relatiotuhip counts, and fOf similar reasons. eltcnsion of trust Of
"friendship" beyond the FlImily and 01 citizenship beyom! race, ethnici
ty. and r<:1ilion, is a significant political achicooement; and one 01 ill
major purposes is p,ecisdy to the car= 0JlCtl to talents-that
is, the right! of all
We might choose simply to stand by this But lhequa-
tion whether group membership ought to COUllt as a qualification for
i, complicated by Fact that it hallOoIten counted a, a di"lual
ificltioo, Beausc of their and IlOt for any reason having
to do with their individual quali6c:ations, Illell and women been
discrimillated agailllt in distribution of Hence it is said, fa.-
the sake of /aimeM and redress, we should now discriminate in the;,
fa>'Or, even set aside a number 01 officn csclu,i,'cly fOf
Thn claim il so central to contemporary poIitic:l1 debate that I shall
rn:cd to tak it up at lOme length. Nothing else tests SO sharply
meaning of equal coruidcration.
The Reservation or Office
eruci.ol poIiliCllI issue is the iustice of qootas 01 offica,
/Of which membership in lOme group is a though not pIe
su"",bly a sufficient qualification.
JO
In pril>t'iple, as I ha>'c ar
iUcd, all officn are rcscrvc:d or potentially rcscrvc:d to members of the
political community. Further reservation is am! ShOll1d Ix, contrQ1.'crsial.
I want to for a 11I0l11ent the reservation
'4.

as a foem of rcdrClS and a,k ..I it might be: in itself,
as a of II><, diJlribuli,-e syslem. For it is $()flletimes
laken as a sure sign of discrimination that the Il'Illern of office holding
within DIll.' group is different from the pattern within olhe. grwps,ll
Cerlain offices, gy, aTe held disproportionately by the mcmbcu of
rac:c 0' by men ar>d wQmen with CQrnmon cthnic origins or rdigioos
aflili:llions. If ;u"iQ, or necewrily constitutes a .ingle ,cilel"
aled pallan. tht:11 legidalon and iudges will ha"c to be COllkd in to
establish the right proportions. Whal"'"er distribution of pl"e'l':lils
...'jlhi" the IllOSt pr!l$pt:rous 01 powerful group will to be rcitCTllted
within ...."ttY other group. 11Ie more perfect the rcitel'alion. the more
certain "'C can be that p'lfticu\;a. c;lndidales are not suffering bcausc
of their membership.
That ;llStitt in this seMI: involVe! COll.iderablc coercion might be:
a .mal! malleT if the roen:ion were remedial and lempol'ary in character
and if the reiterated pattern turned QlJI to be the natural p,oo:!uct of
C<jual a""idcr.ltion. Insoolf as the gfOupslhat constitutc our pluralist
lIOCicly arc rcally diffcrent from onc anothc., hOlO't\e., neither of thC50e
conditions is likely to hold, For the patterns of holding alC <lctc.-
mined not only by the decisions of selection committees bul also by
a multitude of indi.idual decisioos: 10 Irain or not to train, to lIpply
Of not to apply lor this 01 Ihat job. And these indi... idwl decisiolllllre
shaped in tum "'", !.amily liIc. sociolli7.l1tion, neighborhood culturc, and
50 011. A pluralist socict)" with diffctenl kinds of flImilie! and neighbof
hoods, ",ill nlilurally prodlJ'l'e a diversity of pattcrns, liS lcitc:rll-
tion could ooly be all allificial ordcr,
lnat is not )'el an a'gulTK'nt lIpinst Icileralion, only a eharaderiIll-
lion of ,t, At many points in OUI oocial1ilc. we ,ntafm: ...itll nalu-
is, uncocrccd and sponlancous-pIOCcUC!. n.c distribution
of oIfitts to fclati.-n is undoobtcdly a natural process. In each casc of
we: have 10 think cuefully about ",hat iSlil stake.
And the first thing lit stllke he.e is C<jwl C011siocrlllion fof lIll citizens.
\\!hl:TI offices 1I1C the members of alilhosc &""'1'5 uccpl thc
one fOf ""hich thc IC5<'"""tion il made a'c trellted as if they werc fo,_
cigncrs, Theil qlJ3lificotionl 1I1C not lIttcnded 10: they hll"c nO andi
dlilc righlS, This sorl of Ihing might be acceptable: in a bi.nlltionalstatc.
whe.c the members of the t...'O natiom stand, in lact, liS forci,;:ncrs to
one lInothc. What is rC<juiled het",n lhem is "'UllIll! accommoda-
tion, nol justice in any positi"e sense; lind accommodation lnay bnt
he achie-.-cd in a fede.al systcm where both gfOUps ha"c ..me gmran_
teed 'ep.c:sentlilioo
ll
E"cn a more Ioose!)- pluralislsocicty mllY wdl
'49
SPHERES OF JUSTICE
require (for the sake of mutual accommodation)locially or ethnie<llly
"bolancnl" p;rrty tickets, say, or c:obineu and rourlJ Ihat indlKk TcpT<'-
senl:lti,"U of n1;ljor groupl I am not inclilled to rL'gard thi, sort
of thing as a ,'iolation of e<jual consider;dion: being "representat;'l:
man" or a "representative "'oman" i" aller all, a kind of qualification
in politics, And 50 long as the amngemcnlJ aTe informal, they can al-
wa)'S be overtumnl for the sakof outstanding Cilndidates But the
Of)' of iu..tice as ,eiteration "'wid requiTe that C'\C'f)' set of office holders
in the uni'-elial ci,-il service COfTCSpond in ilJ racial and ethnic composi-
tion to the AnH;Tian jX>pulation as a whole. And in tum, "oold
lequrre Iarge--scale deniaa of equal COI\si&r.ation. Equality would obvi-
wsly be denied wllenC'\'er tile proportion of applieanls from thi, Of that
gTOUp differed from ilJ assigned rcpres.ent.tion. It would, indeed, be
denied even if the proportion was exactly right, bceause applicant, from
each group "oold be compored only with their ()\l.'n "kind," on the
Ulumption that qualification, distributnl C\'Cf1ly 3CTO$II kinds, an 3$-.
sumption that for any gi,Cf1 applicant pool is bound to be false,
But perhaps tile United States O\Iiht to be ftderation of gTOUps
rathn than a oommunity of citizen,. And perhaps each gr<'lUp ought
to have ilS QW" set of indigenous office holders Only then, it might
be argued, "oold the group a, a whole he equal to all other groups,
What i, stake, On this ,'jew, i.. not e<jual con,ideration for individual,
but equal ,tanding lor races and Te!igion" communal integrity,
self-respttt fOf the membel1as members. Equalityolthi, sort i, con'-
mon demand of nationallibef;ltion For it i, a feature of
imperia!i,t rule that key offices in the and CC'Orlomy are rolunized
by outsiders. A, JOOn as independence i, woo, a ,truggle hcgim to take
these offices hack. That struggle is often """ied in brutal and unjust
""'Y', hut it i,n't in itself unjust for a n.c....1y nation to lk
to ..tafF its buTeaocrxia and professions with i\$ ()\l.'" nationals. I" these
circurn,tallCCS, nepotism and the res.er....tion of office may
...-ell be legitimatc_ But as this exampk ..ugge$I5, resc:I\..tion i, possible
only altel boundaries have been drawn between mcn,be" and ,tf;lng-
n, In Amclican society today, therc arc 110 such luch boundaries_ Indi-
"iduaa 1TKf\'C freely XfOSII the vaguely and informally drawn line be--
t...-cen ethnic or Teligiow identification and TlOIl-idcntific:otion; the: linc:
is in no "'... y policed; the lTKf\"CrnenlJ arc not C'\'Cn reroled It would
be possible, of coorse, to changc thi" but it is important to stress
how f;ldical a change woold be required. Only il C\'eIY American citizen
had ,orne clearcut TOCial, cthnic, or religiou, identificatioll (or series
of s;,, the groups to ,,'hich we belong ha'l: O\'crlap-
Offitt
pinlllllembcnhips). only if thesc identifications legally alab.
lid>ed and .egutuly would il be possible 10 ....., h:> e:lCh
group its 01"11 sd of offices."
The priocipk of "'1....1ro",ideralion woukl IhnJ apply only ....ithin
the fedcl1lled groups. Eqwlily is ahr..ars rebti..e; it requila us to com-
pare the treatment of this indi\"id....lI0 some sct of others. flot to all
others. We can change the distribuli,.., J)'Slem simply by n:dra....
ing its boulllilric:s. lkre i.I no Jingle set of ius! boundaries (though
there are unjust bounda,ies-that is, those lhat enclose people, as In
a ghetto, against their will). Hentt a federal ... 50 1Q"g n
it W;I$ atahlid>l th'O!.J&h $(Imc democratic pTQC'eSS, would 001 be UIl-
jUlt. We would comp.lre members to their fellow members and then
groups to otoo groups, and our judgments about ;ullitt ,,'Otlkl
UpOIl how the romparilo:ms turned out. 8ullh;5 "''OUId. I think, be a"
unwiSl' lor the United States todoly, inconsistent with om
historiClll tnditiom and shared uurkrstl1ldings-inoonsislent, too,
\I<;tl1 contemporary hing patterns, deeply and bitterly di,i.si,oc. I am
going tll a"ume that of office:s <km't have anything
like Ihis in mind They are focused on TTJOIe immediate ptobknl! and.
""hate-'er they IIOllletimes sal'. do not in bet intcnd that the 'entedies
they propose should be genenlized and mark
The Crst 0/ Ame,i'"" BIlICks
At thi.s point, it is important to beasconc,eteas poss,ble. The imme-
diate p.oolrm, are t!Jo:H, of Americ:on blacb, and they arise in tk con-
telt of a painful history. In part. this is a hi5tory of erollOmic arid educa-
tional discrimination, 110 that the number of bbd men and women
holding offices in American society has (until "ery rettntly at least)
bef,n Jo.,o.'Cf than it should be, gi,'en the qualificatioo of black COIn-
didatcs. More importrnt, it is a history of sb,Tf)'. repression, and dq:n-
dation, so that black neighbo<hood cultme a"d w",,,,,,,,,,1 institutions
do not support efforts to qualify in anything like the ...oay they ....ould
ha,,,, had they de-.-doped under oooditions of frttdom aoo racial equali-
ty. (We On say this without ebiming that all CIJltures and communi-
'1"'" f><t ;, poUnh.lr ........ in llo<.- '" d.. tndion ..........-. k>o- ..hom 'ho _"......
.... d<sic-f on <bbot:ot< _ .. .-...dnB"om. In ........... 1..Ii> .... 'ho
_ "'" ,II< __<M ool, be ......... I"'" a.n bt .-pi&<d, ODd """""'.....lily
in c6c< looidinI <>II on'" be allbIiohtd if 'her eon bt """" , II<nt< ,o. m...,., "_to.
obit hod to bt mnln>lud;' Ibo: ."". "'-ond .. l hod to bt aI.bloohod bt ""it+.
_"'""k ....... .......,j <&eo cwld...,.. ,toe;, ...... n.. ........ ....".... II, flon>ld
h... "''''' .. ......-aIr _ ..... ;, 01 -. Iineo' .'!1>t """'" 01
p,..",- bt <>* _ ............... <OIl< ..........liIy.""
'5'
SPHERES OF JUSTICE
tiQ, e"':n under ide<ll conditions, wotJld PfO"ide identical kinds of sup-
poil.) TIl<: first of til<: probknu of American blacks can be remedied
by insisting Oflthe practic:ll details of equal consider.ltion fair employ.
ment prictices, open sarch ind selection procedurQ, extensive recruit-
ing, serious cfJOfls to dita>\'er tilent e\'en .... hen it isn't comention.!!y
display-ednd sooo. But Ihe Krond problem requirts ~ I1ldic:l1 irKI
fal.reaching treitment. For a limt, il is said, bbch musl be guarinlero
i fi.ed shire of oflicn, becausc: only isignificanl number of offitt hokl
en interacting wilh dientl .rK1 coostituenl.l can c.eote a stronger
culture,
I ...int to slress thitlhe <IIgumenl I im 001'-' considering is not that
the hbck community ought to be SC1"'-ro-can only righll)' be
se.....ed--by bbck politiciolns, postmen, sch.ooltC-ilchen. doclors, ind SO
on, ind thil ill othel communities ought similarly to be ser>ed by Ihe;r
own members, The f o ~ of the ir&llment does not depend upo>n its
gener.diubilily. Or r.lther, the ippropriite gcnmllizalion is Ihi" thit
.ny group similarly disadv;mtaged should be helped in similal W")'S.
The ilgument is historic:ally sbiped ind limited, icbpted to p.nticulal
ClIf1ditions, temporiry in chiracter The norm lemiins thit of equ.1
co"sider.tion lor individual citizens, and th.t norm i. to be ,tored
as soon <IS blacks nc:apc: from the trap that their bbckness hi. become
in i society .... ilh i Ioog hislory of llIc1sm.
But the difficulty with lhe rcmedy proposed is Ihil it ....ould requirc
the denial of equal co",idcllllion to ...hile candid3lts ""ho are nc:ithel
participants in, nor direct bcneficUriQ of, IlIcisl praclices, An impor-
lant and 11lOf<l1ly 1egitimitc soc-i<ll putpOtC: is to be served by violaling
the andicbte 'ights of indi,idu.als.
lO
But perhips thit dcscriplioo is
too sl'ong, Rona.ld Dworkin his <IIgucd thit Ihe right at ill"" is not
i righl to equal coosideration when oIiiccs a,e dislributed. but only a
more genmll right to eqwtl coo,ide",tion when policies ibout ~
holdmg ite worked out. So long as ....e coont eich cilizen equally ....hen
",'e ,",'eigh the costs igainslthe benefits of r<:$erving offices, we violate
no onc:'s ,ights,ll It j, usc:lulto set this cbim <!pinst the claim of the
mcrilocril.l. If they lugge'lt too dose i CQ.mection betWttII iobs ,"d
Ibe qualities re1eva.ntto doing them. Dworkin Juggestlloo loose a Cl;m-
nectioo. He scc:ms to de..y t h ~ t thele irC any Jignificant limits on the
qualities Ihit might count as qualific-atiolls, In our culture, oo..'.-ver,
caretrS <lI"C supposc<l to be open to talents; ind people chosen for an
ofliec will w.lnt to be assured that they were chose.. because they lCI11y
do possen, to i grate. d"i'"C" than othe' candid310. tIl<: li!ents th.t
the search committtt thinks ne<:c:ssary to thc office. The othe' Qndi-
cblcs ",-ill want to be isstlred that their tilentS "me seriously oonsid-
'"
Offitt
eral. And an tk resl of liS will want to kllOW thai both assunmces are
hue That's why ,esc,,-ed offices in the United Stlites todily h..-.: bren
the subject not on!}' of oontTO\Tf1y but also of deception.
arK! selfrespttt, mutual confidence and trwl. are at lIa".. as ..."('n as
t(lC'Ul and ecooomic slatul.
Righll are also at stake-r>Ol natural Of human rights hut ,ighu de-
ri\'n! from the soci;Il meaning of offices and nreers .:md in
the course of long politic;ll lUll as ,",'C could not adopt 1I 5}'S-
tern of p.eo.'C1Itive detention "'ithoul violating the rights of inoocent
peopk. e\'l:n if Ito'", lO'cighed faiTly th.. costs and bellc6ts 01 the system
liS a whole, so ,",'r em', Wopl a'luota system "'ithool viobting the right!
of COlndilbta DWOfkin's algumen! has a form that sums to me ell-
lirely appropriate in the case of public expenditures. So long as the: gen-
mil program of cxplwditure is determined, a decision
to hea,oily in this Of that dc:prened a,,,,, or to la,'O< agriculture
OI'er im!ultl)' rai5l:S no moral probleml, eo,..." il indi\'iduaIJ ale, al they
will be, iKh'l1ltaged ...d But offices are careen am!
prison teT"'l are lives. am! t....... sorts.n goods cannol be distributed
the ""lIy lnoney can; they eut too close to the core of indi"iduality and
personal integrity. Once the community undertakes to diltribute tlKm,
it mUlt attend closely to their social meaning. And that requilCll equal
consideration fof all equally candidates and (as [ will algue in
chapter II) punilhment only lor eriminab.
But il rights are at sbke in these C'aSM, rights can be O''Crriddcn,
They replesent "el)' ltrong baniers to certain sorts of intrusi,'COf injuri-
ous treatment, but t....... ale n....er absolute barriers. We break through
them ,,hen ...'C must. in time of crisis", gral dangel, when we think
"'e ha\'C no alternative. Henee, any argument in fa,'OI' of of-
fices must include a description of tlK eurrent crisil and a detailed ac-
counl oflhe inadequacy of altemati,'C measures, Coneei'"lIbly, SlIeh an
argument can be made in Ihe United States today, but [ don'tlhink
it has yet bn made. How,"""r stalkly one paints the picture of black
communallile, it 5ttms clear that pfOllrams and policies thai might
plaulibly be expected to aller the p;elule lemain untried. IndeN, the
reservation of office looks ITlOIe like a first than a lall
though it comes alter many )'ears of doing nothi", at alL l1Ic: reallOll
il has been turned 10 first is that, ,,-hile it violatCJ indi,idual rights,
il poses no threat to established hie-rarchies or to the e\all struclure
as awhole. For the purposeof all ha\"C already argued,
is 10 reiterate hier.nehy, not 10 challenge or trans!",m it. By contrasl,
the ahernatiV"C 'ne;u;ura, though they would violate no oroe's rights,
would require a significant redistriootion of wealth and resoulC'e$ (for
'53
SPHERES OF JUSTICE
the $;Ike, say, of n3tional commitment to fun nnployment). But this
....-ould be n"dist.ibution in line with the understandings
shape the welfa.e state and, though opposition would be stroog, tile
rdishibutiCH' of ...."C;Ilth is mo.e likely than the .ese..... tio" of offitt 10
h,we endu.ing results. ['I gencl1ll, the stnlggk againSI a p;l5t is
mo'e likely to be woo il it is fought in ......)'S Ihat build 011, .athe. than
eh:llknge, understandings of the socUJl wmld s1med by the great ma;o.
ity of Amerko!nl. bbek white
The reseovation of office has anothe. featme that rna)' help expLtin
why it holds a b\iO.ed l'O'ition (among to be IUn:, llOI1e
of which strongly supported by COfItempolOlry politiclll elites). In
principle, Ille men and women denied offices as a .esult of resc"'lItion
...,ill ,imply be the more rna.ginal (while) applicolnts, givcn whate.'e.
understanding of qualification, and hentt of ma.ginality, pa,ticula,
Klcctioo committees adopt 11>e impact will be fclt in all .digio"',
elhnic ifOUj1S, claSlC'. In practice, howC\l:r. the impact il
ce.lain 10 be Ins diffuse Ins Ih.eatcnmg 10 !'O"'l:lful
imlividuals ami famities. [t will be felt, above all. by Ihe nexl IIlO!'t
di5:1d,,..ntagcd group, by those men and women neighborhood
culture and >mmllnal inslilul;o", I'"",ide not much mar'<' SIIppott
than black c.mlidates gel from Ihei. OWn cullu.e aud imtitulions.
R.,..,.""tion won't the Biblic.! prophecy "ccording to ",'hich lhe
last shall be first; it will most, that the last sh:l11 be nexl
to Ltst. I don'l think thatlhe.e is any ......y to a,-oid this result. except
by incrC<lsi'lg the number of groups for which offica arc .,..,...cd and
tuming the p.og.am into something much mo.e Iystemalic
and pe.manent. The victims of IInequal comidclation will come flQffl
the ....eakesl OJ Ihe ed...'ealest glOup. Ullless CH'C i, prepa.ed 10 gi"e
"I' the .'ery idea of qualifialion, Ihe cosls cannot be di,t.ibuted an)'
IUlthel,
'u m_... ,hot ,II< poIOq <I vdn.., ",.k"",, .. ';"1_""""""""" ....... to ....
....... ..-i<I<ly o<pI!. 'Ioooch ,......... !I<rn ...... poI;t;coI """""'''''' ,Old , ...mbn- ", ""1
""'n..- Th< ,.".. <I ,II< --....,. "'.. _hi '" do ....'h ,II< 'an&< 01 ,II< b<nri'
....._ ""'" r""", oil -w<l.on ...l r...... ,.,..... 0. 1" Q """,.-II' ..,...J ,,,,,
vd.-.- ho>,;' ril<' loot 1<''' 01 ......",.... or jot> ..porim, "''''' ....mbm d ,h< ...n
.. oohor, -..l .hcod. .. 'hoi pot;<,- d _hrr ,he .. _
_ ''''I ..... mad< .--. by ........;pr...., In 1""""', _ft.."' ",
.. ,II< _<I ,ho< ......... ...-b<n 01 ,II< """" ""od>.....
.... ,,,in.. or <"S"'."'' E"",!hi<;, _ima ....iMd .. ' q,b......qomoion .. ",.
..",.. p"i...... II.< .....I)- ""'" ." ,II< ....... <WII<I' ";,h to f"r """ ok"', Edooco
lioNr b<ndil> '" !><t'n..... rt..,.. ... oct..D!' poid by ,II< ..._ ...., .. ,he bocIr" b"d
.. .... h,- In Iobd,,,ay O<ledod If ,hQ;' ,""',. '<f'I",,,,,, ",,.., , .
........ """. bot,,, _ to _"A_""" blacl.> for ,I>< <8rtb" poll '
.....,...
'54
0"',
Professionalism and the Insolence of Office
the distribution of ofli<:c 50 import:ml il that 50 much
ebe is distributed along wilh ofliu (Of lOIl1C offices); honor and slalus,
pOWCI and prer<llP'i,"", "'calth and comfort. Office is a
carrying others in ils Ilain The claim 10 domi",m is "the insoknu
of office"; md jf "'C' could find some Wily to controllhal insoler>tt, 01
/iCC' holding would begin to take on its pr<lpC" JIfllpo<tions. We need,
' ....n, 10 descTibe the internlll chuacter of the sphere of office-the
activities, relationships, and 'e'Il.,..d, that kgilinlatdl' go along "ilh
holding an offiu. W",", comes afte. ql.l:lHfic"tion and
.... n olIi"", i. both ;I function and a I"'.sooal C3re.:-r. It requires
the exercise of laknt. and skills lor a purpo$('. TIle offiCI' hokkr makes
a living from his pcrformanox. but hi, fi,st r("":iud is the pcrfOl'malltt
it5CII. the actual work for which he hu plC1'W, ,,'hieh he plaumably
,,'ants to do. and ...hil'h oI}",r men ..'Omen ""ani 10 do well The
work ma)' be harried, intricate, exhausting, but il is n""erthelcss a greal
satisfaction. II is ulisFyinll also to talk about il with coIlngues. dc-'e1op
a j;lrgon, k....p SCl'rets from bymen. "Shoptalk" is a more likely pkllsure
for p>pk who work in offi= than 1m Iho:Ic who "",.k in shop$. The
clOCi<ll SC'Cret, of rourse, is thallhe work could easily be redistributed.
A numbe, of men and ..'Omen could do it as ,,'ell, and enjoy it
as much, as t}", curlenl incumbellts.
I don't mc::ln to deny the value of expert knowlcdll('-()f the ais
tenee of expc.llI. The rn.... who rep.ilirs my en knows things that
1 don't k""", and lhal are, mooe(lVCT, mysterious to me. So doer the
doctor who lools after my body, and the lawyer who leads me ttllough
lhe of the bw. Bul, in principle, I can \cam whallhcy know;
other people have lcamed il; am! still othel people h;...c lamed SOme
of it. E"en by myself and as I am, I know eTIOllgh to question the ad"ic(,
I get from the experts 1Cl;msult, and 1C3n strengthen my hand by talk
ing to my fricl>ds and reading a hil. 11Ic: distrrbution of socially useful
kl101"kdge is not a scamloess _b, bul the,e are nO CTT<)rTI>QIJI gaps 01
Dther, unless lhey a,e artificially maintained, the gaps will get
in, by differenlsorlll of people with different talents.nd ,kills and di/.
/ereTlt OOnccptioolS of upertise
Profes,ion.lism is one form 01 artifi,cjal It it the
some lime moch mOTe th.n Ih.t; il is 'n e1hiC31 c:ode, soci.l bom!,
a p.ilttem of mulual regubtion ond self..liscip!ine. But surely the chief
'55
SPHERES OF JUSTICE
purpme of profeuionJI organi:r.Jti"" is to ulJke J P-JJticuJ., body of
kJ>OWledge the posscMion of a P'I'tieulor body of men (J11OIe
rttC'ntly, of ..umen, tooP' This i. an effort umlertaken by Ihe office
holden Of] Iheir OII'n behJlI. n.eir moti'"a are, in p;irt, malelial;
aim to limil their numbel! SO that they can commanod high fen ar>d
Jalaries. Thi. i. the seconod "",... rd of ofli holding. But there i. more
IhJn money at st<lke when grauPJ of office holders lay c-J.im to profe.-
sional.latu. Status itself is at stake: the third Je\'o... rd. Profeuio....1men
Jnd ....omen an inlen:.t in .pifying the natute of Iheir OWn pe.
fonnaJJ,1:, shucking off tun thai Kem 10 Ihem below the bt:! of Iheir
t",ining and certifiation. They sed J pbce in J hie""chy and .h.1pe
their work to Ihe height! Ihq- hope to attain New profasirlll' ate then
formed to fill 0111 the hie",rchy, eaeh Jdditional group Keking to isolale
some: perfofmaf'ICC or liet of performaottO whe.e compdence can be:
ccrtifi.cd and, to lOme degree at least. ulOnopJli;eed But it is J feature
of newel profeuion., U T. H. l\.larsh.111 hJs pointed out, thJt
while there is an educatio....l ladder leading into them, "the,e is '10
ladder leading out." The ildjxenl heights elln be: reJehed only "by a
different rOld statting at a difF<'TCTIt of the edocational J)'Jtem. "1&
DoctorJ and nurse. oIIe. a useful e....mpk of co",nttled prof<'5-
sianal. with nontr.msferahk certificates. profeuionalism, then, i. a way
of dFolwing lir>c'.
It is allOJ way of establishing p"""" relatiooshiPJ. ProfasionJls exel
cise poo..... dlno.'n the ..urk hie"'.ehy and allO in thei, ",ith
dienU. Properly speaking, they ilSur: commands 10 Iheir subordinales,
but only hypothdial imperati'"a to dients. If )'OU ",...nt to get ",...n.
they say, do this and thi. But the greJter the diltJnce Ihey aIe Jble
to establi.h, the gleater the Ottret, at their rommand, Ihe less hypo>
thetical their imperatives Jre. O:mtemph)OUl of om ignoraf'ICC, they
simply tell us what to do. There are, of COUI'JC, men and women who
resist the templation to from authoritati"e kooY..lcdgelo authori
tarian conducl, bul Ihe temptalion Jnd the opportunity a,e Jt.....y.
there: this is the fourth r..,.".,.rd of office.
The exp.1nsion of office Jnd the rise 01 proieuiol'Jlism go hJnd in
h.1oo; for as 1I0OI1 as we sct out to en.ul'<' Ihe appointment of qUJlified
people, '"'e in,ite the inR.ation of lpiahed kllO'l"'lcdge and expertise.
That is one .'ery good reason for containing the exp.1nsion Jnd denyilli
the uni,=lity 01 the ei,'il service, but it is Jlso a reJlOIl 1m setting
limitJ to the dominance of offieial /alld Italul and it!
widerJng;ng co'''...rtibiJity. We do want qUJliJ>ed people to serve a.
bmcauCT;llS, doctors, cngin....n, tcacherJ, and so 0<1, bul y.-e don't '...a"t
'5'
Olli
tl>ese people to nIle (I\'e, uS, We can lind "''')"S to them tIKi. due
short of bearing wilh their insolence.
Bul ",lut is thei. due? Each of the four rew:mh of office hn its appro-
priale and inappropriate forms_ To som.. edenl, thex are determined
politically-the product of ideologi",] areumenls ami common under-
st:mdings; and Q1lC nil Ollly insist tlul established hokkrs, memo
k .. of Ihis or that p.ofeuion, h.:I\'e 110 ettlu.i.... righls in th.. p'QCftI
of det....mination. But it ought to be possible to suggest some genenl
guidelines. deri.-ed from the wcial undent:anding of office itself. The
Iirst rC"'lIrd is the pltasure of performan",,_ and there iJllO doubt that
qualified office holders .r.. entilled to atllhe pko.ure they can derive
from the work they 00. Bullhey m: not eI1litkd to shape thei, Jl!'rfot
mmca so as 10 heighten their ple..su.c (or theil income, statUI, or
powel) at other people'. npensc. They R:I"C rommunal puTpOlla, and
so thei! ...mk is subjed to the control of the citizens of the community.
We UI:'fM that control whenever ":e lpecify the qUlllifiCOltiollJ for a
p;lrticula, ofIi or the Itandardl of competml or dhiClll conduct.
il no",,';ori rea1Oll, then, loaocde loany p;lrlicular segrqation
of spcmliz.ed Ikills and lechniques. For it is al,..;Ij1S possible lhal Ihe
community ""O<lld be betle, served by requiring office hoklen 10 1TlO\"C
back forth across the uilling lina of Consider, fOT
eumple, a recenl propoul fo.- the replila:ment of physi
cill"J b)I "fuoclio.-Jal health learns":
Membrn o#llle t ..", ,hoYld bt P"'I'"ed 10 od:Ipl 11,n, ,kills to ""n,unle,
needs rollin lloon 10 ,hiM lbt comu"'er to "lOIl1eo' ht.ahh ..roe,., a pro.
foss;oo..l e.pediency The physie;"n ,hould be: p,rp.o,od.nd willing 10;u.
,ume "nun;n," wier ",h........ ".nled.nd colw..ndl' the nuTie to
l'eolm...1 if .w"",,;.le.'
Th.t may 0' mal' not he. good idea, bullk propoul makes useful
point. Con"enlional often to sc:r.... the purpose: of
lhe o/fi...,; they m.l' ......... rq>r.....nl oon'p;1aC)' againll the purpose:
of the office. So the performu mul! be benl 10 hil ProJl<" talk.
And lhen he mmt be li,..,n his proJl<'r financial reward. But
the of the should be, \\"C no euy "'''r to dete,mine.
liIho, market doesn't work wen here, ehieRy beausc: of the <Iomi-
nm..., of offi..." but abo because of the $OCilIl e.......cter of the work
Ihal oIIicill1s do and Ihe need for ""rlification and licenling. 11K hold-
en of high office, apttilllly.....,.., been able to limillhe lize of the appli
C<lnt pcx>1 from which their ptt.. and ltICCeSIO<'I .re chosen and so 10
push up Iheir coIkrti,"C income. Undoubtedly. the pool fOf someoffices
'57
SPHERES OF JUSTICE
has real limits, a sc:l 01 qualifications. But il is plainly
not the market alone, 0< noIlhe free: lhat il at "mk in selting
the "'ala of ofIitt.lO Somdillles office holden limply bold 'II up. 1'hcn
"-10 h,we It'I'cry Iighl to TO;,I-'imd 10 look fOf lOflle political coontap;lrl
10 p<ofasion:ll JlO"'el, Whele imflOlt:ml WOIk i. at st:lke, as T:nm<:y
has alJUed, "no dettnt man an stand out fm hit plice. I't. grneT:Il docs
noI h.aa:lc: with his lO"eTTUnent fm tilt plttise pmrniory tquio-:llc:nt
01 hiscontlibulion tovidOl)',l't.smtry who,r.'O tlltalalm toa sln:ping
tult:llion docs noI spend the- ned <by rolkctil1i the apial value of
tilt lio'O Ilt hoos A"cd:'" IndmI, this is 100 tilt
cquivalmts of tilt and the KIltI)' oftm mough "'VII't lighl at
an 01 1t'I'ClllOllnd lilt alalm until lhey hoooe ...VII their "price." Bul we
ha'e no leaJOIl 10 ao::ttdt 10 their dnnancl, nor is IMle any It'Iidomtt
thoot a reoIutt rdT,aa11(l _Idresult in o-;;l(-;;lnl oRic:a 01 uroqu;sl-
ified office, hok\I= Military oRic:a ale an inteR:lt,nl example here. fOl
they appeal I(latlrad qualified individtqls ..henna thei,.nol plOS-
ti&t' is high, withoul Tqald 10 the Alario oIfemi....,hid>.re gr:nenlly
boa than lhe- Arne indivM:luals lXllIId QlnImand on the malUt. But
they prdCl"-tt', not mil 01 command.
1"heatgUrnent is oometimo made that offic.es, especially profo:sional
oIficu, must be ..d paJd If) that the iocumbmts c:an "pursue the Kfe
of tilt mind. But the life of the mind is, II li>u &fl. rdatl\'dy irle'l'
pmsi,-e;.nd in.ny elK. the "'<IiU of ofIic'e .,10 rardy spmt on its re-
quirements. Once _ ha,e uMuiluod lilt rornpIeJ: pmeoso by .. hid>
oIfice holden .,e sdcded. and rea:JJIliud the intrinsic IC'A-::srdl: of of-
fice. I em see no aflllmmt aaairut boIdinc dolo'll iflUHIK diBerentials
bdY.n oIIica .nd other lOftS of anploymmt. And, in bet, thai is
the: ileady teutlelllC:Y of da"oc:ulil: dei:ilOOll making The da.sic, norm
Ilk is lhe: rt:taIurion oflhe P.ris QlnImune of .s" that "the public
senn thould be darK al ..'Orkmm's .....:.)) But the tendency is
vilibIo: in an de",oCiatic: stales and rnott c:lany "'ith reprd to oIIica
in the statr In 191 I, ro. o;;ample, the- ,nc:omr 01 hi&he:r
ci'lllm-::snts in Briain was 11.8 timo:lS high:lS lhe: iilCOlltC'
per head of the emplored population, in IQS6, it ..;u only 8_9 limes
as hiclt- 11K licura for lhe: United Sl:lIta (for 1900 and
'958) ",-ere 7.8 and .,1; ro. N!:P-::sy (1910 .lId 1957), they "'-eTc: )-)
and :.I.
l4
1lK llend i, ro. an olfica.nd profo:u>ons, "'ith
lhe ac:rption 01 docton in the: Uniled States, where "'" .ee:m to hao-e
foIJo..-cd Gaqc Btmard 5.....," ad.-itt: "If you are pngl(l t.ao-e doc
ton, )VU had better t.a,.,. doeton .."IkJIJ"It BUI the c:sI:Jbli,hmml
of a IllIlion:IJ health Imn IOWId probably .ed""," here,
'00.
Offire
"Honor," wrolc Adam Smith, "makl'S J of the rev..lfd 01
all hononblc profmion,. In point of pecuniary pin, all things COfU:id
aed,lhcy arc genCf<ll1r uOOcNC'CQIllpnucd."
'6
1doubt 1M! lui point,
but the fil11 is entainly true. and it is for all office hakim, up aoo
down Jlalus hina,chyn;,l,. 8ul honor isa ,......a,d that ought
to be 'Ilawrrd out by ptrlormmcc and not by pb; only ...Mn il is
10 rM:lSU.cd can "1: proJlCfly of it as JOI'1>dhinll; thai pcopk de-
5Jmo'C. \\'Mn il is dcxr>'ed, it is the highnl fC\Il'31 01 o/fiee. To do
a job ...-dl. and to be It_.... to do it ..'CII ro.dy Ihis is ...",", mrn and
"''OIMfl mill! WlIt1llrom their WOfl By mnlml. 10 insist upoo honor
""thout rtprd 10 is one of the mori common fofms 01
ofIicgl il'lJOk"",c. "If dispntKd true juotft, and ... po-
1M lrue art 01 holinc. _Id not rlC'C'd lCjW'c bonnrts [Ihe
symbol of their oIIin:l.n ..rotc P;lK'lII,,00 thauch! jU$tft and holing
beyond the etpKity 01 millMOithoul-Cod.
Jl
But al k2st we can ..
thai b*)l:n and docton come as cbc as Ihry can 10 0111 ide;Ik 01 jus-
1ft and holi.... and "'C can rduw to poI)' hibutc 10 1M' bonnets.
1k 1'0"'" of offitt '.....d.... is h;udtr 10 limit (and I wll tl:lmi&r
it ooly bricfty and CllfTIe Nt" to il ..i.m I discuss llor sphere 01
politics). Ofltt is an important raJ(lll few DCfriIing authority, but t"'"
ruk of and burotItTIts, t>'m 01 qIlIlifioed profasiorgls and
bumiuaab. is ROC 1llcy ..m list thtir oIhces "'Ilmc-\n thq
can to o:>.to:nd tlori. pooocr bc,ond "Nt thtir "'amnt 01'
their function requifa. Thfs "'hy it is to important thltthc men Ind
women .. ho sub;ttttd to the luthority of oIIitt hoIdcr'5 .I
in ddnmininc the of the function. In put, this ddnmi......tion
is inforln.tl...urkd 0fJI in the cbily mc:ounten bd-.un ofIic,:, I-dden
and clients.lt ouchl tobo:_of the thid" pofJlOlGof poblicC'ducation
to prrpate peopIr few thex cocounlcrr., to m.s.k rilizftu _ knDo.-J..
cdce>bI<- and oII"ocn less myslmoos. But it is abo l.....au'Y to xl in
other ""2)'1 10 &0 in tM Ppi in 1M diltn"bution of knoooiedce and
poo.'tt: 10 dixou,qc the sqreplion of oprcU.ltin and spm,.Iists, to
impelS( fl'IOf't (oopfrltiw: of Yo'OIk, and to supp1ancnt tM
xlf,qubtiorl of profa:riorult ..ith _ 01' another lOft 01 (Ommllru.l
Rlprf'ision (m.icw boards, few elI<fmpk). This is mO$I imporbnt.
and espKi;lny to allocal bdI"'here popubl plrticipation is most relll.
istic. tM a,gmnenl about ..-dfate OOTCallCf1lts can bo: generalized
to all office holden: they can only do their job properly if they don't
do it akJnc,. Inderd. they no riaht to do it am. tM fad
that lhei, <:Ompdrnc:c: hal beer> ttTlilkd by the fIOIU1iluttd lutboritics
..-110 pmum.s.bIy <qlfelmt the body of clients and ronwmen. FOI' cli.
ents and ronlumerl I more iutcro::st, Irlt! their ooIJn,-
'59
SPHERES OF' JUSTICE
ti..e judgmenb of the perforrrumce of office hoKk'l 3fe crucial to the
ongoing "wk. point Uto sub;t not to "ledS" but office
holders to citizem. Only then will it be dear to C\TI)':IIlC' that office
is a form of len'ice and not ycl anothe, ocasion for tyranny,
The Containment of Office
There are two reasons fOf the elp;lllsion of office. The fi'lt has to do
with the politic:ol control of activities arK! employments to the
....dlbeing of the community; the sec:on<I has to do ,,'ith "f:lir eqmlity
of oppo.-tunity," 80th sood rea""ns, but neitlKr sep;lratdy nor to-
gether do thq require a uni ..-ersal civil sen'icc, What they do requilc
is the elimination or curtailment of pri,-ate (irK!i"'irl",,1 arK! group) du-
eretion with regard to certain 50fts of jobs. Democratic politics takes
the plare of pr;,-ate discretion. It! m.:mdate may be dirtttly
by bUleaUoCr.lb 0< judgO'l, or indirtttly by cammitlees of cilizcm acting
in aC"COldaoce .....ith JKlblicly established rules; but the crilicalrcfcrcnce
;slo the political rormnunity a whole. and eflttlive 1""'"eT liM with
the sbte. AllY system that e'o-en cames close to ulIi,,'crsal civil...,rvie.:
;s bound to be centralized oper.lhoo. The terttknC)' of
effort! to achiC'o-e political control eq""lity of opportunity ;s to ,ein
lore.: and ellhance e.:ntralized pCI"-er. As in the other areaS of social
liIe, the attempt to tkleat tyr.rnny raises the speclc, of nl"W tyrannies.
But not all jobs nd be turnrd into offices. I have said that offices
klong to the people who by them: elttti"'e and
istrati,-e offices to the prople as a ..... hole; professional and corporate of
lien to dients and ron.mmers ..... ho can only he .epresentrd politically
through the state apparatus. Bul there are jobs to which this
description doesn't usefully apply 0< where ib application .....oukl cost
f.n more than it could cartttiYolbly k worth; there ale jobs
seem to beloog to smaller groups of people, ""here the relc..-aht politia
u the politics of the group, hot of the state. II ""e look ..,me exam
pies, we will Quickly see. I think, that a pownful argument can be nl3cle
against the ideo of office and in fovor of dccentralittd se:llch ond KJcc.
tion procedures
,60
Offitt
The \florid of tht Petty BOU'8cois;e
J h;.,-e already lIrguni fo, the value of entrepreneurial K'ti,-ity. Small
slOfC$, industrial shops, and th.. Ira<k in 5ef\"ices COIlstitute togttltcr
a wold of ,"'Ork and cxcrulnge that is MlCiillly \;11Il3blc: the IIOUTtt, occa-
sionally. of o:o:onom;c innovation; th.. staple of ncighbo<hood life In
the United Stales, mod jobs in the petty bourgeois Sttlor are exempt
from aflirmath'c action md faiT employment practices 1110'1; dlccth'c
regulation just isn't possible. But il is possible to elimilUte the 510'
entire!)- (or at lead to drive il underground), as has bttn do..., in the
KKaIll'd this in the n;Jmc of e<jlllllily. For it is 00';'
oU'S that jobs in ItO'ellhops, and services a.e 001 distributed "fai.ly."
Nor can eager caooidales qUlllify Ivr the a..... ibbk opportunities
through some The petty-botJlgeon is
a penonalil! wOfld, where !"'"On are COllstantly being exchanged and
jobs gi..." out to friends relatives. Nepoti.lm is not merely
it often 'pp""rJ 10 be lequired. Wilhin the limih of
this rnoo-ality, discletion reigns wpreme: the discretion of OWllCrJ, bmi-
lies, tightly knit unions, local political bossa, and 5(1 on,
And j'el, by the wnstituted authorities seemJ to IIle r>oI
only ur>&.if3ble but ilkgitiTl1.3te. PaTtly, this is a of scale, O:m
sideTcd tn mdue, cntrepreneurial acli\,ty is \'el)' impoltant; but tloc
indi\'idual enlCTpriscs are not important, amllhe rommunily has
no reason to seek control O"er lhem. (Or, it should seek only minim.l
wntToI-as, 101' nampk. in the C$tablishment of. minimum
But onc musl .15(1 altemllo the fOfms of pctty-bourgffiis life, where
jobs art located ,,'ilhin a particular kind of JOei.l network: dose qual'
1C11, <!lily routinn, Io<'al ronm:diom, perl()llal SoCT\'icc, familial rooper-
alion, It is no acridcnt that a succession of newly arrivcd immigrant
grOllJ>$ h"'e been to 11>0\-.: into this c<.>:momic: world and 10 prosper
lhere. For they can help one .nolher in WoIys 0'3'" to k possible
on"C they elite. the impnsonal WOTId of offi"C holdi,'8
Workcn' Control
Imagine n(l\O' that SQtIK Jubslantial p;irt of the Americ:<ln ff:OD(lmy
is m.de up of democralically run companies and fadories. [ mean to
dc/end WOlken' controilalCT, in chapter 11. But I Jhall anlicipate th.t
argument (again) in Ofder to uk what !IOTts of hiring proccdUlCS woold
be appfOpriatc in, say, a faetol)' commune. Shouldlhe dculOC"'tically
elttlcd personnel manager Of JC<lTeh oommilt"C k required to li"e up
.6.
SPHERES OF' JUSTICE
to th., .'anda.ds 01 "fai, equality of oppoI'tunity"? It ispwbably i"acclI'
nte to .peak h.,..., of "hi,ing procedures." Ona: a COmmune has been
estah!i.hed, ,,'hat is really al ,tak., i. Ihe admi$5ion of rtN' membclS.
And qualificalion in the .Irid KTllC-the ability to do the job Or to
learn 10 do the job---seem5 only the fint requi,ement for adminion.
The present mcmbcn are free. if they like. to sel addilional require-
n..,ut having to do with Ihe 50ense they h"'e 01 their common life.
But are they f.,.., to falUT their ,ebti.,a. friend members 01 this or
lhat ethnic group. men and "'O"..,n with particular political commit
ments1
In a KlCiety ....ith a IOIlg history of rn:ism, it "uuld make StR5e to
rule oul raeial crit.-ria, henee to i m ~ a minimal set of lair employ
ment Pf2Ctica. But beyond Ihi., the admissions p'oce$S is properly left
in the hands of the mcmbc... Presumably their commune will be lo-
caled ....ilhin .ome feder.Jl strudUTC. and they ....ill operale within a
fr.lmewOlk of rufa: ufery regulations. quality stmdard and so on BUI
illhey cannot d>O()le their ro-wmke", it i. difficult 10 see in what sen""
they can be said to "control" their workpbce, And if they do hal'e con
t r o ~ lhen One can a!STJITIC that IOOe "'ill be diffe,ent lOris of w.,.-kplace.
run On diffe.ent principles. ineluding those ol.,lhnic, reliKioo.....d ~
litic;al homogeneity. And il may well happen thaI at a given time. III
a given plaa:, the most successful fudory will be run largely by Ilalians.
say. or by f..lormons r don', lie"' alllthing ....rong with thaI. 10 IOIlg as
suess i.nt co'lI'crlible outside it. proper sphe'e
Political Patronage
n..,.e are many go>o",rnrnent jobs. especially al Iocalle'",Is, Ihat do
I>Ot ''''lui,e any g'eat skill and lhat <Vmmonly turn O\'e. al a faiTly rapid
rale. nine are ~ by definition, .inee Ihey elll he gi,-.,n out only
by the conslituted authorit;"'. A lottery among the men and wOmen
who hold what",,,,r minimal qualifications ale calk<! for woold sm
all obl'i0u5 di.lribulive proa:dure. Thi. i. the ......y ......., mign pbCl"S on
jUli.... for eumple; and it would ccllainly be: approp,iate. 100. fOf local
councils, commiuiom, r",ie.,.. boards, courthouse jobs of I .. riou. KOIb,
and SO 00. But gi\'cn the aulhority of lhe electil"" principle in the:
United States. there appears to be nolhing illegitimate aboul a palron-
age system-that i a di!lribulion by elected officials, cona:il-ed now
.. I'iclorious political kaden. to their aoocial... and fol\ol<-c:lS. This is,
i ~ , 10 turn offic:a into ".poils"; but so kmll as t I ~ ar., 001 offiea
for which people mighl plep;lle Ihem..,iY." by months Of l-ear$ of ITain-
.6,
Office
ing, ami 50 long office holders lire not dis-
pbccd, '10 is treated unfa"ly by Ami it isn't
implausible to argue that fOf teftain sorts of gmnnmCtlt "'Ofk, poIitic;a1
ach,'ity is itself imlX"tant qualific;,tiOll
Ind=!, luccessful politic;al ilthe c.ue;.1 qualification fOf
offiea: we don't dilhibute the job$ call
on like meritoc.atic at least, the merits al issue
rM,}/ tl.e sorl! hat we could e"aluate through an l)'Stem,
Here the dishihuti,-c pro<.'e$il i, entirel)' politicized; and though the
ideal ,'ote. lhould, conducl himscclf like the member of
&Caleh committcc, the actual body of ,vte" is not COlllt,."ined in the
$arM wllY committ= a.c. We mighl t ...ce a rontinuum of in.
C'C3ling of choice ITOITl juries to COIlHnitt= 10 electOlatcs.
And then eleeted ofOCials are, quite plausibly, 10 d...w Wille
ollhei. them inlo office, the ume diKTetion
that was exerdscd when they themsc:I,'CI "'iele cboscn.
A I>,tem sen'Clto Iorally, rommitment, and pal-
ticil'"tion, and it may "1'11 be a necessary lcatu'e of any kr.al-
iSIOT dccenl ...lized democracy. A uni"elSal ci,illCT\1ce il l"oWbly u
inoomp;lliblc "1th town al with fllclory dcmoxl'llC)'. Or,
local p'cmment. like small bUlinCSl, WOl'Q bal when the'e is ,oom
ro. iTicndship and the olla,'OfS. Once again, this is
question p;lllty of lClIle, partly of the chmcler of the join stak
[ don't 10 deny the impo.tance of an impersonal, politic:llllj neu-
tnl hu,eaocnC')', but lhat imporhmce will be 0.1ess for diflelCT\t
sorls of public Thele i, nnge of fOf wbich p;I.tiun
dilC'Tdion seems, if not wholly app,opl;'le, at lea,t not inapp'''P'iale
Or>e might C\'en make it a matter of gene"l aglccment expeclalion
cerlain jobs ",ould "rotate" arTlOllg poIitic;a1 depending
0" thei, luttCSl O' failure on election day
What these th.ee eumples suggest is: that lhe Cllablilhment of a
"....,ld .equi,e a wa. not only agoi",t the plu",li,m
and complexity of any human lQCil'ty. but against
democutic and complexity. But wooldn'l that be a just war,
a camp;lign for "fair equality of I tlied to a.guc
that equality of opporlunity is: a ltandald for distribution of )Ome
jobs, rIOt of all jobs. It is mOlt appropriate in centralized, professional-
ized, md ill probably tends to
genente such s>,teTTU. He.e communal cont.ol arK! irK!i,idual qualifi-
catia" necessal)', and Ihe clUCial p.ineiple i, "f:ai.neu:' Ami hCTe
"'t: must endllle the rule of majorili" and of stale ofOCials, and
,63
SPHERES OF' JUSTICE
the .:Iuthority of qu;ilifid mtll.:lm! women. But there are deally delir
able: jobs that fall OIJtsick theH: systtms, that are justly (01 not unjustly)
controlled by pri....te individuals or glOUps, aoo that do 001 h a ' ~ to
be distributM "failly." The existc:ncc of such iob5 opens tht way to
a kind of S\lCC'eSS 101 which people dOIl't r>c:ed to qualily-indc:ed, can't
qualify_nd $0 ldslimits on the .:Iut!>ority 01 the qualified. There are
areas of social and economiC' life "'here their writ doe!n't run, The prr-
c:ise boundaries of these alC<lS will alwa}'s be problematie, but their real
ity isn't at all. We mark them off lrom the civil senitt, because the
pattern of human relationships within them is betle. than it ,,'OUki be
il they were not ma,ked off---better, that is, li"en $Orne particu41 un-
ckrstaooing of "'hat ~ buman relatiomhips are.
This, thm, ;s complex equali!}' in the sphere of office. It requi,."
the areer open to blents but setJ limits on the prerogati"es of the tal-
ented 1/ individual men am! WOmen .:Ire to plan their li"es, to shape
careen fOf themsel,'es, thele is no way to ayoid the CQmpetitioo for
offiee with all its triumphs and ckfeats. But one ean redw::.. the fTCTlzy
of the competition by lowering the slakes. Offi= are at stake, and
nothing more. [t w;lS a penonaltlagedy ",'hm a Cilooidate failed the
Chinex civil ..,rvice naminlltiolls. For him, everything was at .tak",
all China kowtowed to the successful candid;,te. But that WOIJkI be fOf
us a misconception of the ""luc of office and the merits of office hold
tn. Men and women committed to complex equality ",ill culth.te a
more realistic sen.., of wru.t those merits ale and 01 bow they oper.lte
within the sphele of office. I\nd they "'ill rCCOfPli1.e the autonomy 01
other spheres, where other forms of competition and coopc:r;ltion,
other 100ms 01 aggr.mdizement, honor, aoo service, legitimately prC\'ail.
'"
,.
Hard Work
Equality and Hardness
It is not a questioo heKof dcm300ing Of strmuous "'Ofk. In thai
of the word, "'t e;m ""Grit hard in almoot any oIIi"" and at almost any
job. [ am "'Ofk hard ..Tiling this book, and 50melima do. " talk or
a (;JlJ3(' , .... t Sttnl5 to us "'(,,th the hard work it nltaib ill ck.,ly a eood
thing. For an our natural laziness, "'t go looking for ii, But IMnJ has
another SCnse---il5 in "hard winte," and ""aId heart"-when: it means
II<lrsh, unplasont, cruel, difficult 10 ....dure, Thus the ;K:Wunl in Exo-
dus of Isracrl opp,caion, "And the Ei)'Plians embittemlthcir li,'eS
with hud Labor" (I 14)' Here the WOfd desuibes jobs that are like
prison scntrnca, work that people don't look for and ...'OUkln't chcosc
if they h:td 1:'\"1'11 minimally alte'na!i"e5. This kind of wod:
is a nCglli"c good> and it commonly carries other goods in
ils lrain: inStlrity, in health, physical dangn, dishonor and
degra<btioo. And yet it i.lOCi3lly neass:ory w(llk;;1 ,Ie<:ds 10 be oo"e,
,md someone must Ix found to do il.
oOfl\"entionallOlution 10 this problem the form of simple
eql);ltioo: the negali'.., good il by the negati'.., of the
people into whose lund.! it is thrust. Hard work is distributed to de
graded people. Citizenl are set free; the work i.l imposed resi-
dent alien., "guest wOl'kn"--outside" the insider.
who do the wOfk turned into "inlide" aliens, like the Indian un-
touchables 01' the American black.! after emancip;ltioo. In oocir-
tics, women ha,.., the lllOlt import;Illt group of "inside" aliens,
,65
SPHERES or lUST1CE
doing "'Ofl tholt men disdained and thc not ooly for
IIlOrc rcv.'arding clfIOmic but abo lor citizenship and politics.
Irnlecd, the household WOI'I: I.... t womcn IrnditionaUy .... ,c donc
----lOking, cleaning, caring for the sicl: and thc old-mala up a sub-
stantial p;I,t of thc ha,d "..,.1: of thc eronomy today, fo< which aliens
'ttruiled (and WOmcn prominently among thcm)
Thc Kka i" all these eu:s is a crud O'le: ncgafi"c 1'OOIl1e lor a neg;a
ti,'c good. TIle wo<l: should be done by ulCn and women qualities
it is praumed to iiI. B:ause 01 their race or or presumed inlelJj
gelll,'r, or KlCialstatus, tile)' dac:J\'c to do it, or they don't deo<,"'e nol
to do it, or they somehow qualify for il. It's not the worl of citizens,
fItt men, white men, and so OIl. BUI what sort of desert, whal sorl
of qualifi.cation ;s It would be hoIrd 10 soy w.... tlhc .... rd "'Oflcrs
of this or any other .x:irly ha'-c done to the danger and degra.
dation their worl: comrnonly entails; OJ how11le)', and tile)' alonc, ...."e
quaJjficd f{ll it W.... t KCrds ha'-c "-c learned about the;! moral charnc
tc.? When do hard bbo.-, ,,-c an at least a'gt>e thai Ihey de-
their But e-.-en they are !lOt stalc sla,'cs, their
dation is (most often) limited and tcmpol"3fy, and it iJ by no lllans
de:n Iholt the "'OIl lOris of wor\: .hoold he a'Signed to them.
And if not to them, surely to noooe dse. 1,Idttd, jf coo,'iets arc d.i,'en
10 hoIrd bbor, lhen Ofdrnary men at><! "'Omen should probably be pro-
Icr:lro /rom ii, so as 10 male it dear lhoIl tile)' are IlOt co,,,,ict. and
nc:>'el bttn found guilty by a jury of thci. peelS. At><! il C\'Cn coo
"ids soould,,'1 be forced to endure the oppression (impriwnmcnt being
opprnsioo enough), then il ;s a fortiori title thai '10 one dse should
endure il.
Nor an it be imposed 00 oulsiden. I hoI"e already a.gul'll thai lhe
people ...ho do this sorl of ...'Orl: arc so doody tied inlo thc ""eryday
lifc of the political community that lhey an't .ightly be denied memo
bership. Hard w'OIl is a "atutalil.ation pXess, and it brings member
hip to those ,,'ho endurc the hoIrdship At the same time. Ihere is SOITlC-
thing a!lr:lclive about a community whose nlembers resist hard WOI'I:
(and ...hose new members naluralized into the resillanC'C). They
hoI'e a ce.tain sense of th..msch-o their (3=rs that rules Oltt the
of oppression; they .e/ust: to he degraded and h...., t....
strength to sustai" the .dusal. Neither Ihe sense- of self nOr lhe P<"fSOIlal
slrength arc an lholt OOlTInKJn ;n human histOl')'. rcprarnl a sig"if.
ianl achiC'l-cmenl of modern derllOCrnty. eml>' COIHlCCted to cc<)-
TIOmic growlh, bUI to the Stt<Xnl or the parlialst1Ctt51
of equality in tile sphere of It is sometimes said to
,66
I-brd Worl:
be ag;limt the wdble state that its members ale un,,'illing
to tal:e on eellai" !()rts of iobs. But IUrely that is a Jign of $llCCl'$S.
When we design a J)"ltem of rommurul JlfO"ision, one of OUI aiml is
to fr peopk from the immediate comtraints of physiC'll1 rHXd_ So long
as th<')' are unfr, they are a'Olilah1c for C\-'ery _1mhard wOIk, ahased.
as it ..-ere, by anticipation, llungry,llO"-erlesJ, alw:1ys insec:ule, they
constitute "the 'Se,,-e almy of the proletariat." On they ha,-e alter
thC)' ..ill rally ami say No. Still, the ""Ofk needs to be dolle.
Who il to do it?
[t is an old dream that no one .... ill ha'-e to do it, We will soh-e the
problem by abolilhing the 1"011:, replacing melt and women ....ith ma
chines wherC\-er men and ""Omen find it ullpkasant to be. 11'UI Oscar
Wilde in hil fine eu:ly '!he Soulm I\Ian Unde.- Socialilm"
All unintellect...l bbo<,.11 monotonOUl, dull boo.,.11 bboo- tlul <kat. ....ilh
dreadfullhings and inml"(:1 unpleaAnl rondiOOns, mllSt be dor>e by ma-
chinery. Mad,in....,. m",t work ro. lI$ in thc COli n,i,lCI "Id do aUlanilary
""lees, and be Ist"hr of st ..mell. and dun 11>0 .Ireets, and run llldSIgos
on wet days and do anl1hing th.t il tedious and dislrO$Sing.'
But that was always an "meali,tic sol"tion, fOi a great deal of hard "..:wk
is lequire<! III the human se"'ices, ",hele automation "'liS flC'\-er in pros
pect E.-en ....hele it was and still il in prospect, the im-ention ami instal-
lation 01 the fl<'CeU;Iry machines it a much sb.r.-C! business than "-e
orocc thought it "-oold be. And nuchines asmten replace people doing
"-ark they like to do as people doing "tedioU$ arid di!lressing" ",'Ork_
is not morally discriminating in its
If ,,-e set automation asiok, the most rommon q::alitarian argument
is that the "'Ork should be shared, rotated (like political officn) among
the ci!iuns. E,-el}vne should do it-__c...",pt ronvicts, of course, ""ho
now have to be excluded so u to make sUle that the wOfk carries no
stigma, This is another e>::lrnple 01 simple equality. [t hat itt beginning,
Ilhink. in work of w:Ir. As ,... rollscripllmlflg men for
....,,,, 50, it's been laid, "-e should collscript men and "'omen
lor all those lIcssary iobs that ale ""likely to allraet volunteen. An
army 01 citizell$ ..,ill replace the rese,,-e army of the proletariat, This
is an altracti.'e p!opos<ll, and I shall want to give it its duc_ It can't
be defended, oo..-e'ier, :tero!lthe 01 haldr>ess---ool ",-en actol-$
the 01 dallger. 1will ha'", to ronlidel Dlore compkx distri-
butiolll_ t'egati'-e goods ha.'e to be dispersed not only Itnong individu
als oot also among distrihuth'e Iphera. Some we can Ihare in the same
WII)' that "-e shan' the COSIs of the "",lfare some, if colldi-
.,.,
SPHERES OF' JUSTICE
tions are roughly erplita,ian, can buy and sell; some require political
arguments and democrntic decision maling. But an the3e forms have
one thing in COfTIIl1Oll: the diltribution goes agoin,t the grain of the
(nqati'-e) good. Elpt in the case of ptmishment, it just illl't pouible
to lit the distribution to the social meaning of the go:>d, because there
is no "'CC or sex Of caste and no C()r>CCi,,,ble set of individuals ,,'ho can
properly be singled out .11 oociety's hard IO'Orlen. No one quali-
fies-there is no Pa.sc:;Ilian company-and 10 all 01 us, in different wa}'S
arid 00 different occasioo., ha\o'C to be a,,,ilabk.
Dangerous Work
SokIiering i. a special kind 01 hard work. I" many societies, in lact,
it is not COT>C'eiyed to be hard IO'Ork at alllt is the normal ocrupation
of YOOllg men, theil social function, into "'hieh they are not so much
drafted as ritually initiated, and whcrc find the TC\'I"3rds of cama"'-
de,ie, excitement, .r><! glory. It would be a, odd, in these eases, to lalk
about con.sc:ripts as to talk about volunteers; neither category is rde-
,,,nt. Sometimes whole "ie cohort. go off to bauk, doing what they
are expected to do .lld whattheil mcmbers (most of them, at any rate)
WlInllo do Sometimes, fighting is the special pri\'ilq:e of the c'lite, and
compared with it, evcrything else i. hard work, more or less degrn.ding.
Young men are ene'getic, combati,'e, eager 10 show off; fighting fOf
them is Of can be: a fOfllT of play, and only the rich can aflord to play
all the time. John RllSlin a woudelF
u
lly lomantie ac<:oUnt of "Clm.
5ellSual WlIl:' which aristocratic young men fight in much the Ame
,pirit a, they mighl play football. Only the risks are the excite-
ment .t a higher pitch, the contest mOre "bcoutiful."l
We might attempt a more down-to-earth romanticism: young me"
are soIdien in the Amc way that the F'rcneh socialist ""itn F'ourier
thought child,en should be garbascmen. III both cases, passioo is har
ncued to lOCial fulKtion. Children lilc to play in the dirt, Fourier
thought, and 10 they are more ready tha" a")'OI1e else to collect
dispose of He proposed 10 Ofganize his utopian comrmlllity
.. a, to exploit their readiness.
1
But I suspect that he "uuld hne found
doing this mote difficult than he anticipated. For it is hardly all accu
",tc docription of whal garbagemen do to Ay that they pI<lf with the
garbage. Similarly, the account of wal as the naturnlaclivity of )'OUng
.68
Hard Work.
men 01 tile lport of 3riitocr3U /its only 3 Im311 number of wan, 01 it
Iits only cert3in SOft, of in "'3r; 30d it tbnn'l lit mod.....,
warl3rt: 3t aiL Mootly soIdierl have little opportunity fof p1.lly; nor ,,'OU1d
thei, be h3PPY ";Ih Iheir playful11CSl. \\IhoIt soldiers do ill, in
'trictnt sen..." h3.d "'OTk. Indeed, we
in the Fint World \\I3r, Of jungle in the Second, 301 the /i.st
arc!Tcl}-pc 04 ha.dnnll.
E,'Cn when its true eholractel il undentood, oo.."C\'CI', soldiering is
not a TlIdiCil11y dcgr.Jded :leti,'ity. R3nk.andlile soldiers arc often rc-
couited from Ihe Iowa! clalln, Ol From outcasts or fomgnerl, aoo lhey
31e oFten regarded "'ith contempt by Ofdinary citizens, But the per-
value of their WOI"k il subject to sudden inRation, and there is
always the chance lhat they will one <by appc.JI as the uvio" 04 tile
country they ddntd, Soklieling is socially lm:c:sury, at kut
3nd ,,'hen it is, the nCSllity is visible and dn11latic. At thole timn,
soldieri"t: i' also dangerous, and it is dangClOUl in a "'ay tholt m;tkcs
a lpC'Cial mark 011 our imagin.:I!iom. The dangcl is not JUtUlaJ but
human; the soldier inhabits a "'Orld whele otller peopk--hi' C1Temies
300 oun, tOO"""'IIC trying to kill him. And he must try to kill them.
He runl the lisk of killing and being killed. For thC$C 'ca5OIU, I think,
this;1 the lint fO<m of hald "'Ork that citizens 3re required, 01 .equire
cach othe., to IhoIrc. Comc-riptioo hoIs othc-r purposes t(l()--300.'C 311,
to prodlltt the ''3st numbers of t.oops ndcd for modern "'3lfare, But
its moDI purplllC;s to uni,.,.uhe or .,mdom;ze the Iilks of w:.. O\'C'
3 given genention of )'OUng men.
When tile .ilks 3rc of 3 dilfelent sort, hO"'e"C1, the same purpose
Ittmsless prnlling. Considel the case of cool mining. ''The nte of acci
dents alTl(lflg minen iI so high," wrotc CM.gc Orwell in 111" ROlla
to Wigan Pie., "... that cull31ties arc taken for gnmted as they ",-ould
be in a minor "'3. '" It isn't casy, hO\OC"CI, to im:agine this sort of work
being lhared, Mining may not be highly dilled work, but it iI ccltainly
'-"'Y difficuh, 3nd if. best dooe by men ....ho ha"c il ''''' long
time. It rCQllira lomething mlHe tha" "biIsie Inining."' "At. piteh,"
....rotc Qrv..,ll, "I \'O\I1d be toier.lhk I03d-s",'ccpc:r, lH .. , a tenthnlc
fa.m bilnd. But by no COf\C'eiV;1b!e .mount of elfOfl or haining could
I become a coolminer; the "'Ofk ""Ollld kin in few No.
does it make mIlCh SCIUC to hrc:lk in upon the solidarity of lhe mine".
Work in the pits a strong bond, tight community that is not
"'Cla.:>ming to tr3111ients. That community is the strcngth of the
m;nen. A deep ....."" of pbee .nd d.n.nd gCTI'CfOtions of ebu struggle
ha,'C made for staying po"..el, e probably the J=t mohile of
.6g
SPHERES OF JUSTICE
modern indushial population!. A ron"Cfipt umy of mincworken, even
if it ..'e'e poMibk. would not be an allracti'e to the soci:al
life the miners hne designed for themsckes.
But the.e" deq>er 'c:a>n why the ronsc,iption of ordinarycitizc:ns
for coal mining has nl:\'Cr been urged by poliliCOlI mmoe"",nl or be.
come the subiect of public discussion. The risks that minen Ii,." with
>Ie not imposed by ptJblic enemy, and they don'l in"o"'e the speci;ll
tCTrors of killing being killed. To SOUle C'lItent. iOOttd, lhe risks
by negligent or pn>f;to:'Cring owners, and then they
political mailer. But the obvious remedy is 10 rultiorullizc: the mines
or regulate their there SC'Crns no.-d to consc.ipt miners.
It makes lClUe to SC'Ck similar remedy for the risks imposed by rl3ture.
[n Athens, the men who WOI'ked the sih'C. mines ,,'Cre stolle
slava. in the se....iC'C olthe city. Millers today fro:'C
citizcrll, hut we mighl think 01 thcm, oo.."C\'er the mines O'o'.rn:d,
as citizens in the serviC'C of the mt;"". And then "'e mightlreat them
as if they ,,'cre ronscripts, not sMring thei, risb, but sMring lhe costs
of the remedy: .esearch into mille $<llety, health ca.e designed lor their
immediate needs, c,nly OOalt pelllions, alld $0 on. n.e
$<lme argumenl plausibly applies to other dangerous acti,it;,.., ..hen
C'o'CT they JQCi:a11y necessalY-.o't to lIlountain climbing, thcn, but
to romtruction work on bridges, tall buildings, deep oil ,igs,
50 on In aU these eases, lite casualty statistic. may of
a ",n; but the C'o'nyday CJpe-rie11C'C is diffe.ent. and 50 is OIl. understand
ing of the work.
Grueling Work
Pe;acdime ronscription raises still diffc.ent Wut:l. There .cmains a Ce.-
tain lisk of wa., which 'Olries fa.- each rollort of ronsc,ipts depending
upon the poIitie;a1 sitll;ltion when they come of age, Mostly, oo..C'o'e"
whal is being shared is the bulkn of service: the time spent. lhe diffi-
colt the Mrsh di..::ipli""". Onc could, of roursc. pay people
10 SCl\'C, recruit '"Oluntcers. opening up pouibilities lor a.;klr1C'C'IHcnt
and encou'''8ing soldien to the army as a earo:'C' rathe, IMn the
inte"uption of a C';I.tcr. Th" is an that I ",ill ronsidcr later
But J should nOie here an import..nt political against it,
which hoJds tMt citi!en-soldiers are los likely than professionals o.
'7'
Hard Work
to herome the imtrumenl.! of domestic oppla.5ioo_ TIle
arglHnent applies, llO"'C"el, only 10 50ldiering (am! to police work);
while what is most interesting about peacetime oonscription is that it
in,ites the al'limibtion of soldiering to rrumy othel forms of bardn!':S$.
If the urny is manned, ,,'hy 1l1Oukin't the roads be bUIlt, tile sugarane
cUI, the lettuce picked by COIIscriptsr
Among political thcmists, Rousseau made the IlfOflgat positi,e fC'
sponse to this qUl'Slioo, dra"1ng OIl a moral argument Ihat ;s cenlral
10 his theory- as a whole. Men (and we ....,uld add, WOlllen too) mlJ$t
shue in soeiaUy IloettS$3ry work, as they shale in politiC$ and "'lII, if
lhey are C'-er to be the citizens of a self-governing community_ If politi.
cal p.1ttieipalioll am! military $CfVice are lequiled, 110 is the CQnW, or
Iaboo- s(''1vice, else 50Ciety divides intI) master5 and SC'I''lIntJ, the 1""0
groups aught alike in the hap of hierarchy and dependency. We know
that the republie is in decay. Roueau argued, whell its citizens """Ould
1'lIther SC'I'"C "ith their money than with their peno;ml."
Wben il iJ J>eCe>SafJI to march On' '0 ..<lr. lhey pay tfOOllS and >lay at honle;
1'I",n il i. II<ttSS3fJ1 10 meet in cooneil, lhey name doputies and lIayat
home In a coonlfJIlhat i. truly flee, lhe eitize,,, do C'o..,.,1hing wilh
their ""'Il amll and ""lhine by meaN 0/ 10"'''')'.... I am I" from taking
the common 'i.....: r hold cnklrd labor '0 be less "f'IlOS'"d to l,befly II.. "
taxa.-
The common ,'iew is Ihat men aM women are hee only when lhey
ehoose their OWn ,,-otk. Taxes arC the p.iceoF the cho;tt. and the CQrn.
mutation of labor services inlo lues iJ everywhe.e leg'llded as a vielory
For the common people. Rou=u's view il indeed radical, but it is un
delCut by an uncharacteristic vagtJenC$l. He nC'e. tells us how much
of the community's work is to be shared among the citizens. (her ,,'hal
range of jobs will the eonoi" exlend? We can imagine it extended so
as to ioclude C'"ery 5O.t of hard ....ork 11len the citizens "oold
to be organi1.ed into something like Trotsky's industrial army; thele
would be: Jittk room lelt fm individual choice; and lhe command slruc-
ture of the army "'"Ould reproduce in new forms the old pallerns of hier-
alchy and dependency. Rousseau almosl Cfftainly intended IIOmelhing
more modest; he p.obably had in mind the so.b of ....,.k 10' which the
con+" "''I histOlically uJed. like the building of the king's highwa)'S.
A partial then, n>Ole than time lor the
smallholden and craftsmen who inhabit Roosseau's ideal republic to
pursue their own affairs: we can think of it as a s}'mbolic commitment
(tbough the wo.k they sha.e would be: real wmk).
If this is right, then the choice of symbols is "ery impo.tanl, and
'7'
SPHERES OF' JUSTICE
""e must be clear about its purpose. Road building "''JI.S a good choice
for Rou...,.,u because it WoOl Ihe t)'pical form of forced bbor under lhe
old regime, men of noble hirth were in prirw:iplc exempl; Ihe boorgcoi-
.ie ""'.. in p=ticc exempl; the work was impnsed on the poorest and
wcakesl of the king's subittts. and so it was Clpericnttd as the most
degrading kind of work. Wcre the citiuns as a body 10 take it upon
themselv.... they would frcc the poor oot only from the physical bbof
bul also from its stigma-from aristocratic disdain and Ihe bourgeois
imitation of aristOC1'Jl.lic diJdrin. That's "01 to say Ibat work on lhe
roads would cease 10 be a ncg;llive good for roosl of lhe people who
did ii, whether lhey ",'ere conscripts or wluntccrs, Back-breaking, gru-
eling, and oppr=ivc. il .uggcsts the so:oond archetype of hardness. But
even a fun-lime commitment to it would cease to cntailth.. disrcspl"Ct
of one's fellows. And then the other cntailm..nl.l might gradually be
cut off, too; for Ihe citiuns mighl b.- rC<ldy to pay for the roods they
needed. and the workcrs might be to lkmand morc pay. Alllh",
might happen-but, in fact, wc ha,... ....id.-"ce 01 a far l1lOfe rnIical
transformation in altitoo..s 1o..'JI.rd physical boo.- that actually did har>-
pen, and thai happcn.-d, too, in somdhing lik.. a Romseaui,,,, commu-
nily.
The Isroeli Kibbutz
From ito beginning, Zionism lhe crealion of a 'ewish
working cbss, and orlC or another form of MaUli.1 idCQ!ogy, calling
the power 01 the workers, was al",'JI.)'1 a significanl tendency ",'ilhin Ihe
movement. But the.e wa!, from Ih.. bqinning again. another tenden-
cy, philosophically and politically more original, which called oot the
power of the worKen but the dignity 01 the work, and which aimed
to create not a class hUI a community, Th.. kibbutz, or colleclive settle-
ITlCnt, tllC product of th", second tendcl>C)', .ep<cscnls an expetimcnt
in the tralU''JI.luation of valucs: the dignifying of WOIk through the shar-
ing of work. The crced of the early II:'tllcrs was a "religion of bbol-"
in ",'hich one took communion by WOIking in the And Ihe hard-
..,1 "'"Ork "''JI.S the !lI0I1 uplifting, ",iritually, and socially, 100.
1
The collcctiv<'ll ",-e,e established in the early '900S. By Ihe
'9505, when Melfom Spiro ptlblished his classic study Kibbutz.. Ver,-
ture in Utopia, the lr.l.",valuatioll or valllCS was 110 .ueccssful that il
...;lS no longer necessary to require the members 10 share the pt,ysical
labor of lhe coIlecti.... E\'cryone who could work wanled 10 WOIk; a
callused hand was a badge of honor. Only;olls with incom'enient hours
'7'
Hard Work
nighlwatchman) had to be rotated among lhe membt'n,
11igh school teachers, Or! the hand, had to be consc,ipled, for
teaching wal far Icss OOllOfed than work in the liddl-an amuing fact,
gi.-en the culture of European IN'I,S (Less arnating, kitchen W(lI'k
poled pl'obkml, 100, ,,'hich I will oome back to in a moment.)
It ""31 e,uciallo the lUccm of the kibbutz, I think, Ihal each colJro.
ti"e l'ettkment ...... allOa political community. It ..,;un't only the ..",k
that wallha,ed, but decisions about the ..",k, Hence the "'Ol'ken were
free in that aU,important lenle that RoulleaU alb "mQr:Illibnty": the
burden! the)' hed ..'ith were sclf-irnpooed. An)tllle "'00 did not .... nt
10 aCC'eflt lhem could lea"e; anyone who ,duled to aCttpt could
be expelled. But the membelS WO\IId know that lhape of
thei' "'Ol'bby and the allocation of task! o\-e, time were mattelS of
communal dmlion; and in thCH: deciJioos Ihey had, and woold
a lignincant ,-ace. That's why the could be lolal. In the calC:
of a republican come, in a largel communily.nd. more compb and
differentiated ttono;IIny, whe'e the wode.. could p;lrticipole only indi
rectly in de-c:ision making, a paltial1haring WO\IId be mOle .ppropriate.
BUI there iJ another conlnst luggesled by the kibbutz experieoce: be
tv.-een the dose inleg.-.tion of "'Ol'k.nd poIilies possibk in a .esidential
community and the more po,tial integ.-.tion possibk in arionl
onlhejob leUingl. WOlken' conlrol or leU-management prO'o-idel, al
we shall lee. an altelnati.'e to The political K'Organir.ahon
of "'OIk can )Omclimes be a subltilule lor the sharing of ,",'Ork_though
it is a o;cntnl fealure of the kibbutz, and a key 10 its trI(lr.Il cha.-.clcr,
that lhere the two go losether.
1lte kibbub is lounded on a ndical effort to transfolm a negative
into a good. I ha,-e called Ih.. t effort a and 50, by am!
urge, it is. But there il one area where it has not been successful. "Cer,
uin jobs are regarded al $0 distasteful:' wrote Spiro, "that they ale
filled by a permanent rotation l)'ltem . , . the most notable illltance
is work in the {communaij kitchen and dining room, cooking, di.hwalh,
ina, am! 5erVing:'" In the kibbutz that Spiro Iludied, women were
dnlted fOl a yelr at a time, men for t..'O Of thm: months, to do kitchen
won. Now, lVl\l;ll differentiation in work need not be problematic if
it i.s cho6r:n (eithel by individuall or by an allembly in which
men and women ha"t: an equal ,-oice) am! if Ihe differenl jobs are
equally rapccled, The lOOd of COIlditiom, how...-n.didn't hold
in Ihis case. One might plaulibly $;Iy that, wilh regard to food, the
kitchen i. a5 important as the fields. BUI kibbutz membt'n gener
ally diKlainflll of bourgeoil UgraclOUSnell" in eating; the)' had a
'73
SPHERES OF' JUSTICE
Roune;aui;Jn unealiness with smacked of luxury. Hence,
Spiro reported, "little cfJorl ("';l') to improve the preparation of
the food thai (""1) (Food wal ,atior>c<! in [Irael in the
early 19.011) Kitchen "'Ol'k might hay" hccn more rcspedcd if its prod
ucts were more ir>di"iduatcd and highly vailled-and SO one might
hope for an imprm-ernent in its rebliye status as the hard cdgn of kih-
but"!. ideology IIOften, But cleaning up after a mol may jUlt be
ful, hO'o\o'e\'er tally the meal itStII, And other.,.ls of cleaning lip may
be distalleful, 100. Here, pcrhap;ll, kibbutz ideo\ogy comes up againsl
a rq::ath'e good that can't be lr;llllformed. Adam'l curse wQuld be no
Cmlt all "'CTe there not some irredueible hardness;n Ihe hard work
""C ha"e 10 do. And e\'en in the kibbulz apparently, the cursc il bom<:
by some I1lOfC than by othcr1
Dirty Work
In priocipk, lhere is no such thing as intrinsically degrading work; deg-
radatiou il. cultural phenomcnon. II il probably Ime in practice, how
e\'er, Ihat sci of .("ti,itits ha"ing 10 do with dirt, ....ast", ar>d garbage
has been the ob;ect uf disdain and a.-oidance in ju'l aboul C\"Cry human
society. (Fourier's children ha,"Cn't yel learn.cd the mores of locir el
ders.) The list will '''rr from one time and place 10 another,
but the set i, more or las common. In India, fur eJCImple. it indudes
the butchering of cows the tanning of oowhidc-jobs have
a ralher different in Western cultures. But otherwi!C Ihe char
acIer;stic occupalions of Ihe untouchables Iliggest what we can
Ihink of at the Ihird of hard "uk: Ihey arc the scavengers
swccpcn, Ihe carriers of "..,te and night lOil. No doubt Ihe un
peculiarly degraded, bul it is difficult to beliC\'e
,,-ork they do will C\'er be allraeli"e or widely esteemed Bernard Shaw
".11 pcrfedly right to ..y thai "if all duslmen ""'TC dukes nobody would
obittt to the dusl,"ll hut ;1 isn't easy 10 figme OIrt how to prodoc.:
such a happy arrangement. If dllSt men "ere dukes, they ""O\Ild find
lOme new groop, under another name, to do their dUlling. Henc:e th"
q\lC$tion, in lOCiely of equals, who ",ill do Ihe dirty "-orH bas a lpecial
force, And tl>.- necessary am"... is that, at knt III son... p.arlial and
symbolic scnsc, we ",ill all ha'", to do il. Th.... II'" will ha'", an end
'74
liard Worl:.
to dul:.es, if not )"rl 10 dust men. This ;s whal .....s gelling al
wrn-n he requi,ed his foIkl'oo-ers-himsclf, too-to dan the l:tt.ines of
lM,i. as!lfamU He'e was S)'mbolic w:oy 01 purging Hindu 5lXie!y of
untouchability, bllt it made point: people lhould clean
up thei, own di Othe",-isc, the men ...d women who do il not only
for but ror C''n)'OIle clsc, 100, will be equal noemk.!
of the poIitie;t1 rommunity.
What is lhen, ;s a lind of not only in
households-though il ;s Clpttially impo.tantthcre-bul abo in rom
nHlnes, lactories. and schools In all ploca, we rould
hardly do btUe. than to follow Walt Whitman's injunct;"n (the podly
iJ but th(" argument .ighl):
FOI ...."ry man to xc to illh.1 h. 'caTly do
1011",lhing. 0< ...."ry ""'''all 100,
To il",...1 a lillk-o<H:rodhillg
a;d lhe ......hin&. <:t>Okin&. dcanil\i'
Alld hold il 110 disgr,l<:C 10 take a hand
al tlrem tl"'m.d....... "
Tloere would p'oOObly be kss di.t to clean lip if C\lCf}'OIlC 11>CW III .d-
vallce: of maling it thai h. the eleaning 10 someone ebe.
Bul Klme peoplc--patienll in a hospitaL 10' eurnp\c---ca,,'1 help but
le3\'e it to IOnlCOfle dsc, and ce:.tain 10.11 of cleaning a best OI'gani,.cd
011. large sok. Wo.l of this IOrt might br do"", as pari of. natiooal
service J'fOllf3m. Indeed, "'... and ",..st. seem the ideal SUbicctl of na
tiorull sc[\'ice: the first. becausc of the speci.1 risks i",."I,'ed; th(" second,
becau'iC of the disllOllOl, Pe,h:lps the w",1:. lhould be done by Iloe
young, not because they will enjoy ii, but because il isn'l without edoca-
tional ,.. Iue Pe.haps each citizen should be allooo.'C<! to choose: when
in the rou.sc of his life he willl.l:.e his tum. But it is certainly app.opri
ate lhat the cleaning of city shce:Is, say, Of of national pa.4 should
be II", (part.tin",) WOfl of the eiliu....
11 is not an appmp.ia.te goal lor social poli("y, h"",'.,-, thai all the
dirty "'Vllihat needs to be done should be Ihared the citj
7..,nO. Thai ",,,,,Id requi,e an .,"""'rdinary deg.ee of 00111.01 0\..,'
""'-"'YO""" J life, and il "'QUid inte.fe.e ladically .... ith othe:.liw:b of wo'".
""me of it ntSS3ry, some of it ooly usc-Ful. I fOf a
pa.tial and s)-mhotie shari"ll' lhe: purpose i. to b'eak Ihe link bct..'een
dilly wo-rk and disrespect. In Oloe lense, the b.eal hal .I.eady bten at
oomplished, Of sllbstantially ae<:01llphlhed. Ihtough a long pl'Ol"'ClS of
euhu.al tr:llldorm.tiOll thai begins ....ith the ea.ly modem On
'75
SPHERES OF JUSTICE
feudll hierarchy. BcforcCod, Purilan pleacheu taught, aU human can
ings, .11....,ful....,rk, i$ e<jl\;l1'4 Tod.:ly Wf:: .re likely to rank jobs as more
b5 desirabk, not as more or b5 respectabk. MOliI of us would deny
thai .ny socially useful woek can be Of should be debasing. And yd
Wf:: still imllO"= 00 h.rd-WOI'king fellow citizen. polterns 01 beha,iof.
loutines of distancing, that place them in a kirK! 01 paJe, defe'ential
lTIO\'emenlJ, peJenJptory romm."ds, refusals of recognilion, When a
g:arbageman feels stigmalized by the work he does, ""Tites a contempo-
rary lOC'ioIoeist, the stigma shows in hi. eres. He ent"" "into collusion
with us to.void conlaminating us with his !eM'ly self," He Ioob ....'ay;
and we do, 100. "Our eyes do not merl. He beromes a non-perJOn,'"1l
O"e way t(l b'eak the collusion, and perhaps the best way, is IQ make
sure that every citizen 1w a working kn<,IWkdge of Ihe working days
01 his hardest working fellows. Once that is done, it is pqssibk 10 con-
sider othe' mhanisms. including market InechanislllS, fOl" OIganizing
the hard of society.
&> long as there is a rese....e army, a cia... of degraded nlen and
women driYCfl by theiT llO'-.:rly and theil imllO"e'ished sense of their
own value:, the market will never be effective. Unde, such conditions,
Ihe hdest wo<k i$ .1"" Ihe Iowcst paid, even though nobody wanls
to do it. But given a ccrtain level of communal pl'O\-ision and a CC1't.in
Ie.'el of sel-,..luation, the WOfk won'l be done unless il is "ery well ""id
illdecd (or unless the working cooditions .re "e'Y good). The citizens
will firK! that if they "''ani 10 hire thei' fellows as sca,-.:ngers.rK! sweep-
en, the ",tes will be high-mIlCh higher, in fact, Iha" lor more p<csli
gious or pleasant work. This is direct oomequc:nce of the fact lhat
they .re hiring Mfo", citiuns. It is sometimes claimed that unoc, con
ditiom of genuine fellow.hip, no one would .gree to be sca'-eTJgcr
Of sweeper. In that case, the woek would ha"" to be shared. But the
claim is prob.1bly f.lse. "\Ve aTe '10 accustomed:' as Shaw has wrilten,
"to see dirty work dolle by dirty and poorly p.oid peopk that "-': have
rome IQ think I.... t it is disgraceful to do it, and thaI unless a dirty and
diq:raced cia... existed, it wookl not be done al all..... 1/ llIl!icient
money or leisure were offered, Shaw righlly insisted, people would
rome fOlWard.
His own preferencc was for r"".. r<ls t....t the form of leisure Qf
"liberty"_hich will alwaY' be, he the incenti'-e and
lhe best compensation for work thai c::mies with it liltk inlrillsic salis
faction:
,.
Work
In a pllcf)')'OIl "ill find a nicely d,essed bdy .ilting ,t. t,ble ,,'ith
nolhil1llo do bIlt to Idl.nlOOC "'ho;flb what iltl>t priro: 01 any ""rtimbr
pictm., .nd onIer for it if ooe is li''aI. She has mony plea.ont cIl.lJ
",Ih joumalislJ and Illist.; and il i. bored .nc an ,od a ,,,,,,-d, ...
But tnc gallery hal to k I('rubbcd and ch>oted. day; and
loa,,,, to ho: k<pt dnn. It i. dea, thot tho: Iady'. job is a mllCil ."her ooe
than tncrn.rwoma,,.. Tobabncctncm)'Oll mUlt either leltkm take thei,
turns al Ih.e 001 and attnc I('rublHna: on .11",,"le days or "WU; or .Ise,
Ila fillt"lass K'Ubber and d""t.. and de..... mi,ht ''"'Y bad buo;.
n... lMly. and. ''"'Y atlrxli,,,, hwineoslady mighllfllke a...,.,. bad >Cnlb-
be<. j'CIU m!lSt let tho: clu."""""n flO horne and ha"" tho: ,,,,t of the d;,y
to hnsclf .1l1i.. than I"" lady al tM desk."
n.e c:ontrast bet....c:cn the "/irltr.I. .ha....,om.n .nd lhe "'..ry attm
ti,.." OOSirlal lady nicely oomhines the prejudi<:ff of class.nd 5eJ.. If
",.. let a.ide thooe l"eiOOK:es. the pl'riodic achange of """k is less diffi
eult 10 imagine. The lady. afte, all .....ilI h.... to share in th. scrubbing.
dUlling00 c1e:ming at hom. (unless she has, I! Shaw probably ex-
pa'ted ...... to . ch....."OI"'n Illere. 100). An<I wh.t is Ihe cha,
"'OI11.n 10 do "iilh her leisurcr Perhap5 Ih. will paint pictures or rc;od
boob aboul art. Bullhen, th""8h Ihe exchange is easy. it may ",..II
be resi!!ed b). the dl3lwoman he,self. Olle of the att'xtion, of Sh.w1
pl'OpOllll il th,t il hard wo.l a' an oppottunil}' for pe:ople
..,ho .... nllo protect their lime, So they will clean or scrub or collect
garhag. 1m Ih...ke of their IeUme. ,nd ..-oid if lhey an any more
engaging. c:onlpl'tilivc, or time-<'(lnluming .mployment. Under the
righl condilions. the 'narkel pTO\'ida a kind of sanctuary from the pres
lUTes of the market, Th. p,ice of the ..nclwry is 50 many hours. day
of hard work-for lOme pe:opl., .1 Ie.st, price worlh paying.
The ma;or .ltem,ti,.. lo Sh.w1 propoul is the reorganization of lhe
"'Ork!lll 1110 ch.nge. not ils phl,i..1 requiremenll (for I'm 'SSlJming
th:llihey are not changeable), but ill moral characler, n.e hillory of
g..b>ge collecting in Ihe city of San Francisco offen a nice example
of this !Illrl oItransform.lion. ",hich I "'.nt to dwell on briefly both
fOl' it> own uke ,nd becall5C it c:onllttts in lI5Cful .... )'I wilh my earlier
disclWion of office.nd with Ihe arguments still to com. ,boul honor
and power.
11rt S4n Ftilfu:isco San'tn&trs
For the pali lixly )"CI". r""8hly h.lf of the garh.ag. of Ih. city of
San Francisco hI! been collected and disl'O'Cd of by the Sunset Sea,..,,
gn Company" C<XlpCrati,.. owned by ill """ken, lhe men who dri,..
lhe Iruck.!.n<1 carry the ans. In 1978 the sociologist Siewart Perry
'77
SPHERES OF JUSTICE
JlI.lblished J study 01 Sunsd. J fir>e pie of UTNn tthnoetJphy and 3
valUllbk specubtion on "dirty ","O<k md pride of
is my 10k sourtt in p;lrJgrJpM thJt follow. is (\e.
rllOCr.Itic:llly run. its office.s dected from rank.s Jnd p;lid no
IhJn ..... F'",ced by Sc,,' in
1'l)OS to iKIopt b)b....s in ""hich they l!' JS
the memb<-ls insisted that they Jnd would
bithful 10 the prosr3m of thc originJI organi'.ell "who intended to
lorm Jnd C<lrry on J .. , '<irn-rc e-,'ery memlK'. w:n J
md actu;llly cngilgN in comlllon work Jnd ""he.c C\'cry IT>ember
did his shJfC of the WOfk Jnd npccted C\"Cry other member to w..".k
300 do his uhtXl5t to in<;re;lse the e3mings"'18 I ndttd, C3UI-
inl:' ha,l' inefCJsed (morc than of mJnUJI I"orh:n gcrw:rJUy); the
COIllp;lny hn grown; ilJ elected oIIiccrs hJ,l' shown ronsiderable entre-
prcneurial taleu\. Perry belie-,'es llmt ptOt'i<b bd-
serl'itt tu thc of SJn Frnnci500 J1Id, what i5
important working conditions to ilJ
own members. lbat docsn't man that the work is physiC<l11y asio:r;
rJlh...-, roopcr3tion has rrulOe it more p\c:al;lnt-has C\'cn nude it 3
'ClOrce of pride.'
In onc sense, the ","O<k is in fact easie. the rate among Sun
set u",mbers is 'ignific:lnlly Jo.... lhan the industry GJ.bage
collecting is J d,lllgel'O\J' acti"ily. In the United States todl.y, no other
oocup;ltion has a higrn-r ri,k of injury (though co;olmit>Cll 3rc subject
to more serious injury) The npbnation of these statistics is not clear
collecting i, strenuous work, bul no mOfe so thJn rtl3ny other
jobs that turn out 10 h.'l' better SOlltty rttords, Perry 'uggcs!J: Hut
thae llIay be a cor,nection between SOlfely Jnd sell""l""tion, '1'he
'hidden injuries' 01 the status s)'Stcm truly he linked to lhe 3pp;lrC'tlt
injuries that public heJlth and s:lfely cxperts lOIn documenl."l& l1>e
first "3ccillcnt" 01 g3rb;qj:e collecting is the internalization of disre
sped, JOO lhcn alhe. accidct1lJ follow ",Icn who don't ''alue thcm-
seh-es don't take prop<:. nrc 01 themseh'C:S, If this "icw is right. the
hetlc. record of Sunset may be connected to tl", shJred dceision trulk
ing and the sense of o'.mership
'"",,', bool. , '" ><r o.c.. lI',tor, """m...... ...\> ......... <1<*-
..... _ Wild<, ... _ ..... ",,10 mmul. ..,,>l.o< phyw>lOocn"7
-. '" .... to'" -a- ..... " '""' ... ...,..w "'_U,.. ""!'<ffr"' """' .........
,.... \\'oldt __.he,"-"Ioo dipdr.l 001 foIlOl' I' ......... dll!<o<n ,'"
_La "'''" _k.h..kh h. khal""'" !kill <bo', .n< to fo<c<t Woldt',
poOoo 'lool ,he --.. don ..., In '"_"'. ,10<0 to .................
.....cine iol .. m ' lIy oti_... """""....
."
H3rd \Vork
Membel'5hip in lhe Sunset Scol"enger Comp.any is dillributed by a
''Ole of the eurrenl members and then by the purchase of sha,es (il
has genenilly not bttn difficult to borrow- the nccc:uary money, md
the lhares ha"e inc.eascd in '';Ilue). The founders of the com
p.any ".,re 3nd SO a'e II", bulk of lhe membel'5 today;
about half of Ihe", a.e related to other n\C",be..; a fair nurnbe. of som
h"'e follov.-ed lheirlatherl ;nlo II", Ix"ine... The SutteS5 01 the cooper
at"., may""" something to the us;ness of the mcnlben with an-
other. In any COl"', and whate'"e' one to!:Oy aooutthe "'Ork. Ihey
have made me'nbel'5hip into a good thing They don't distribute the
good they ha'"e elealed, hO'lO"C\e., in ac.::ordance with "fair equality of
oppotlunity." In New YOfk Citl', bec:n"" of a I""'"erful union, g;I,bilge
coIk'Cling isaoo a widely dc:sired job, and there the job has b=l tumed
into an office. Candidales musl qualify for lhe work by laking a civil
lCT\n eum.ll It ,,'Otlld be i,M.esting 10 know lOmething about lhe
..,If,...lualion of th" men woo p.all Ihe CUm and a", hir-ed as public
emplo,-tts. TIlC')' probably earn more than the mcmbe.. of the Sunset
rooperati,,,,, but they do.-J't have tlK: same lCCUli\}'; they don'l own
Iheir jobs. And Ihey don'l share ,isks and opportunities; they don't
manage IlK:ir ()\\'n company. TIt<: New Yorl:,," c:olllhemll:h'Cll ..... "ita-
liolHllen"; tl", Sail Fla,>ciseall', "sea',,"ge,s" wOO ha. tl", grc:Jtcr
pride If the ad""nla!:" liQ, a. [ thinl: it doe<, with th" ",,,mben of
Sunset, tl",,, il is closely ronntttcd to 11K: charade, of Sun5cl: a rom
pany of companIons, who clloo>e their own lellows. TIlCre is no "...y
10 quali!)' for th" work 10 appcallo lbe current membm of the
ronlpany. No doubt the membel'5 Io:>k fOl n\Cn who can do the nn
sal)' "'Ofk and do il ,,-ell, but Ihey allO look, presumably, lor good com
p.amons.
But I don't "';Int to underestimate the ,...Iue 01 unioni1.ati.m, fo.- this
can be another for", of sellmallllgemelli and anolher "';Iy of making
lhe market "urk. There can't be anydoubtlhat unions h..'e bcx:n efie<:
Ii,,,, in winning bette. wag"" a"d "1)fkinll oomIitions lor their ",e",ben;
lOI1ldimes they ha"e C'o'CTl ltlCttedcd in breaking lhe link belwttn in
come differenlials arnlthe .tatus hien",hy (the New York garbage cal.
Ie<:ton arc prime example). Perhaps the gemTlll 111'" mOllkJ be lhat
where"er wo,I: can't be unolized 01 run cooperati,,,,Iy, it should be
IhalL..! by lhe citizens-not symbolically and partially, bUI generally
Indced, ,,hen union Of coope",tive work is a'';Iibbk 10 C'o"CT)'OllC (wllCn
thCle is 00 rese,,-e a,my), other work iu.t "'Of! 'I gel do"e unles. people
do it lor themselves. This is deady the C:Ose wilh domeslic cooking and
cleaning, area ....here jobs are i'>c.ea.ingly filled by new immigr:ants.
'79
SPHERES OF' JUSTICE
no! by citizens. "Mia:hty few young black WOIT>l'Il are doin' domestic
"'(Irk [today): Studs Terke! was told by a Iery old black woman. a 5er
l<lnt aU her life....... nd I'm glad. Thafs ....hy [ "<lnt my kids to go to
JChooI. Thil ooe lady told ml", ....nyou people all" getlin Iikl" that:
[ said, 'I'm ghtd.' lbI"le'. 110 more gdtin' 01\ thcir knees."ll Thi. is
the Mlfl of WOIk that is Ialgely dependent on ill (degradw) /TlOIa1 char-
acter. Change thccharacter, and the work may well home un-doable,
not only from the penpec:ti"e of the worker but from that of the eru
p\oycl, too.'\\t'hI"n domestic IerVanu ale Iralw al human beings:'
wrote Shaw, "il is not WOIth....hik 10 keep Ihcm,"u
This is not Ime of galbage roIkdun or 01 coal miners, lhoua;h the
demand for human tratm\"llt will ccrtainly makl" el"ery kind of dirty
and dangerOUJ work more expenlive Ihan it wa.l before. It is an mtelest-
ing question whether it is tllle for lOldien. can. a. 1\.., said, recruit
IOkliCTJ through the labor market; in the of a army,
the induccmenLl would hal.., to match or surpass those 01 other forms
01 hard work. CivCll the discipline nea:ssary to military efficiency, how-
Cl'er, unionization il difficult, Idl.managell1C11t impossible.....nd that
may well be the bat argument for a COIllCript service e\'\"Il in peace
time. Conscription is a way nf .haring the dilCiplin., and, perhapl more
important. 01 bringing political controls to bear 011 its harshuc:ss. Some
"",n and women enlaY lhe harshuess, but I doubt th3tth.,l., a,., enough
of them to defmd the counlry. And while the army is an allfiKlil..,
career for those ....ho hope to Ixcomc offiCt'rs, it isn't atlractil'e----<)T in
a communily 01 citiz.en" it lhouldn't be-for those: who will fill th.,
Ioo.-"I"T ranks. Soldiering has far more plestige than garbage colkcting;
but COlI1P;ITW wilh a privatI" in thl" army, the San 5Ca11"ngt'"
and the NI"W York sanitation WOIkCTJ look to "'" likl" fr ml"n.
What is moIlt att.-actiVl" in the CllperiellCC of thl" SunSl"t company
(as of the Isradi kibOOtz) i, lhe way in \I'hich hard ,,'Ork is conoected
to other aclivitie$-in this cue, the mtingl of the ",tockholdcrl,"
the debates O\..,r policy. Ihl" eleetion of officcrs and new membefl, lbe
COIllpany hal allOCllpanded into landfill and sal''alle operations, provid
ing new and employment (including managerial jobo) for
10"'" 01 the members; though all of them, ",hate\,.,r they do now, hal..,
5penl ridinll the truck> and carrying the canS. Throughout mOlt
01 the \"COI1omy, the di.'ilion of labor has deI'doped I..,ry differClltly,
continually ICparating out rather than intq::ratinllthe hardatlOrt5 01
W(lTk. Thil is especially tme in the a,ea of the hUlnan 1C"iccJ, in the
""'" we pr()<lidc lor the sick and th., old. roolnch 01 that work;, "ill
done in the home, whete it is ronnected wilh a range of olhel iobs,
.80
Hard Work
its difficulties relieved by the il lncras
ingly, howe>-er, it is imtituti,,",,1 work; and ",ithin the grnt ""retaking
institutiofls......hospiuls, menU! asylums, homes-the hardest
WOI'k, the dirty work, the m(klt intimate seTVicc and supe....ision, is rele-
gated to the moot subordinate emplo'ieei. Doctors and nurses, ddc.'lld-
ing their in the soci;al hieralehy, shift it onto the shouklers of
aides, o.-de.lies, and atlendanl5-------",ho do for strangers, day in and day
out, what "-e e;m only just CXll>Cei,'e of doing in emergencies for the
JlMPIe ,,-e Io>-e.
Permaps the aides, orderlies, arK! attendants win the gratitude of their
of the families of their patients. That's not a I would
WlInt to underestimate, but gratitude is most oftc.'ll arid most visibly
.eward of doctors and nUlSa, the hnlers rather than merely the
""retakers of the sid. l1le resentnlC1lt of the COIletakers is ,,'ell knO\\'fI.
W, H. Auden """s cindy thinking of the not the hospital
staff, whc.'ll he wrote:
. . the OOspit.4 .klne ",mind u'
of the f:<Juality of ""n.
H
Orderlies and ma"e to cope lor long hours ",ith conditions
that their institutional superiors see only intermitlc.'lltly, and that Ii",
ger>e.-al public doesn't see at all and doesn't want to see. Often they
look after men and women wbom the rest of the WOI'ld has gi"en up
on (and ....hen the wo<ld gi,'es up, it turns away). Underpaid and O'o'er-
WOl"kcd, at the bottom of the statllS system, they are llC\ocrtheJess the
last comfol'ters of humanity--though I suspect that unless they ha>"C
a calJint fo.- tlte "-ork, they gi>'e as little romfort "-' they get Ar>d son'e-
times they are guilty of those petty cruelties that make tllcil jobs a little
caliel, am! that their superiors, they firmly beliC'le, ,,'OU1d be as quid
to commit in their pbce.
'There is a ",hole SCl"ies of problems here," E''elelt Hughes h,,-, ....rit-
ten, "which COllnot be 101...ed by son'e of cmallging the social
sdeclio.. of those "'00 enter the joob."Jl In fiiCl, if caretaking "'ere
shared-if young mc.'ll and 'NOmen from different social b.>ckgrounds
tool< their tunu as orderlies and .1Ieodants---the inter""llife of lI.o$pi-
tab, as)'lums, ar>d oldage homa woold minly be changed for the
bette. Perhaplthis sort of thing is best organiU<! locally rather than
natio""lly, 10 as to atablish a oonnection betWl:e1l caretaking and
neighborliness; it might e\'c.'Il be with a lillie im-cntion, to re-
duce: 1O""",,'hat the rigid impcuon.1ity of institutional lIrltings. But
efforts "'ill be supplement.ry.1 best. "lost of the work will ha\'e
.8.
SPHERES OF JUSTICE
to bC' done by people who have chosen it a' a carecl, and the choice
will not bC' easy to motil'<lte in a society 01: equal eitiurls. Al,eady, "l'
m....t '...,'uit foreignen to do a g'COIt okal of the hard anod dirty wo,k
of OIIr ca,etaking irulitutions. If we wish 10 avoid th,t so,t of ,C'Cmit-
"",,,t (and the opp,euion it rommo"ly entails), we nHlst. agoin. t.ans-
fOfm the WOI"k. "[ .... Il' a notion," "')'I Hughes, "that .. 'dilty wo.k
can be ulOI"e easily endured when it is of a good ,ole, a role t....1
is full of rew.lrds to one's self. II norse might do some thing> with bC'tt"r
grace tt..ln a person who i. r>ot allaed to call hc,,stlf a nuf3C, hut i$
dubbed 'subpfOfeuiooal' Of 1lOIl-professional.' That iJClCICtly right.
National !lervice might bC' effecti..e because,lor a time,t lent, the rok
of neighbor 01 citizen WOIJId <:over the necnury wUfk. But ,,'''e, a longer
period, the "''Ofk ClIn be CO\'ered only by an enh:Jnced ICnsc of iostitu
tional or professional
Thi. enh:J'w:ement i. unlikely without far-rellehin.g ill ou,
instilutions and professions; it depends, then, 011 the outoomc of lollg
ami prolonged politicalst.uggle, lhe balance 01 SOC'illI Fo,ces, Ihe 0Ig;l1lI-
1.ation of interest., and", on. But we might al.o think of it in tcrms
more susceptible to philosophical discussion Wh,l is is what
the Chin.,.., call "'he rectifiC'alioll of ""Illes." In 011" ""\le, names are
historical and ruhu,al gi,,,n.; in another, thc.")" a,,, subject to the play
of social and political powel. TItc pr<:lC= by which off""", Itokkn and
professional. hold ont" the tille and p,estige of a place, while
shunting r>ff its Ie:s1 :J{:reeable dulies, is an cumplc-pc,haps the crocial
Cl:lIllPJe-..<>! a I'"""cr play. But unless one is a "d;,,;,1 nomi,,,,li.l, il
Ie",,,, the questioo of ""mes .till 10 be settled "Who will be called
a 'nursc' when lhe nu,sc's tasQ are re-.hufll.-d? \\'i!1 it be the teacher
and supen'i",,? The bedside oomlortel? 0, will it be those who gi"e
more humble scl..ices'"'l' Surdy ,,"'e ""llht to gi,'e the name, an<! all
thai gr>n with the n:lme,lo Ihe person who doo:1 the "nuning"-who
(as the dictio""ry saj'S)'waits upon aoo atlcmn 10" the lick. I don't
mean 10 make any claims about the e:sserw:e of nuning; nor do I intend
a purely linguillic argument reference. once again, is to rom""",
unde.staooings, and these arC alwaj" subject I" dispute. Still, it K'em,
fa" to say that there is a IaIlgC 01 ';,Ilued activities that include "humble
..,,,,m" and thilt are ''<Ilued, at lea.l in because they indude such
lCrvices. TIle hilrd,lOS of the ""OIk is ronnected 10 Ihe glory, and ,,'e
,hould r>C\-eT be too quick to allow their e..en ill the name
of dficicrlC)" or techno\oeic:ll ad''<Ina,
The", is no ellSY 01 depnt JOlulion, and r>o fully satisfying ",Iution,
to lhe p<oolem of hard work, Posit;"e goods ha,,,. perhaps, their appro-
.8.
Hard Work.
pri.t<, desti""tio,,; r>eg:ltl\"<' goods do not. "To esc:IJlC' lXine Ihis f>ct,"
"'rotc Sm.w, "we may plad that some peopk have soch ,.try qUr
tastes Ihal it is almosl impossibk to menlion an OlXUpalion II... t
win not find somebody with a erau for.. , . The sa)'ini Ihat God tll:\"<'r
made a job but he made a man 0< won... n t" do il i.lrue up I". cert.in
point."21 But lhal plea docsn'llak.e us "ery far, The lruth is lhall... rd
WQrk i. un.allrocti'e WQrk fo< mOllt of the men .nd women who find
them""h'es doing it. When Ihey were growing up, they d,um..! of
doing """""thing ebe, And.s they age, the work gels more and more
difli.rult. Thus, 0 fiftyyar<>kl gorboge colleelm 10 Studs Terkel: "Ihe
alleys ore kmger and the ems larger, Getting Okl."19
We can share (and partially t,ansfOfm) hard WOl'k Ihrough wme 50<1
of national service: rt'A.. rd it with n\OlleY Of leisure; ...'e can make
it more r""",rding by conneding it to other sorts of activity-polilic-al,
managerial, and profcssional in eha11lCler. We can conscript, rol.te,
CO<lpCrale, and compl'llsale; we can rcorganize the work and rr:ctift its
na'"el. We can do alilhest Ihings, bul ,,-e will r>l>t ha"e abolishall13rd
"'0<1:; 1\01' "'ill we ha,"<' abo!iohed the d'J! of hard worl:ers. n.e fillt
kind of abolilionism is," [ ha,'l: aheady ariued, impossible; lhe sc:eond
woukl merely double hardncss ,,'ith coercion, n.e mealures Ihall havc
proposc:d are at h.:sl partial.nd i,w:ompkte, They ha,-<, on end .ppro-
priate 10 a r>egoti,"<, good: a dislribulion of h.rd "'Ork. Ihal doesn't cor-
rupt the distriooli,-e spheres ,,'ilh which it o,'erl,aps, canying p""erly
inlo lhe sphere of money, degradation into the sphere of honor, "-eal:.
'1<:sS .nd resignalion into the sphere of power. To ruk 0111 r>egali,,,,,
dominance:: Ihat is the purpose: of collecli,,,,, hargaining, ooop=Ith'C
managemenl, profe:s.sional oonAid, the ,edification of name5--the pol-
itics 0# hord wOfk. n.e oulcomes of Ihis politics ore indctenninate, ce,-
I.in to be different in different times and pbces, conditioned by pre-vi-
owly eslablio],W hierarchies and !lOCi.! IInocntandings. But Ihey will
.111') be eonditioned by the solida,ily, the sl:illfulness, and the meriY
of the "'0<1:1''' th,m...hcs,
"3
Free Time
The Meaning of Leisure
Unlike money, office, ed\lClllioo, and political power, free lime il not
a d,mgerous good. [t dor:s not easily co,we,l into olher goods; it COIn
not br used to dominate otller distributions_ Aristocrats, olig.aTchl, nd
their COlpi!alisl imilators ce.uinly rnloY a great many hours of Irel: time,
but the enjo)'ment is designed, as 11>orstein Vebkn argued at
the end of the nincleenth eenlury, for the display rather than the acqu;
sitiOll of ... nd power. I ..... 11 deal b<ieAr wilh such people
.:md their the conventional lornlJ 01 upper<:!ass idlenrss
make only a Im:ln part 01 my Jubit.
Veblen', attOOnl of "ho..orifi<:: leisure" IUggeots, ind<!. that it can
be a trying and hectic hUliness (though it is nC"e!" hard work), For it's
not enough merely 10 loaf; One must pile up ....eniceablc ....idenec of
an unprodoclive exp.ndilure of time:'] What;' crucial iJ ,;multa-
IIroll$ly to do nothing usnul and 10 make it kllO'o'll to the "''OI1d lhat
one iJ doing nothin& useful. The buslle of a multitude of sen'anls is
a great help. But it il a problem that the permissible acli.-jty of a,;slo-
mtl and oligarchs leaves behind r>O matcrial prodIK13. He<lC'e the "ser-
,ittablc evidrntt' taka the form of ron'-ersalional wit, exquisite man-
tlCrs, foreign tl1lvcl, lavish entertainment, "qUiuischolarly and
qu.;&s;-artislic acromplishmenlJ," It ;s a mistake, rthink, to assume that
high culture il dependent upon thil tOft of idle ",en
and "'omen often dibble in att and literature or p;llronize artists and
",riten. "All intellcctual impfO\'emenl arises from leisure." wrole Sam-
,84
Fret' Time
uc:1 /oonlQ1l,1 but it WoIIn't this 50rt of lei5ure that he had in mind (nor
dooe5 hiJ life plovide nidenCC' fo, hiJ prOJ"'lllilion.) In any ea5C',
Uppa-Cla55 idleneM will not be undcr o:mditiotll of
equality, 1lIC' lequired of 5OI'ioi iJ unlikely to
occur; the letv;lnu win be Imd to find, 01' Ihey won't bustle appropri-
atdy; U5C'kssneM wm ha''C' a lower sociol ,.. IlK', Still, it n a good thing
to be idle, to Io;.f I!J<, time, at !east lOffidimes; t!J<, lrttdorn
to do that-in the concrete form of ,..eations, holidays, "'C'ekends,
after,wolk hours-n a issue of distributi"c justiCC'.
FOI' mOlt prople, leisure is s;mply the opposite of wOfk; idlellQ" ill
1lIC' etyrno!ollical root of the Creek IChole, as of the Hebrew
.habbnl, is the "to 0\' "to stop,") PTestlmably, it is work
is stopped, and the result is quiet, pe:lCC', rest (abo "nirJrment, play,
But thet<: i, unclentmding of leisure that
requiTes mid descriplion here. FleI: time i, not only "vae:lnt"
time; it is also time at (lone'S That 1o\'C'1y pllTa5C' "one', (M'n
s,,-.,.,I time" doesn't man Ihat one has nothing to do, but
that thae is nothing that olle has to do. We might say, then, that the
OflPOIlite 01 leisure isn't "1)Ik simply but necc::5Ioaty ....ork, work unoo
the COtI.Itr.lint of nature ()It the marht 0\', most important, the
Or t!J<, boss, So t!J<"e is lei,urely way of working (at one's own pace),
the'e form' of work compatible with a life of leisure, "rOT lei
sure does not mean idleness," wrote T. H, Marshall in an essay on pro-
fessionali.m. "It manS lhe hel:dom tod><JO$C yom activities acrording
to your own prc:feTeocc:s your OWn starwrds of "'hat is 001."< Pro-
f""",ional. once eagaly claimed this !rdom; it made them gnltlerTlen,
for though they earned their living "'Olking, they WOl'ked in a leisUTc1y
""y. It's not difficult to imagine a setting in which this same frl.'edom
woukl make, not!OT gentility, but!or citi7.enship. Consider, for cum
pie, the Clel:k arlisan, whose aim in Iile, it has been said, was "to lHe
$Cf\'C his full )'CllOllal liberty and frecdom of :K1ion, to "'(Ilk ,,-hen he
1(11 ;"dine<! and when his duli(S al a eiti .en permitted him, to haTnr<)-
nize hil work with all the othn OttUpations that filled [his rIa)'S), to
palticipat( in the go"anment, to take his seat in the courts, to join
in lhe games and festivals,'" 'The pictUTC is certainly idealized, but it
n to not( that the ideal is that of a \ffifking nun of whose
time ;1 tilM, ",110 does not need a '\xation with ","y" ;n ordn
to enjoy a monlcnt of leismc.
Amtotle argued that only the philosophn could lightly be said to
li,'C a leisured life, fot- philosophy ".1 the only human ac!i'-ity pursued
without the of some fmther end.
6
E,'"ty othn OttUpation,
.85
SPHERES OF JUSTICE
including poIilics, '"'as tied 10 a purp<>$<: and was ultim.te1)' unFree, but
philosophy '"'as.n end in itself. The 'Itisan ""OS a s1.,.., not only 10 the
market ...here he !lOki his products, bUI to Ihe products themselvC$, I
SUPI'OSC th.t the books ,"'e cutTently allribulc 10 Aristotle "..,re, by WIl-
h.st, nol products at all but me,.., by-product. 01 philosophical contem-
platio<J. They ,,"'ele oot writlen 10 make mOlley or to win lenu,.., '" c,'cn
elcrnal forme. Ideally, philosophy hat 00 Usuc: .Ileasl, il is rool purlllOO
fOI Ihe saJr.e of its iJS\le. One COln see he,e source (or perhaps it is
already a reRection) of tm: a,islocotie disdain for productive "wk. Bul
il is bolh an unne<:csSilTy ...d a selfscning ,cstriction on Ihe meaning
of leisure to make nonproducl\I'ily its central fcalme, That the phiJoso.
pm:I'S thoughts do t>O! taint the idea ollcisure, bulthc artisan's table
01 vasc 01 slalue do, is a tbought likely to appeal only to philosophen.
From a m()r,Il.tandpoint, it SffmS more importanllhal human acti"ily
b.- directe<llrom wilhin thau thai it ha,.., 00 outside end Or material
oulwme, And if "'" focus on self-di,ection, a wide .... ricly of purposive
activities c:ln b.- brought within the compal-S of a life 01 leisure lnltllec-
lnal ,,'Ork is certamly OIIe of these, t>O! because ;t is usclcss-----<)nt can
n",,'el b.- certain about that--but because intellectuals arc commonly
ahk 10 dctign. 10 their own .pecilications, the "'OI'k they dn. But other
5Orl> 01 "''Olk c:ln abo b.- dcsigne<l (planne<l, scheduled, OIganized) by
the workers lhemsel,'cs, eilhn iodi,'idnany or collcc:ti,'ely; .nd then it
isn't implausible to dcscrib.- till' ...0,1 as "FIt<: acti"ty" .nd the time
as "free time."
Human beings .I!lO need a "cessation from rcst," l\larx Orltt wrote.
criticizing Adam Smith's description of "51 as the ideal human mudi
tion, idenlical with Fletdom and happil>CQ "CeTtainly the lTII'asure of
wOlk scr:ms externally given by the goal 10 b.- .It.ir>ed .nd by Ihe obsta-
des to its attainment," he wenl on. "But Smith h.s no wnreplion th.I
thi3 of obstacles i3 itself .n of Fretdom." /o.brJ
mcanl th.1 it can sometimes be an exercise of hccdom....wIICIlCl'C:r
"Ihe exlelllal goals, ceasing 10 .pp"ar me,..,1y as tlC<'eSSi/ics of natme,
become goals that the individual dlOOSCS 101 himK'IF.'" In part, whal
is al stake hele is the control of ...'Ork, the distribution of powel in lhe
and in the economy al large--an issue I will come back to
in .lalel chapter. But Marx also wanted to hint.1 some gfOfld Ir.nsfo,
malion in Ihe .....y mankind !Clatcs to n.ture,'11 tSCap" from the realm
of r>ceessily, a of the old distinction hclween work and
play. Then OI,e ...'On't ha,'C: to talk, as I h.,t been doing, of work ntticd
on al a ki.urc!y P;OC<: Of illCOl'pOl.led into. life 01 leisure, fOl work
will Jimply be leisure and leisure will be wwk: Free, prodoctive aeli,ity,
,86
Free Time
the "lp'ies lifc" of mankind.
For 1\1arJ'. it i1 the &reat bilillll of boulJ'COis miliution that most
men expe,i...ncc thi110fl of iICIi.ity, ilthey
onl)' in sparr JCaltcrcd momcnb, as hobbr, not as thei.
lilc', In communist toritty, br c:ontnst, "'Ofk ..iII
his hobb,', ''OCatlon hIS ;Ml(:lltion. But tlUs .-iIion, eJorious
as it is, is not proper R1b;cd for the thax}. of juIOce If it is
realized, justice .,1\ no Iongcr be problcrnootic. Qu. CO"Ct, " is .ith the
dilbibuhon of fftt time in thc ace bcftn the elC:llpt,
and h:.I.-e timpbtt-th:.lt is, hert and now, when the
rhythm of "'"Ofk .est illtill cTlJciir,I to human ..'cRbci.... ...hen
tome proplt, at least, "'ill h:.I.'t no species life at aU if they ha.,c no
bleak ffOOl thei. usual OCCUp;ltiOIlI, H......"tio,cr WOl"k is Ol"pni.cd, how
e>,'Cf lti'llfdy it i-.and these arc CTlICi<ll 'lueJtiom-men and WOlllen
Itm nted lci.llfc in the morc llarrow and tono'clltional senlt of a "CCSSlI-
tioo from ""Ofk,"
T....o Fomu or Rest
In crimmcr mood, "'fO!t tlut "'Ofk..,1\ aht.'1)'S .emain realm
of nccasity. The- free drodipmrnt of human ......'tIt 1w:s beyond tlut
realm: "Its .cqWitt is IhortrnifC the "'Of); day.'-a We micht
add. "mil the ""Ofk ",-en. the "'......k year, the "''0.1 lift." A1lthest tu.-e
been ctntral issues in the distn'butrve Itruula. the cw.s '*:lIn, of the
laS! ctntury. MarJ"s Chap(Cf 0l"I the "'......iing day in the lint ,1Jtumc of
c,p,'/.I is a brilliant account of these l1.uggIes. So far juslice is con-
cerned, hO>"tio"eT. it is malked by ptI'\'aSh-e (and chaIXteristic) dual-
il.n. On Onc hand, Mat> insisls IMI therc i. no allumn,1 from
justice to the of the ......rking day:
The capitalist ""inla;t11 his nihl. "' I pure....... when he llies to ""..
lhe WOfkinc day Ione .. po::-tiblr the laborer ""intaint his ''iht ..
Irlltr .. hen he ""iIhc1lo ledlltt lhe kin& my 10 one of dclinflc hOt"".
duntion. Thm it hcte, thad"",, In Inlimony. rich! lI"illll ,;,ht, both
equa1Iy bcarine lhe ocal oIlhe bwof cschangrs. 8<t ..un cqual ....b force:
........
On the other lund, M:on. abo thit ";th rathn mort fed
irc-that force can decide ..TOfI&Iy:
..,
SPHERES OF' JUST[CE
I,. its blind on,..t",i",blt pHSioo\, its ....",,...,jf hu'"", fo. .o,pl", bbor.
",,,,tol (><l=lop$ not only mor.ol. but e>t1l th" me,,,ly phrsicll. .
hounds 01 WOfki"i day. It .....,po the time for growth, de>dopmcnt,
.nd healthy m:lintt1l>""'" of the body.'o
Physiol bounds th",,, surely"", though thc:sc 're flighteningly min
imal: "the few hoors of repoK ",,;thoot ",'hieh laoo.llO""e, absolutely
r"fuseJ ib l"1Vi:s again."" If cardul or in'-.:nli,c Or maximally pm.
dudi'.., work nwanted, the bour>ds a,e mor" a few hoof! won't
be "llOUgh. Indm:I, producti,'ity incrcun with rot, at least up to a
point; and rational capitalists, precisely of their "..-ere-woll
hunger," OU&ht to 6nd just that point nut thi< iJ a malt"r of prudence
or dlicieflCY, not ol justice. Moral li,nit. ar" much hanlel to spiFy,
fof they will vary from one culture to another, depemling 00 the com
mon underst:mding of a <!ent human lile. But e-,"'I)' undelslamliR(l:
of which """ ha'-.: .ny historical ro:n>ld ineludn rnt as ",-.:ll as work,
and Mar. had oodilhcultynposing th" hypoclisyof English .pologists
lor the twelve-hour day ami thc le\"ClI-day wcd:-"and that in a COUn
try of Sabbatarians!"' [u fact. 9:t against the kmg history of work .nd
rnt, England in thl" .8405 and ,8505 sou a hellish abcTration.
Though th" rhythm and periodicity ol,,o.-1 hill been ",dically difFCTeflt
among, gy, peagnts, art;l;IllS, and industrial workcn, arid though th"
length of p;lrtic:ular working oh)'S shows gleat ,-:aliatjon, the working
)'l'ar does sm to loa"" had a normati,-.: shapc-at least, a shape IcitCI-
ated u"der a wide "ariety of cultural conditions. Cakulatio,," for an
cicnt Rom", medil"'.-:al Europe, Ind rural China bd1)rl" the r",..,lution,
for example, suggl:St .omething lik" a ,:. ratio of da)'S of work to days
of rat.
ll
And that is roughly wher" we al" today /6guring a he-d:ly
a lwo-wttk v:K<Ition, ami loor to legal holidays).
11lC pulposes of Icst ,-:ary more r.rdiolly. Man's desc.iption ist)'l>ical
of ninetttnth-<:cniury liberals ami romantics: "time lor educalion, for
intellectual de>-dopmellt, for the fulfilling of .IOCial functions and for
soci:sl intercourse, for the f,tt pby 01 .. bodily.nd mental ac-ti'ity. "I J
Politics, which pbyed soch an important part in thr: fre.: time of th"
C,ttk a,tisan, is not ""e" mentioned; flOr are religious Obse",UlceS.
Nor is th" much -K'nse he." of what any child could ha,.., aplained
to Marx, the \-'all)(: of doing nothing, of "passing" the tirne-uulm
"Irce play" is meant to include random thooghts, stargacing, and fanta
sy. We might inrorpor.st" Aristotle's definition of leisul" ami l;Iy that
purposelmrleSS, the stale of being ,",;tl1oot fixed goals, is o"e (though
only 00") of leisure's charact"ristic purposes.
But ....,.,..""'" these purposes are delcribed. they will rIOt singk out
,88
Free Time
any group of men and women as l1lOfe or less CIlhlled to fTee
lime. TI,ere is flO ""'-y of qll31ifying for II is indeed possible 10
qll31ify for sortsof leisurely wmk, as in thecaJtof Ihe profcuions.
Similarly, one can win alclbr.'Ship lhat sets time free for rCSl"31Ch or
wriling. Sociely has an intCfCSt in seeing to it that in philosophy,
ny, 3re lallllht by qU.31ificd pc""ns, but it has no intercst in ...110 thinks
phiJosophical Of unphilosophical thOllllhlJ, TIte f,ee p13yof bodies and
minds is ... free.1bc quality ofloafina: is not judged, He,ltt, leisure, as it
is cona"ived in a particular time and pba., seems to belong to aU lite in-
habitant. of thatlimc and pbc.:. No plinciple of selection or exclusion is
The ancient asJOci31ion of wealth and power wilh idlellCSl is
only 3nothcr formof tlunny. Because I am powerful3nd command olJc
diCIICC, I shall TeSt (and you shall wmkj, It would be mOfe approp1i3te to
$;Iy that the re-o.rd of po...."r is its "ercisc, 3nd that po...'ff'S iwtilic>tion
is its conscienlious or dledi,." ClercilC-llnd Ihis is a form of work, one
of whose plJ1pOIC:$ is Ihal others can resl. TIrllS, Shakespeare's Henry V,
repealing Ihe common self-<lefense of king.s:
, .. grOll bn;n liuk wot.
Whar ....ten the king kC'O'pllo ....int.in the ptXC,
WOOse hoofS the pe.",nt best ad'.. nbga,"
And no one knQW1 who amoog the peasants re.lly docs "bal."
But the argumCllt for, thOllllh it rules out working dal"' like
thOllC described by Marx, doesn't rC"tuire that ""Clyone hal'e cudly
the same an>(KInl of free time, In fact, ronsiderable v:arialion is possible
and even dc$irable gil'en the many different kinds of wk Ihat people
do. In his Wornll"', Cuidr, Shaw wrote emphalically that
justice demands "the C"tual distribution of ... leisure or liberty among
the whole i. simple C"tuali!y in th.. sphere of lei
sure; ....e ...'OUk! fix the length 01 the wOfking day by adding hours
oI ...-ork md dil'iding by 01 people. But Shaw's asserlion of
equality i. immediately follo...-..d by. "'-onderfully oomplc>;
of Ih.. diflCfCllt SOfb of WOIk and workers. 1 have ahetdy quot<"d his
ar&:llment lhat Ihe peopl.- ""ho do society's sweeping and scrubbing
.hould be rompcn...l<"d ....ith additional free lime, N(lT is he averse to
putting his (M'1I "Ill my own case. in .pite ' .. of the fad thaI
an author's work can as a lUI.- quite ....ell be divided into Iimit<"d daily
period., I am usually oblig<"d to work myself to a romplcte Jlaoosti11
and then go a....y for many ....eeks 10 renlper:ole,"16 ThallQUmls rca
sonable enough, but ...." musl 100* lIlore dosely now 01 the ...-ays in
...hich soch pallerns might iu.tly be accommodated.
,8g
SPHERES OF' JUSTICE
" SJJort lIi,rory of V..cation$
In th(, )"e;lr ,960, .:In.:l\'CI:lge of.:l million .:Ind a hall Americans, 1..1
pe=nt of the workfO!ce, wtte On vaC.:ltion evcry day." It is an extraor-
dinary figure, ar>d undoubtedly it had at that point 'lC"o"'r been higher.
Vac:ltions ha,'c indcal a short history-for ordinary men and womcn,
'"ery ,hort, a, Late as the '9201, Sebastian de Crazia rqxJft" onl)' a 'mall
numoo of w:;sge earners could boaIt of paid ""COItion,,'8 The arr;mge_
ment i, f:;sr mole common today,.:I centl1l1 Intule 01 "'el}' union 0011-
tracl; and the practice of "going away"-if not for m.:ln)' wt'ekl, at least
for a ...-.:ck or two-has .:lIsa begun to .p",ad acr(lQ cia lines In f.:lcl,
''.:Ications M\'e become the norm, SO tMt we are ellOOlJraged to think
of WCl:kcr>ds .:IS s1lO1"t ,:;sations and 01 the years after retirement as a
\"t'l)' And yet the idea;" new. The use of the ...tml Y<ICtllion
to me<ln a I"i'-ate holiday dates only from the ,8701; the 'crb to rac<r
lion, from the Latc .8<}os.
It all started as a bourgeois imitation of the aristocrat's retlnt from
court and city to country estate. Since few bourgeois men an<! WOmC1l
owned country estates, th.,. retreated inste.:ld to sea,ide or mountain
resorll. At the !>qinning, i<!eu about Icu""t;OIl and pleasure ......re
masked by ideas about the health-""toring qualilieo of flesh air and
mineral or salt "''.:Iter: thus eightccnth-ccntury Bath and Blighton.
where one ,,'ent to e.ilt arK! talk and promenade and also,
"10 take the "'.:Ilers," But th(, escape from city an<! lown "''.:IS soon
popular for its own uke, and the entrepreneuriallesponse slowly mul-
tiplied the number of resorts and cheapened the a''.:Iilable amuse--
Illent!, The in\'Cntion of the raild m.:ldc a Jimilal escape poIJiblc
for nillctcc:nlh-ccntury workerJ, but they had nO lime lor anything
more than the "C'llcursion"-to the II(';l and back in a 'ingle day. The
gleat expansion of POPULaI leisure beg:ln only aftel the First World
War, mar<: time, more places to go, more money, cheap lodgings, and
the filSt projects in communal provision, public beach.es. stale parh,
and sa on.
Wh.:lt ;" crucial .:Ibout the ''.:Ic;rtion is irnlividllOllist (or
ch3ractcr, gleatly tnh.:lnced, ob"iously, by the arri''.:I1 of the automobile
EvtT)'OIle puns his own vxation, F! where he "'.:Int! to &0, docs wh.:lt
he "''.:Ints to do. In bet. of course. ''.:ICOItion he......ior is highly paltcrned
(by social elm espttiollly), ar>d thc escape it represents i, gtnerally from
One set of rootines to anothcr.
l9
But the experience is dC.:Irly One of
/rdom: .:I brC.:lk Iron' "mk, tra,..,1 to lOllle place new .:Ind different,
,
F'rtt Time
the poSlIihility of pleasure and excitemcnt. It is a problem that
people ,..cation in crowd5-_:md, as the S;7,t of the cr<l"od.
grll"'s, it is a di,tributi,'e problem, whe.e 'paa: rather than time is the
good in ,hort But ""e will misunderstand the ,...lue of vantions
if ""e fail to ,trelll Ihat they are chosen and
designe<!, No ,...cations are quite alike.
They are, ho-."e\"er, designe<! to the size of the indi,'idu.1l (or familial)
purse. Vacations a'e commodities: people ha\'e to thcm-with
fOfgone and money ,pent; and their choica are limite<! their buying
poweT. I don't "...ntto O"eremphasiu this point, for it is al!lO true that
people light for theiT \";tClltions; they organile union" bargain with thei,
go on shike for "time off;' shorter ,,'O>k dars, early retire-
ment, and !lO on. No history of vacalioos would be complete without
an account of thes<" lights, but they arc not the central leature of con-
tcmporary distributions. We might indeoed ronccivc of ti"", off in
terms fclati"e to those: of so that individuals could
ch(;I(KC, as Shaw suggests. hard and work and long vaC3tions /)I
work and shorter \"lIC3tions, But for most ....,orkers, right nov.',
time is probably lelll imporlant in determining the shape and ,..lne of
theil ' ..COItiolls than the monC)' thC)' are ablc to spend.
If ""'gcs and salaries welC rooghly equal, the,c would appe;tr to be
nothing w.ong with making vacations purchasable. r-Ioncy is.n appro-
priate "ehicle lor in<!i,'idual ooign because it imposes the right sorts
of choia:: betwccn work .nd its on the ooc h3lld, and thc Cllpcn$C:'l
01 this or thot sort of leisure activity (or on the othc. We
C3n assu"", th.t p""ple with simila, rCJOOret'S would m.ke: different
choices, arK! lhe ,esult would be a complex .nd particularized
distribution, Some of Ihcm, for eumple, might take lew or no vaCOl-
tions, preferring to ClIrn more mor>ey and SUflOlInd lhem,d\'ClI with
bauliful objeds rather th.n neape to bautiful lulTt"mdings, Others
might prefer many short ""COItions; slin others, a long ,tint of work and
long ,csl. Therc i, room hcre for collecti,... as "'cllas indi,idual di.
sioo making (in unions and coopcratil'e settlements, fOI' WImple), BUI
the disiorll mUll come at thc ind;vid""llc\"cl, lor Ihat is whal
' ...cations ale, They beal thc malk of their liberal and bourgeois origins,
Under condition, of compkl: equality, wages and salaries won't be
equal; thC)' will only be a glCOIt dcallC511 they loday.
In Ihe pettybourgeois ,"'Orld, men and women will lim .isk thci.
moncy---..nd thc;. Ii""" too--and then lind themsel\"ClI wilh more or
less of both than othcr people havc rommul\CJ will do ,,"cll
or not SO ...en and then ha\'c more or lC511 mouC)' arK! timc to diltribute
'9'
SPHERES OF JUSTICE
among members. And """' for Shaw, tk
length of hil "many weeks" of rest and co"diti()lls under which
he spends will proNbly depend as much upon SllCtt'U of his
plays as upon of his mUSoe. On the other hand, u soon
as v:aC2tionl becoml'--Jls thq ho"" bo:come in thr United States
today_ ttnlTal fe<lture of and cultme, fOlln of com-
munal provision is required. It i. necess;lry not only to that
the distribution isn't radically dominated by ",calth and 1lO"'''', but abo
to guar::mtee a of choice and lusuin reality of indi\idual de-
sign, for the presel"\-ation of wildlife and "'ildcmess,
without which celtain sorts of \"Kation (widely thought to be \-aluable)
cease to be possible. And hnloCe, too, expenditu.e of money on
parh, !:>exiles, campsites, and lOOn, to make SUre that there are pbces
to go fo. all thOle people who want to "go away" Though the choices
they to eo, how to kxIge, whot to bke
along-wont be identically constrained for individual or C\'Cry
family, a certain I1l1lge of choice must be uni"elully a\lIilable.
But all this assuffiC$ the ccntr.llity of the v;IOtion, and it is important
to st.ess now that the \OIC2tion is an artifact of a partiNlar time and
pbcc. It isn't the onl)' form of lei.ure; it was liter.llly unkoo".-n through-
out most of human history, and the maio' alternative form SU,,';\'es
C\'en in the United States today. This is the public holiday. \Vh", an
dent Romans or mediC\1I.1 Christians or Chinese peasanb took tirrlC
off fTOm ,,'O.k, it wa. not togo a,,-ay by themselves or with families
but to pa.tidpate in communal celebrations. A third of their year,
sometimes more, was taken up with d"il commemorations, religioul
festivals, saint's daJlS, and 10 on. 11lese were their holida)'s, in origin,
holy da}'S, and they stand to our \-acations al public hnlth to individual
treatment or mass transit to the priv:ate car. ThC)' were PIO\'ided for
C'\"CT}'OIle, in the lame form, at the arne: time, and they were enjoyed
together. \Ve still ha\'e holidays of this !Ort, though they are in radical
de<:line; and in thinking about them it will be IO'dl to foells on one of
the most impol"tallt of the Slltvi\lIls.
The Ide" of the S<>bbath
ACCOIding to the Deuterooomic accoUllt, Sabbath was instituted
in of the escape fTOm Egypt. Slaves wOfk without
cease at behest masters, and so Is.aditn thought
it Ii"t mark of a free people that its membefl enjoy a fi.ed day
of lest. Indeed, the commaod Il' reported in DctJterooomy hal
'9'
Free Time
the of the ls.aelites as ill prima!)' objl.'Cl: "tlut thy marHer...ant
and thy maidlICflOI"t rna)' rat as ",ell as thou" (): '4)' Egyptian oppres-
sion was not to k repe:lled e.en though !Ia"e!)' itself W::lSllOt abolished,
The Sabbath is ::l rolll.'Cli"e good. [I is. <l$ Marlin Bukr says. rom
mon property of a1\"-lhat means. of all ....ho share in the rommOll
life. "EH"n the sla...e admitted into the household rommlll,ily, ....
the gtr, the strange. (resident alien], admitted into the national rom-
munity, must be p<':.mitteod to share in the divine rest"JO Domestic
animals are iocludeod, to--"thine ox. thioc ass, . Ihy cat-
lle."_irl animal. presumably can enjoy a rest (though th..,. can't
take a vacation)
)\'las Weber argued that the strangen or residenl aliens "'1:re reo
to rest in order to deny them any rompetitive ad-OIntagC.
1l
1llerc is IKI reason fOI' sa)'ing thi,l--ooC\'idcna: in the
the eQIlvjction. not al",OIYs .uociated "'ith Weber. llul eeooomic mo-
ti,'cs must in principle be p;l1'3moont. But it is tlue Ihal, C\1:n in a
prN:1lpitalist economy. it ",'OUld be difficult to gu'lfantee rcstlo e'ol:T)"-
onc ""ithoot imposing it on e'o1:TyOIlC, Public holidaY' requill: lUrcion,
11Je absolute ban OIl work of any SOft is unique, I think, to the Icv.'sh
Sabbath; but ....ithout somc of obligation ar>d some m
forcement me.:hanism. there rould be 1"10 holidays at all. That;' why.
ill obligation and enforcement ha'1: declined, holidaY' ha'1: ceased to
be public occosions, ha'1: been .tt""hed to "'-eekends. ha'"I: become un-
differentiated pies of individual 'Olcations One can Stt here an a'gu-
ment for "blue: ta,,'S," ....hich can be justified much as tnation is justi
fied; both ha'"I: the f",m of a charge on p.-odocti..., or wage-carning
time for the sake of communal provision.
Sabbath resl is mOTe egalitarian than the '-acation because it can't
be purclused; il i, 0"" more thing llul mQIlt")' can't buy It is enjoined
for ....'erJolle. enio)l:d by ....'Cf)'OOe. * This equality has intercstillg spill
<)'oTT effecu, Insofal <l$ the cekbratior\ came to require certain lOfts of
food .lId clothing, lewish communities felt themsel....u OOUOO 10 prG-
vide these for alilheir lllemhm Thus. Nehemiah, speaking 10 the Jews
who had returned ""itlo him from Babyloni. to JeTusalem; "This day
il holy to the Lord,)'OIlr Cod, . , . Go, eal of the ril;he$t food and drink
of the most delicious wines, aoo IICrld portions to those ....ho Iu'-e noth
ing pl'O\ided." (8'9-10). Nolio send portions would be to oppress lhe
h> I...... k:A- It>< """-<d .. hdI_ pmo,;ot<.l t. ""' .... ,I.. S.bl.o!h. n...,
_ OIl -"_ OIl _ lor po"",., , " '" "'_".- ""'.
0... ' .." 111>, ,I.. '" lilt SolIbI'h "",,101 -..-I -t ........a
'""""'...." -u
'93
SPHERES OF JUSTICE
poor, for It would from a common celebr.ltion; it is a
kind of they done nothing to And
al th., Sabbath rest "''as .hared, SO It cam<: to be argued that the work
of p,eparing for the Sabbath should abo be Iha,ed How COIJId p<:()ple
rest If hadn't Iirst workedr "E,= if one;' a ..on of '''''y high
r.lnk and does r>OI as a allerH! to or to hollK'
hold chores," ",TOte Maimonides, thrnking lilSt of all of the r.lbbis and
sages, "he should ne.-.".theJes. him""ll perform of thes.. la,h in
preparation for the Sabwth, ... Ir>deed, the IDO<e 01><' in way
of such the praiJCWOrlhy he i,"ll So the uni'"eTlaI.
;'m of lhe day was extended at leasl 10 the sixlh.
It mighl be said, howeo,'"", Ihat Ihi, i, only ca"" where equal
ity and lhe loss of liberty go together. Cellainly, Ihe Sabbath is impossi
bk ""i!liO<Jl the gener.ll commandment 10 rest--<>r, r.llher. what lUI
viI'''' without the commartdmenl, on a voluntary basis, ;. something
!eM than nlll s"bbath. On the ath.". hand, the historic::ll npcrience
of the Sabbath is r>ot an npcrieoce of unlrcedom. The O\'elwhelm;ng
sen"" COIl,'CyU! in Jewish literature, xo:u!a, a. well as religious, ;s Ihat
the day was eagt,ly Ioolr.ed lorward to and joyfully welcomcd-preci""ly
as a day of rela"", a day of expansi"eneu and leisure It "... desigrocd,
as Leo Baed has writt."." "10 PIOl'ide the soul with a broad and lofty
spatt," and so it 5ttnlS to ha"e 00ne.
14
No doubl th;. sen"" 01 spacious
ness will be lost on men and women ....ho sland outside the community
of belie\'eI's but are still.ubmitted, in one degree 0.- anolhel', to itl nrles
But il isn't Iheil nperienee Ihat is determining Holidays are lor
members, and memberl can be hee-the is the
amlincs of the la..... At least, they can be free when the law is a
nant, a social cont,act. ""en Il>ough Ihe CO\'enant ;s neo,'er individually
designed.
W",,1d people choose printe I;lca.tions 01..". public It ;'0'1
easy to a "tuation in ...hieh choice "'OII1d present it",,1/
in such Ihalp and limpk terms. In aoy community where holidays are
posJible, hofida)'S \\ill already exilt They will be part of the common
life that makes the community, and Ihey wililhapc and gi"e meaning
to individual live of the members. The history of the WOld I"<ICtltion
suggesls how far ha"e corne from luch a common life. In ancient
Rome, the on "'hieh thelC' were no religious festil'all or public
games called din WlCtlnlts. "empty days." The holidays, by con'
trast, full------fulJ of obligatioo but abo of celebration, lull of things
to do, and dancing, rituals and plays. Thi, \\;lS when ti""" rip'-
ened 10 produce social goods of sha,ed ""Iemnlty and Who
'94
Free Time
..uuld gin' up days like thaI? But we ha,'e lost that sc:nse: of lulllll'SS;
and the days we Clave are the empty ortn, which _ elIn fill by our
sc:1,"CS. as we please:, aloll(' or with our Iamilie!, Sometimes .."
ence the fear of emptiness-the fear of letirement. lor example, COIl
cci,l:'(/ now as an indefinite s\lCCttlion of empty days. Rut the fullness
that rrulny retired prople long for, thc only one they koow. is the full
ness of wmk, not of rest. V<IClItionl, I suspect. require thc contrast of
work; it is a erucial par! of the they gi,'C. Are holi<lays the
11ut "'"as P,illCe Hal's "icoN, in Shakespeare's HtnrylV, Part l-
II all the lU' WCfO pJaY;n8
To sport ..wid he a, tedio'" a. to ",,,,k;
But ..'hm they seldom rome. tl-q wi$h'd for Mn...
H.l's ,'iew is ce,tainly the common Oil(', .nd it 5l:CmS to fit our 0W11
e.pcrience, But aroxding to the ancient rabbis. the Sabbath is a for.,.
taste nI dernity, The messianic kingdom. which will come. as the old
phrase has it. in the lull,1e$S of W)"l', is a Sabbath (ootnot a '"aClltion)
without e,Kln
I should oote. nC\'ctthdess. that each of the g'CllI l'C'o-olutiom has
i,,,,ol,l:'(/ an .ttack on the traditional holida}"l'. the Sabbaths, saints'
wys. and fe!tivals-an attack u!>dcrtaken partly for the sake of in
creased productivity. paltly fOl the $:Ike of general eROIt to .bolish
traditional life st)1es and priestly hiaaTchies. 1bc Chinese communists
provide the most '!'Cent example; "There h.ve been 100 m.ny rdigioos
fe!tivals:' OM: of them ",rotc in 19,8. "Broausc of superstitions and
lestivals, production has been discontinued mo,e than 100 wys .nnlU)
Ir. and in ",me a'ClI' 1}8 days. 11.., radialla')' c1us (hasjused
these C\il CIlStomS and ,ituals to msLa"e the propk"n Concei'"ably,
is. point he,e. butlt.c ens1a\'Cment isn't obvious, and the aboli-
tion of the festivals has ken bitte.ly lesuted. With some sense. per
ha?S. of the reasons for that resistance, the communists ha"c t,ied to
robstitute new holidays lor the old ones-May Day, Red A,my Day,
and sooll---3lKlto dc>-"t:1op newceremonies arK! celebrations. F'o' them,
as fm the F',ench IC\vluliona,ies belore them. the ehoice is not be
'Or ,t., In< 01 <m<mpIoj_."'_ tulou"'." ...... ,t., .."',....".,1.'" uuhkly ..
",.;, r. or 11 n..,. ......... bo;./ _ ..twn d..,. ... '''' loKI of, but ....
,hi. , 1<-. .rnl><. "",.to'l; un<mplormmo lot d<>d "",," 01 ,,....
,_" a<oo<d 'h"'""' _I - "Od" H pIoym<rrt
,tu",,'rnq ""' If"_...,..i>r _ but "'_ 01 _ ......
!><nol. _r .hdr ......, 1"" 01_1 rar io bIiII\N A..,.,.. .......
01 "'''''''''Or micl>l ...1. .... Ie. 1' me.. ",;."", .,, k1
-_".iIIIirr """i<>! nlO" ...n' """"' .. ...-or ,t., """-l' or ,t.< ..dl......"'. I "'u,n
'" ,,- qo><Il..... '" <fIoI>4m " ond "
'95
SPHERES OF JUSTICE
t"'<ttn public and private lalule, but between two different kir,<!l of
public lei.ure. But that may _n boo misronceived. One
pull holidays out 01 an ideolollical hal. In many villages. reporllw" siu-
denl' ollhe new China, "the Ihra: major [rl:\'Olutionary] holidays in
vol,'e lillie else besides time off from ","O<k."19 For all its commitment
loccllectivism, lhen, China may)"d drift innorably 10000,d Ihe di.lIi
bulion of hee tim., first adopted by the EUlopean bomgeoisie. But if
new communities do deV.,1op there or .,lsewhere, then new50rts of pub.
lie a:lebralioll will develop ""th Ih.,m The help of vanguard bUleau-
crats "''On', boo The memboors will find theil avoll wa)'s 10 ex
pral their fellow feeling and to act 0\11 th., politics and cuhure Ihey
share.
Holi<bJ"l ami vac:a1i0Il1 ale two difJ"'ent wa)"l of dishibuting hee
lime. Each has its own intemallollie--<ll, more exactly, ''aCatiollS have
a single logic, while every hoIi<by has a particular sub-logic, which we
can read oul of its hislOl)' and rituals. On<: can a mix of holi
<bys alld 'Olcatiom: something like ",hal we have known lor th., past
cenlury. And while the mi. seemlunstable, it don ""rmit, al long ....
illasts, some policy choic,"" It would be foolish, oo..I:\'CI, to suggal
that thac choices are constrained by the theory of jUlt;';". The United
Nalions' International ea.-enant 011 ECOn<lmic, Soci:ll, ami Cultural
Rights includes in ii' ('-ery long) list 01 rights "periodic holidays with
p;ly"_lhat is, vacations,lO Bul thi, is unt to define hum:1Il rights; il
i, simply 10 advocate a p:uticula, ...,t olsoci:ll mangements, which isn't
necessalily Ihe besl set or the best for- every society md culture. The
right that requires protcctiOll i, 01 another sort entilely: not to boo e.--
eluded from the Iorms of rat central to on.es own lime and place, 10
enjoy vacationl (Ihough not Ih., same vacalions) if 'Oleation. are centnll,
to participate in the festivals thai give shape to a CQrnmon life wherl:\'Cr
there is a commOlllife. Free time has no siuglc just or rn(\llIlly nCtt5S3ry
stroclure. What;' morally neassary is that its structure, whatever it
is, not be dillorted by whal Marx called the "usurpations" of capilal.
or by Ihe failure 01 communal provisiOIl when provi,ion is called for,
or by th., e.-dlUion of slaves, aliens, and I"'riah., F' ,Cf:d from these dis
tortions, free time will be experienced and cnio)-'ed by the members
of free society in all tbe difFClent tbey COln colleclively or ;ndivid
ually invent.

Education
The Importllnce of Schools
Evt'fy hmTIJn society a1UQtl'$ ib its r>e'A' Jnd fulure mem-
ben. Edl.lC1tion ....hat is, perhaps, OUr deepest ....;,h: to contin
ue, 10 go OIl, 10 pasist in the lace of time, It is a program for social
,urviYolI. ArK! so il is alwa)'S ,c!ali,'," to the lOCidy !of "'hieh it ude-
signed. The pUfpo$C of wOOItioo, according 10 A.i.tot"', is to repro-
dutt in exh generation the "l)lle of chnactc," Ihal ....msustain the
Cl)n.tilulion: a p;arlicular character for 1I p,arlicubl amslitution.
l
Bul
a.c diflicultia hve. n.e mcmben of society a,e unlikely 10 agrtt
about whallhe COIllhtulion, in Aristotk's broad S<'nse. actually is, 01'
what it i' bn:oming, or what it ,hould k. NOI ue they libly 10 agree
about whal chmder type will bal sustain ;1 0. how that type might
best hc produced. In lad, the constitution ....ill probably require morc
IMIl one chal1lctn type; the school, will not ooly to tl'3in theiT
studen", they ....ill also have 10 sort them out; lind that is bound to
be a rontlo'.-cnial business.
Edl>Ca.!ion is oot. then, meTe1y ,e1ati'-e----, ill ,dati,ily doo::rn't tell
us an "'"e need to know about either its nonnative fUlIction (IT ilJ actua.l
eHer::t.t. II it were trllC that the sc:hoob always ser.-ed to rcpfOduocc lIOCi-
ely as it is-l.hc established hierarchies, the preioOliling ideologies, tIK
WOTkf(lTce-lInd did nothing more, it """,Id make OO!rll5l: to
talk about a iUlt distribution of educational goods_ Distribution here
'to'OlI1d p3,alkl distribution c1_-hcTe; there """,Id be no indq>cndent
.phcreand nO ;ntemallogie, Something like this maywcll be true when
'97
SPHERES OF' JUSTICE
no schools--when parmts educate their own ehildrcn Of
prentice them in their future t,des. TItc:n repfOdllctioo is dired
the sorting-oot is earried on within the
with no need for communal intervention; and there no bod)' 01
k"",,'ledge 01 intdleetwl disc:ipline distinct from family chronicles .nd
trade m)'stcria in terms of which the constitution COln be interpreted,
C'o'alll3tcd, But sc:hooIs, teotChcrs, and ioos crcote
fill an sp;ltt. They prO\'idc context, r>OI the only ooe,
hut by far the Tfl()I;t one, for the de\'e!opment of critic.1 un-
'Ild for the production,:all well 's the leproduction, of so:;.
cial critics, This is. fotCt of life in complex societies; ('.'en M'rlist
professors otCknowledge (.nd worry the
rel.tive autonomy 01 the SChoolS,2 But IOC'i;II criticism is the result of
.utonomy.nd doesn't help 10 e.-pLiin it. What is most important is
th.t schools, teachers, and ideas rorntilute. new sct of IiO'CUI goods,
concei"e<! indept'ndrntly of other goods, and rt'Guiring, in turn, an in
dc""ndcnt IICt of 1'f'XC3SCS.
Tc:aching positions, student pbees, authority in the schools, grades
promotions, di!ferentlOrts Ie>-els of blOO'lcdge-JIlI these h.ve
to be distributed, .nd the dist,ibuti'-e patterns annot simply mirro.-
the patterns of the economy.nd the order, because: the goods
in question are diffc,cnt goods. Of C'OUrsc. education is .Jy.a}S support
i'-e of $OITle particuLir form of adult ];fe, and the .p""al from school
to society, from. conception of educational justice to COI>cq>tion
of iustice, is legitimate. But in IlUking this appc;ll,
must to the special characler of the sc:hool, the te.ch
er-stOOcnt rebtionship, iotd1edual discipline generally. ReLitive .ulon
omy is. function of w.... t the education.1 pr(loCn>: i ..,d of the JOCial
goods that it in'lOI,.-es.s 10011 as it ceases to be direct and unmediated.
I "''ant to stress the '-erh of being: ""hat the educational process js
to do not only with the e!feels hutallO with the
of education The schools fill 'n sp;ltt hctwttll
and lOCiety, and they abo fiJI .n intermediate timc betWttll infancy
.nd .dulthood. This is. no doubt,. sp;ltt.nd. tim<': fOJ t"ming
reJ>e;ar$;lIs, initiation "commcncemc:nts," and
so 011; but the two .Iso constitute a Ilcreandnow th.t has its own im-
portance. Education distributes to individuals oot ani)' their futures
hut their presents as Whenever there is spac.: and time tllOU&h
for such di.tnbutiom, the educational process t.kes 011. c....racteristic
"",,,,,,ti"e structure. [ don't mean to describe anylhmg ill "CSo
I simply ...... nl to suggest the moot common ronc.:ption of w.... t
EduC;ltioll
it should This is a COllCeptioo that OIl( 6nds in rrumy
lQCi\,ties and Oflly OIlC with ,,'hich I shall be COllCerllM. adult
wOlld is 1ep<c:sentM, ami its traditiolll, and ritllllis intcr-
Pleted. by a Irps 01 teachers who coofront students in a more
or less encloKd Immunity_'hat 101m Jk"..-y <oIled a "spl.-cial JOCial
en...irolllncrl!.") Th.c are grantM a paltial moratQfiull1 flOm
the dema",:b of socirty and CCOIlOITIy. The teachers, 100, arc protectM
from the immediate !OIms 01 edernal pressure. They leach tile trulhs
lhey uOOcnland. aoolh.c same trulhs, to all the sludent. in fronl of
them, and respooolo questions as besl tltcy <on, ,,'ithout legard 10 the
sludents' social origin'.
That's 001, I SliPpose, the w"y things ah''3)'1, 01" e\'erl ultlally, ""'Ofk
in p<:IctiN:. II ;s all too easy to pro\idc a liJt of t)ranniC31 intrusions
Oil the edUCOltion.11 community. to describe the p.-ecariousllCSl of 3C'3-
dcmk frttdom, lhe <kpendence of teachers on palrons and officials,
pri\'ileges thalupperdalllshxknts routinely COfllmaoo, and alilhe
CXpccl.1hOflS. p.eiudiccs. habits of dcfern>cc and aulhooily th.t stu-
delitS md leachers alike c:my wilh Ihem into Ihe schoolloom. But I
shall alllume Ihe rClllityof Ihe norm. foo tI,., most intelesting md the
hardest dil"ibuli"e questions alise: onl) ofte. that allumption has been
made. Which children i. it whoareadmitted inlothecndos.:d commu-
nilies? Who goes 10 school? Aoolo wh.t socl of school? (Whal is the
strength of the encbsllle') To study wh.lr For how long? With wholt
other .ludenb?
I'm not going to say much about the distribution of teaching posi-
tions. is commonly CQncei,'ro as an office, and so il is neces-
sary to 1o::rJk for qll31i6ed people "m! to open 10 all citizens an cqlllll
chance 10 qlllllify. And lcoching is a it calls for p;lrlic:u
lor qll31i6catiolll, whose plccise: ch.raclel h,\,e 10 be debaled by 1O'o"n
co.meils, ger.-ern;ng boards, ami search commilt<"Cl, I should stress,
Ihat my gcncral'lluml'tion-thalschools Inslilule a special
and ha,,,, a celt"in no<mati,,,, tlmclure-militales against
the p.actiN: of Iea,jng education to tile old rr,.,n ,,00 women 01 the
brger communil)' or rot.ting ocdinary citizens through II,., facull;""
Fill .Il.och praelices undc'cut the mediating ch.raclcl of II,., cd\lC3-
lion.l procca and le,Klto reproduce II,., morc direct on" of
folk ,nemor;"', tooilions, and skins. Sllictly speaking, the existence of
schuols il tied up wilh lhe e>;islCT>CC of disciplines and S(l
of " corps of men and WOrllCn qualilicd in those disciplines.
'99
SPHERES OF' JUSTICE
Th, A.tn: "HOUf' of th, Young M,,,"
Consider for moment-it is an exotic but oot atypical e.am-
pk--the education<ll syttem of the Aztec Irldians. In ancient lI.'k.ico,
the'e we,e two ""ts of school. One was called .imply the "house: of
the young men" Will attended by the mUlof male children. It
off"ed inltmction in "th, bearing of arms, ails and cTafts, hiltory and
tradition, and ordinary religious it seems to been
presided OVeT by ordinary cilizens, chosen from among tM: mOre experi
en<:ed warriors, who "corrie<! on in special qu;nten instruetion
in a Jimpkt- day by the old men of the dan."j A difFerent sort
of education WlI. provided for the: children of the f(>'l SOIllC
lielccted children of pkbcian familiesl-mor, aUltere, more rigorous,
and more intellectual, too. In lp1al schools attached to monasteries
and temples, "all the knowledge of time and the country ""as taught:
leading and writing in the pictographic character., divination, chronol-
ogy, podry, and rhetoric," Now the teachen comc From the priestly
elass, "cho:l('n without any leg;lrd 10 their family. but 0II1y to their mor-
all, their ptlIctica, their knowledge of doctrine and Ihe purity of thcil
1i_"6 Wc don't kllOw how the children we,e chosen; in principle,
at lent, similar qualities wele prob;lbly retjuired, for it was from these
schools that the priests thelllSoel\"cs came, Though an eduealioll
demanded sacrifice and sc:lI-di$Cipli...." it seem.likc1y that school pbco
eagerly sought, p,lIticu!,;j,1y by ambitious plebc:o, In case, I
assulllC the uiltc:nce of schools of this serond kind; withoul Ihem, dis-
tributi\'e questions hardly arisc:.
One eould a'g..., that the "howe of the young mesl" was also an
intermediate inslitution. "dec girls, IInless they wc,c lrained as p,iesl.
cues, mostly at home: Je;,rned the womanly arts hom the
old ""l)mc:n of the family. But these: two examples of the same thing,
1IOci;I] ,eproduclion in ill direct form. The girls would henceforth re-
main at home, while lhe boys would band together to fight endless wan
,,'ilh ....,ighboring cities and tribes. Nor would the seJection of a lew
old women 10 tach Ihe folkways in "house of lhe )'OI.mg
women" COnltitllted an educational process. FOf that
"., mill! ha"e leachers trained and tested in the "knowledgc of 00c-
hi....,." "'5SlIme now that Ihere a,e !llKh teaehers. Whom Ihould they

,
EdUClltion
Basic Schooling: Autonomy and Equality
The mau of children an be divided, for purposes of education, in a
numbet of "''')'S. The simplest and most rommon di>'ision, 01 whieh
most edOOItional progl"ilms well into modem times been nothing
but variations, has Ihis form: mediated education fof the few, direct
cdUCltion for the many This is the way mm and "''Dnlet> in their cot>
roles-rulen and ruled, priests and Illymen, upper dassa ...d
plebeian historically been distinguished. And, I suppose,
reproduced, though it is important to say again that mediatl'd educa
tion is always likely to turn out sleptia ...d adyenturers alongside ill
TT>O<e standard p,,:xiucts. In any Cll'e .chools mostly been elite
institutions, dominated by birth and blood, (W wellIh, or gender, or
hirnlrchicalranl:, and dominating in tum, O"er religious ami politiClI
office. But this fact h little to do "'ith thei, intern.1 chal"ilcter; and.
ind=!, the,e is no easy "'''y of C11IQ1Cing the necessary distinctions
from within the educational community. \ct's say, i. a body 01
doo:::t,ine haYing to do with go,'t'Tnment. To whom should it be taught?
The established rukrs claim the doct.ine for themselves and Ihe;, ehil.
dren. But unlns children are naturally di>'ided into mle.. and ruled,
it would seem. from the standpoint of the leadlCfl, thai the doctrine
should be taught 10 an}'One who presents himself and is capabk of
learning it. "If there were one dau in the .1.le." w.ote Aristotle, "sur
passing all others as much as gods and heroes ."" supposed to lurpaSS
mankind:' then the teachers might plausibly di=t their allention to
that class alone. "But that is a difficult assumption to make. and we
nothing in actll3l1ife like the gull bet.."ttTI kings and subjeocll
",hieh the writer Scylax descliks as eristing in India,"1 Except in
Scy\ax', India, then, 110 ehild,en can rightly be exeluded from the en
clooe.:l community where the doctrine of government is taught, The
ume thing is tme of othet doctrir>es; nor does it require a philosopher
to undeutarnl this,
Hi!ld all the Roof
An old Jewish folktale describes the great Talmudic uge a, an im-
PD'"l:rished loong man who "'':Inted to study at one of the )eruulem
academies. He earned money by chopping wood, but barely enough
lllOfley 10 keep himself ali>'e, let alooe pay the admi"ion fees fo< the
1tures, One cold "'inter night, when he h<ld no money at all, Hillel
'"
SPHERES OF' JUSTICE
elimbed to the roof of school building listened through the
.kylight. Exhawted, he fell aslttp and "'u soon OO\'eled .... ith snow.
TIll: nut nlOlning, lhe assembled scholars 101.... the Jluping
blocking the light. When they re;aliud ,,'hal had been doing, Ihey
immediotely admitted him to tile ac:ad.emy, wai"ing lhe lees. It did,,'t
malin Ihal he waJ ill dlessed, pennylow, a recenl immignnt fTQ111 Bab-
ylonia, his family unknown. He was 10 ob..iously a
story depends for its upon a set of a"umptiolll aboot how
IIChooling should he distributed. II i.1Iol a compkte Kt; one couldn't
deri"e an educalional from this IOrt of folk ,,isdom. Bul here
i. an umkrst1mding of the community of tachcls and Itudcnts tllat
ha.s 00 pbce fof social dillioctionJ. Illhe lexhe.. Stt a likely .tt>dent,
they tatc him in. Allall, Ihat il the way legendary. and ideal,
tcachclS bellaVl:; they ask OOI1e of tile question, about
wealth and statUI. One roukl aJlIlOIt find and actual
biographies, ,irnilar to the Hillel story in other cultures. Chirte$l':
officials, for cample, began theil as poOl fa,m OO)'S laken in
by a "magc teachcr,
9
[J lhat lhe way teachcn supposed to beha,'c?
I don't know lhe anS""ef in the COISC of China, but,v,: are ,till mclined
loday, I thint, to acpt the moral of the HiIlcl.tOf}' ''To edllCO'
lional need., "'ithoul regard 10 >'Ulgal irrelevancies of daIS and in
come;' wrote R. H. Tawney, "it a p.art of leachct'. hOllor.'1(1
When sehoob uclu,r.'C, it il bcn.- they ha,'C bno:n COIpturC'd by
a social not bcn.- they arc schools.
BUI it is only the dcmocratic (01 or synagogue) th:lt in-
";,1::1 upon induJ;"" IIChooIl, whne futule citium COIn be lor
political (or religious) life. Now diltribution;$ by what
school i, for and 1101 simply by what it is, by social meaning of war
or WOIt 01 "'orship----or of c;liunship, which commonly includes all
of these. I don't mean that dcmocr.tC)' mjuires democratic schooiJ;
AthenJ got along "'Cll enough withoullhem. Bul if i. a body of
knowledge th:ll citiZet1J mwt gnlp, Of Ihink mUlt grasp, 10 a' to
play their parts, lhe.. they to go 10 IIChool; and then all of thcm
to go to school. Thul luistotle, in opposition to plllctices of
hi, own city: "the JyStem of educalion in a st;tc must. . be OIlC and
the same for all. and fk JlfO"ili(lrl dlhis .)"tlem mUll be a d
public adioo.'11 Thil it a simple equality in t"" of edOOlllion;
and while simplicity il soo.. Iost-for 110 edOOlltiol\al syllem can C\'Cr
be "the fOl all"--<I r>C\'nthelow fixes the policies of the dcma.
cratic school. simple equality (If stt>dents i. 10 Jimple
equalilyof citizcns: penon/one \'Otc, one pbce in till:
,,,
Educ:ltion
Mucalional J)'Stem. We can Ihink of educalional equality as a form
of _lfa.e pn)\'ision, where all child.en, C(lIlceil'ed as future eilizens,
hal'e the urnI' nero to know, and where the ideal of membclship is
beslsen-M if they a.e all taughlthe same things. 1bei, education can
flOt be allowed to hang on lhe socialSl.3nding (M lhe ttOfIomic capacity
of theil p.arents, (Itlemaill5 a question whether it should hang on lite
mor.J1 and polilial corll'ictions of thaI p.arenls, fOl dcmocr.ltic cititens
may well dil3l'ee aboul whatlhei. child.en need 10 koow; I shan come
~ k 10 this point.)
Simple equality is COlHle<:IM to uero all futu.e citiZC1ls need an MU-
cation Secn flOm within the school, of COllISol", neoed is by rIO means
the $Ole crite.ion for thc distlibulioo of kr,ol'..ledge. lnleles-lafld capac-
ity are at least as impol"lant-as lhe HillelstOf)' suggests. Indeed, lite
teacheHtudent .elationship seems to .esl, abo--e all, on these lalter
two. Teachers look 10' ,tudents, sludenlJ look for lexhers, 10.'00 share
their iuteteslJ; and then tile)' W{lrk togethel uutil the sto<kuh ha,-e
lea.ned what they ",mted to know Of ha<'I" golle as fa. as they can, NC\I
e,thelcss, democ.atic need is by no means a polilical imposition on the
schools. AID'0C3les of democracy lightly claim that all child.ell have
an inte.est in the gm'ernment of the stale and a capacity 10 un<letstand
it. 11>e)' meet lhe clucial requiTemenls. BUI il is allO tflle that children
don't take an intelest to the same deg.ee, and that they don't ha,'e
the same capacity to un.derstand. Hence, as lOOn as they a,e inside the
school, they can ha.dly help but begin to distinguish themselves.
How a school .esponds 10 these di.lioctions dcpeud. ,'ery much on
jts pu'poses and its cUlficulum. If Ihe teachelS arc committed to Ihe
ba.sic diseiplines r>ettSS3ry fo< democratic polilics, they lO.'illtry to estab-
lish a sha,ed koowlcr.4:c alllOllg their ,tudents aoo 10 f1Ij:;e them to
somelhiug tike the same Ie<'d. n,e ailn is not 10 rep.ess di/Jclcnces
but .athel to postpone them, so that ehild,en learn to be ciliZC1lJ
first-IO.'Orkers, managers, mcrchants, and professionals onl)' afleflO.Ol.d.
Eve.)'one studies the .ubjecls Hut citizen. need 10 know. Schooling
asello be the monopol}-- of t["o, few; it flO Ionget automatically com
mand. r.mk and offict'. U For Ihere is no prh'ikged access to citizenship,
flO lO.'lly of getting more of ii, or gdting it fastC!, by doing britcr al
school. Schooling gunanlees nothing ami exchanges for \"'CT)' lillie, but
il pn)\'ides the common Ctllleocy of poIiticala"d IOCiallife. Im'tthil
a plaUSIble account at least of basic wllC3liOll? Teaching child.en t(l
reotd is, aftc. all, an egalita.ian business, e\'etl if teaching lite",ry cliti
eisnr (sa)') il not. The goal of the .eading tQC["o" is not to provide equal
chaoces but to achiC"e equal result ... Like the democratic theorist, he
SPHERES OF JUSTICE
assumn that his students have inlelat md to learn. He
doesn't!!}" to make it equany possible for s!udents to ,cad; he tries to
them in lcadiog IIQch them 10 mId. Perhaps they should
h;.'e equal chances to httcme litcrary critics, to hold professQfJhips,
publish allicin, attack other people', boob, bul .eading they shouk!
have simply; they should be readers if 'eading bu)"1 r>o privileges),
He.e tile democr:atic commitment 01 the brite, community is not 50
much ,eflected ;u matched and enhanced by the democ.atic praclitt
of the tchool, ontt chik!ren are in school.
The /a/Jllne,e EllImple
The match iJ an the more likely under oontemponry exmditions, the
more aulooolJlOU$ a i1ChooI is ....ithin the bliter community, Par the
plessure to enbrge Upoll the natu...l dulinctioo, that alrad)' exist
among the students, to sealch out and malk off the futUle kadcn of
the COllotry, comcs allOOlt entirely lrom the outside. In a ....luable study
of the of ed\lCiltiooaJ equality in Japan in the yean Jin
the World Wal, William Cummings hal argued that schools
can J'IO"ide a genuinely COmnlOll ed\lCiltion only if they p,otected
trom COCJlOIate and p'ernlllt'T1l<11 inhmiOll. Con"erlely, if they ale p,o-
tected, schools ale likely to have egalitarian effects .,.,'eo in a capitalist
socidy.n AJlume, aJ I have been doing, the uuten of more 01 less
encklscd educational communities, and a cerlain tOrt of equality follows
for every group of studenlJ face to fa with a teache. Add to this
that .,.,..,!}" chik! goa to school, that thele is a OOmmOll curriculum,
and thalthe enclosure u strong, and then the sphere of education is
likely to be a highly egalitarian ptace,
BUl only lor the students: students and teach"", arc not equals; in
deed, the authority citeach,,";s IlCttmry to the equality of students.
The teachers a,e the guardians of the enclosure In the 'apane.c calC:,
Cummings argues, the crucial condition of educational equality has
been the ,ebtive strength of the teach,,"' union
14
[t iI, to be lure,
a special featule of the calC: that thil il a lIOCiaJist union, But then, s0>-
cialists, or people calling themlC:[,." lIOCialists, have produe! very dif-
felent kinds of schoof. What hal made for equality in Japan u that
the union hal been led by itl ideology to rai.t lhe (ineplitarian) pies
IUICI oIp'enunent officials, prCSJCd thelllselvCl by the ilite of corpo-
rate manager'!, 11tc schools ha,'e been Ihaped 1= by JOcia)i.1 th<l(lry
than by the rulural ,esullJ of that Icsistar>--lhat ;1. the da.y.t(H1ay
practiof autonomy. Hele are independent tcache", a bodyof
'"4
Education
edge, alld ltudenll who need to know, What follows? I ",11 qUOle
comment upon lOme of Cummings's oondusions.
. '"1be SChooll all.' organically OIpnized with minimum of inter
mil ... , At the prirrulr)' there no speci:llt)' tach
en, traeking is not pr.iclird. "I' This simply enacts Aristot
Ie's maxim fOf democratic schools: for end which is
common should also ibell be common."16 lnterrnll diffelenti;ation in
the early grade!' is a sign of wak school (or of tachers unTtain of
their ''Oationl, sunendcring to the tyr;ann)' of IX(' or Clalll.
Teachers "try to bling all the students lip [10 common sland:lrd]
by crating a positi'l." situation in which all [of them]rect'i\'e rewards
, . by adjusting the classroom to the klIrning r;ates oi students,
and by rdying on students 10 tutor each oth...."17 It COln't be uid
the brighter children are hdd bock by soch procedures. St",lent
is a f01m of rttOgnition; it is also leaming experieott
for the "teacher" as wen as the student, of rnl \"aluc
lor poIiticx, L'Qm, tJrrn fetICh is the practice of a stTOllg
school, COlpilble of enlisting students in its entefjlrise. The effect
il to "minimize the of exceptionally \ow achievers,"
l 'The. I:\lniculum is demanding, geared to the learning
of the better-than-a'....age Another sign of strong schools
teachen. It is often gid tMt the decision to educate
C\'eryone nccnurily leads to a Jo.,'ering of stanchrds. But this is true
only if the schools weak, inCipilbk of Icsisting the prcssures of a
[ include among these pressures not only the de
mmds of business lcadetllor educated contented wo<k
ers but also the ap,ath)' indiffereoce of many pilrents trapped
the lo....er k\'els of the hierarchy-and the arrogaoce of rrulny oIller
pillC1lts at the upper b-ds. These groups, too. are lOCially
reproducti\"e, and democratic eclocation is likely to sucCf.'Cd onl)' insofar
it children into its own enclosure It may be important
of the )ap:lM'SC usc, then, that "students spend far nlOfe hours
do their in most other ad''anCC'd lOCielies,"
.. 'The Ielative equality of cognili"e moderates the
propensity of children to rank each other. .. Instead, the children
dilposed to I themsel,'C:S as WOfking together to mastcr the curric-
ulum,"I' This disposition rrul)' be further enhanced by the: Fact that
tachcn, too--sru.re in the cleaning and of
the sehoo1. l1lere virtually no pellollnd in
schools: lhe community is COIlsisting only
of trachen and students. '"1be maintenance of the school is tvel)'Olt's
"5
SPHERES OP JUSTICE
responsibility."JO The shut<! Lc..ming and shart<! working point
alike to a world of citizens rather than to a division of labof. And SO
they discourage comp,arisoos division 01 labof, at least in
its conventional lorn", eOO1ess1y pn;m:>kes.
I omitted '-ariolls complicating !atmes of Cummings's analysis
that are not immediately relevant here. My pmpose has been to suggest
the clfcc:1s of oormati\.:= schooling mKlet democ,at;e, conditions. The...
cRects an be summed up '"Cry simply. E\<'f}'Ol\c is taught the basic
knowledgt= necessary lor an acti,'e citiuIlIhip, arKIthe great majority
of stOOmIs learn it. "fh.c: ape,icncc of learning is itsd! dlomocratic,
bringing its awn of mutuality and as "'ell as of
iOOividual achievm>eflt. It is possible, of to gather children into
schools ro. the sole purpose of not edocaoting them there or of texhing
them nothing more than a Nre literacy. l1'ell education, b,. the default
of the schook, is in effect unmediatt<! and is carried on in the family
or on the sirens; or it is mMiatM b,. television, the mOYie,;, alld the
mus;e, indU.\try, and schook are nothing hut a {literal} hoIdi"i ope'-
ation until children are old enough to "'OI'k. School5 of this sort may
well h:"." .....11. to kecp the child,.... in, but they ha\e 00 ,,-aIls to keep
ooc;"ty and economy out, T1>ey are hollow buildings, not CC1lte.. of au
tooomouslc:aming; and th.... some altemative:;s necessary to train, rIOt
the citizcm. but the mal1:lgen anod pfOfessionab of thc lIext gencra
tion-thus reproducing in a new ro.m the old distinction bet".,.,.. di-
rect and mediatM Mocaotio" anod maintaining the ba.sic .tructu,e of
a cia"" l(lCic!y, But thedistTibution of t<!ocaotional goods "'ithin autono-
mous schools will make for equali",.
Specialized Schools
Democratic educdioll bcgim with .imple equality: common IO/Ork lor
a common eOO. Education is distributM equally to C'o'ery child--<>r,
more acc:urately, C'o"Cry child is helped to master the same body of
koowlcd&c. lRat doan't Olean that C'o'ery child i, trcatM in e.:K:tly
the same ,,-ay a. C'o'ery other child. Praise is plentifully distributed ill
JapallCSC: schools, fOI' example, but it is not equally distributed to all
the childr"n, Some of the child,CIl ,egularly play the p,"t of ,t ...
denHcachers; some of them al""ll}'s .tudcnls. Back.....rd and Jp,a-
Education
Ihl'lic childrell probably receive of th.c- tc<Kh
els' attention. What holds th.c-m togcthe, nthe strong ochool ."d
tk OOle curricnlum.
But simple cqU31ily is eutirely as l()On as tk core hal
been gr;lJped tk common end Mtce Ml>C:Ilion
HlUlt he lhapc:d 10 the inlerests of individUllI It..dent!.
And the ochooh lh.c-mlChes mUlt he ll10fe lettpli,.., 1<;. tlte particulal
lequirement! of the worb<by world. Bernard Shaw that
at Ihi$ point schools should limply he dispeoled ""ith-prco;:isely be,..
calllC Ihey C'an no IongCl COlllmon fof alltlteir 1I..denb, He
JChooling with simple equality:
When a c!li\d Ius Le.rnt ill """.. Icrttd .. ><1 <:al..,hi,m .nd <:an read, ..
,..,lon, .nd o>c ill Iu.,..u: ,n .hort, ..,ben it iJ q....li/i.nl1O m.ke ill ....y.boul
in "",,10m eilin ."d do mdi....ry u.dul ..",1t, il hod belle' be Idl to find
OUI 10. iudl ",lui i. good 10< it in lhe di,ee1ion 01 hiel.... mll;,...ti"". If
il is. N(:'A'o" Of' Sh.kespeare, il wm leo", the eolrulus (If lhe: Oft of Ihe
the.ler ..'ithoul h"'nl them ,"""cd 00.." il. thh);ll IIIMI is neeasory
io th.t it ,hoold h.m, .=In boob. l<:ad"",., .00 Ihealers. 11 il> mioxl
does not .... nt 10 he highly mltivoted, ;1. mind ohoold he Ht .1o"e 00 lhe
g"",n<b 11101 it< mioo know> .. hoi is good lot it"
This i. Sh.w', ,'onion of '"dClChooling:' Unlike the ,'cnio"
eated by h'all lilich in the '<)70<, it builds upon )'eauof priOI' ochool
WOfk. and 10 is ltol Ioolish l' Shaw;1 p.obably right 10 a.gue that young
IlIen .nd women .hould be alJo.."! 10 lOtt themseh'elI out and make
their "'ay in the wo.ld without officiol r1ification, We "a'.., come 10
ove.emphasize the import.,,, not of ocllOOling itsell, bUI of JChooling
indefinitely extended. TIll: dFed is to rob tk"OIlOrny 01 ill only legiti
mate p.oleta.ial. th.c- proletariat 01 young, and to make prootolion
up the nl11kJ nlore difficult than it TK:ed be 10' rca! prolctarialU_
Bul it i, not at an clcar just how long it takes 10 learn OrIC', '".:;>Cial
catechism" or what knowledge i, included in knowing orIC', .....yaround
a modem eity. Somelhing more Ih." .trecl ce.tainly, dK
ochooling "oold be unnceessa.,. from the beginning. Nor would il be
satilfaetory from a dcrnoc'atic ltandpoint if lOll'" child.ell mo,-ed
quiekly onto till: .hed, while Ihe porCllI. 01 till: othe.. a
further education lhat P''C them:te<=s to privileged plaJ in tt.., eily,
For this,calOl'. C"e.,. .dvancc in the MS been a ,.je.
tory ro. equ.:llity. At lOme point, howe'le" thai mUlt ;a", to be true,
fOf il ean't be lhe alse single life course is equally app.op.iote
for all ehildlell_ With ''1:..d to COUr.., rep.esented 1' the JChook,
the oppooite elaim il more plamible: the,e will nC"co be a po!itieal 00Tn-
"7
SPHERES OF JUSTICE
munity of eqllOll citizens if schoolwork il the only pilth to adult
bility, For !Ofll.e chiklten, beyond a certain age, .c11OOl. is a kin<! of
plilon (but they have done nothing to imprillOllrncnt), en
dUled because of legal requirements or fOl' the uke of a diploma Surely
these children should bC' set frox and then helped to learn the "'OI'k
they 'MIni to do on the job. Equal citizenship requires a comlllon
schooling---its precise length a fOf political but it does
oot require a unifOl'm careel.
What about young men and who 'MInt torontinue in school
for the uke, say, ol a general and liberal education? We might most
limply provide for them by maintaining open wrollmentl beyond the
schoollea..ing age: do away with grading, pennit nO failures, and IOrt
people out, if that il necc:uary, only at the end of the pTOce$!l. Students
WQ!.Ild study whatever they weTe in learning, an<! would ron
tinue to study uutil theil interest in this or that subject (or in Ihldying)
was exhausted. 1lten they WOIlId do .lOmething else. But interests ne
at least potentially infinite; and on a CC"ftain view of human life, One
xhouk! study as long as one has breath. T1Iere is lillk likelihood tholt
the politicalrommunity eouk! raise the necessary money for an educa-
lion ol Ihi. sort, and 00 InIOn 10 suppose Ihat the people ,,'ho gi\'e
up studying are morally required to support those who continue, ,\Iedi
ev:Il rnQIlU and Talmudic sages "ne illdttd $Uppol'ted by the work
of ordirury men and women, and that may"",ll hne be...,-, a good thing,
Such support is not morally requiled, howevel, not in a .lQCiety like ours,
not c.'cn if the chance to become a monk or a ugeor thcCOlltemporary
equivalent were equally available to C'eryonc
But if the comn'unily uOOerwrites the general educalion of some
of itl citizens, as we do today lor college students, then it has to do
so fof any 01 them who are intnested---not only in colleges but abo,
as Tawney has argued, "in the midst olthe routinc olthcir w(Jlking
li\'es." Tawnoo:y, who devoted many years to the Workers' Educational
Association, is entirely right to insist lhat a higher education of this
SOIt should not be a""ilable solely Oil thc basis of "a nreel olrontinu
ous school attendance from he to c;ghteen,"1J <:mc can imagine a
gre.;lt \;Iriety of schools and course., catering 10 students of diffelent
ages and ed\lCaltional histories, run at national and local Ie',els, allached
to uniolll, prufessional assoc:i:ltiom, factorin, mweuml, old..age homes,
and so on In these settings, to be xure, schoolmg shada off into other,
Icss formal sorts of tuching and learning. The "encJor,ed rommunity"
loses its physical 'eality, becomes a metaphol for critical distance But
insofar as we are distributing school pbccs (the "rollcge of hard
",.
EduClIlioll
knocu" has "ad open enrollment), I don't Ihink ....e SIlOlIId gj,'e
up the idea of lhe enclosure 01 yield lIIOfe disbnce than "''''
10, 1be only of hasic Mucation to democt:lcy
i. One pTO'lides opportunities, intelleclual freedom, oot
just foI KImI' llooenl. galhe.rd togeloo, but Fa.: an the
othen, too.
I cannot specify any \e>",1 of sup!""1 fOl this pro-'isio".
Here again, there ;s room fo< democratic deNte. Nor is il the cale,
Klme MlIC3tional r.ldicals ha,,,, that delllOCTX)' itleU is im
JX&ible ....ithout a public of conlinui"g educatioo.
H
Democ
lacy is in dangI" onl)' if wch a progr.lln is organi1-ed undemoet'atically,
IlOI: if it isn'l OIga"izrd al tU ",'ilh monu and .saga. 1O",'ilh ordinary
citittnl: it is Kood tiling if they t05tudy indefinitely, ....ithout
a pmfruional purpose, fof lhe.sake of Taw"ey
hUlnane: cxmdoxi of life"; but the only point critical for the: IheOIy
of justice is that this KIl1 of slooy !lOt be the exc1usil'e privilege of
ft;w people, pid.c:d out by officials through a .system of eurnina-
tiom, To stooy the "humane conduct of life," l)(l one needs to qualify,
The cale i. diA'clent. hov.'eI'e., with r<:g3,d 10 spe<:ializc:d 01 profe>-
sional training. He'e inle,esl alone cannot Ie.ve as a disifibutil'" criteri-
00: IIOf can interesl and capacily sen'e: there arC 100 many i"telCSll'd
arK! capable pe<>ple Pe.hap:l, in the bal of all pos.sibk ....(IIIds......, would
edocateall.uch people 10. as kmgas Ihey ... This, il might
be .said. is Ille only slandard intrinsic to the idea of I'ducatior_s il
capable men and women ""erc cmpt) l'cuc1s lhal ought to be filled to
lhe b.im, But this is to coocei,,,, of an education a!>,Ir.lcted fmm eI'CTy
pa.Iicular body of knowledge and from eI"")' 1)"Stem of profCiSiorsal
practice, Specialid schooling doesn'l just go on and 00 until the stu-
<knt has kamed e"crything he call possibly 1eaf11: it .lops ....hcn he has
karned IOmcthing, ,,"'hen he is acqu.:Iinted ....ith the .tatc of krl(lll.lc:d&e:
in a ficld. WI' ....ill plausibly look in adl;lnce for IOmc allurance that
he ca" lea", thaI much and learn il ,,"'ell. And ;I ...'e !Ia"e: only alimile<!
amount of rn<.mey 10 'pl:nd, 01 if tlle.c a'c only a limited nnmhel of
places rc:qui,i"i thaI pa,ticula.lnining, "".., will plausibly 10nk 10' some
allur3r>ce Ihal he can lea", it eJpl"cially ....e:ll,
Educating is a mailer of communal JHO\ision. a kind of "",I-
I ...'OUld lugg<:st that ....c co.nmonly conccive of a mOIl' spccializrd
edllC3tion as a kirK! of officI', Students must qualify for it. lbey qualify,
p,csumably, by lOme: display of interest and capacity; but these "'-0
yield r>othing like: a .ight 10 a spccialid education. fOl the ncceuary
spe<:ialiZOltions arc a matte, for communal de6sion, and 10 i$lhc nurn-
"'9
SPHERES OF' JUSTICE
her of places available in the specialized schools, $ludenU ha"e Ihe
ume righl thai citizens gene.ally ...ilh .ega.d to holding:
Ihat lhey be given e<jual COflIidcr.llioo in the awarding of the available
pl;ten. And slooenlJ ha'"f: thil addiliooal righl: lhat insofar as they a.e
p.ep;ued for office holding in the public IChooIl, Ihey should. 10 f",
as possible. be e<jualJy P'ep.1,ed,
n.e education of a gentleman.....rote John Milton. should fit
child.en ....ho receive it "to pnro.m justi)'. lkillfully. magnanimously.
alilhe offica both jlfivale and public of peace and war. "1. In a mo<krn
<kmocraticc Illite. citiullS lau on the pre.ogali'n and obligatiol1l of
gentility. bull1oei. educatioo prep.1re! only to be 'men aoo 101
dien Of (pe.hapll) presidc:nu and gener.all. bul nol 10 advise p'elidentl
aboullhe d:mgers of nuclea. lecchnoolosY. not 10 advise gener.als about
the .isbof this or that strategic plan. oot to p.naibe medieincs. design
buildings. teach the ned gene.atiol,. and 10 on. These specialized of-
fices .equi,e a further education. The political community will want
to make Sure that its leade.s-and ill ",dinary members, too-get the
best possible ad,'ice and And the 00Tp5 of teachers has a p'lIalid
inte,est in the most apt studenll. Hence the need 10' a selection pro-
ce" aimed at\ocal;Ili ....ilhin the sel of future cili""m a roblel of fUlure
"elperts."' The standard form of this p.ocess il nol difficult to dilCO\'cr'
the uni'-c:rsal civilsef\'ia: eumination. ",'hich I ahead)'
in chaplet 5, is simply inlTOdoced into the schools, But this makes lor
dp stnins in the fabric of a delTlOCT:alic education.
1lle rllOl"f: sllCttSlful basic schooling is. the mo.e apt Ihe body of
future citiuns is, the mo.e inlense is the competition fn,- advancal
places in the edOOltionalsystem, and the decpt. is the frustration of
those chikl.en ....ho fail to qualify.16 Established elites are then likdy
to demand earlier and ea.lier sclectiorl. Kl that the .lChool....OIx 01 the
unselected is turned into a trainilli in passivity and ,esignatioo. Teach
e.. in stTOnK schools ...,iIl resist Ihis demand. and Kl win the ehil-
drcn----. better, the parents of the child.en will resilt, insofar as they
a.e politically ale.t and Indeed, e<jllaJity of consideralion
would lC'Cm to requi.e .uch .esistance. for children learn at diffelent
rates and awaken intellectually al diffelent ages, An)' <:m--and-forall
selection process is certain to be unfair 10 lOITle il will allO
be: unfair 10 )'OUng people ...'ho ha,-c: stoppc<l and to "'OI"k.
And 10 the<e must be: procedure! for reconsideration and, more impor
lant, for lateral as wen as up....a.d n1O\'ement into the specialized

Al'Iuming a limited numbe.of places, these procedures ...in
,,,
Education
only muhiply tM- lIumber of ultimately hUllrated candidata There
il flO avoiding thai, but it is morally diS;lst.ous only if the oompelition
il not fOi school places and educational chances so mIlCh as it is lor
the status, P'J"'Cr, and wealth C01l,'CntiornJlly joined tQ pr"'=iQnal
standing, n.e schOQls, hmo.'l:'\'Cr, need hne 'K>lhing to rio with this hin
ity 01 adv:llltage, No feature of the educatioooll pmcns requi'a lhe
link bct"ttn highe. education and hierarchical ",nk, NO! il thl'fe any
R':I5011 to think that the mOlt apt Itudents WOIJId gi,'e up thei. educa
tions were thai link bmien and luture oftice holdrn paid, laY, "work
men's "'<lga," Ih!dtnts, ce,tainly, will make betle. engin""n,
IUfgeollS, nucbr physicistl, and 50 on, than their lellows will. II Ie-
mains the talk of the Ipecialim.!lChook 10 these students, gi>'C
them 50me senlC of ",hat they can rio, and ICt them Oil thei. "'ay Spe
ci.olim.! education is nceewrill' a monoPQly of lbe talented 01, atle.nl,
of those Itlldenls most capable: at any gi'TIl nlOml:nt of deplo)'ing their
talents Butthil is a kgitim:lte TTIOO<IpI>ly. Sclmob cannot aY(lid diHer-
entiating among theil It..dents, ad><lncing some and turning othe..
a"""y; hutlhe differences they dillOO>'C' and enfOlcc lhould be intrimic
to wQrk, not 10 the status of the ",ork. They should ha,'C 10 do wit h
achievement, IlO! with the ttOllOmic and political rcw:mls of achie>'c-
they should be inwardly focused, matters of prllisc and pride
",ithin the schools 3Ild lhen within the profC3$ion, but of
standing in the largel "mid. Of unttrtain standing: for achico.'emcnt
may still carry with it, gi''C1l a lillie lock, not "-calth and pown bUI
authority arid I am desc,ibing not SCImolI for ",ints but only
cenlers of bruing llIthc. ",ure iruulaled than at prnent from the busi
n<'l$ of "making it"
Cn>rge Ono'f'II', Schooidors
II mighl help at this point to conlider a negali,'C ex<lmple; and in
the '<lIt liter.lIUle on schools md sch-ooling, lhere is 110 more perfectly
nepti>-e example than Orwcll'saecounl of lhe English IlRP school that
he attended in the '9'01. Some questions IUI\'e raised abotJllhe
;ICC1J1Xy of the llCroUnt, but on the point! most rebant heJe we om,
I think. assume its truth.J7 OTwell'l "CroISflata" was designed 10 pre-
pale Itudenh fur admission to IChools like Harn"IW and Elan, where
upper d"il leW-lilts and leading profession:,) men ""Cr1:
trained. A plep school is by definition not an autonomous C't'nln of
1e:Jrning. but C.ossple" dependency .....1dOllhled by the fad thai it
"':II !lOt only an educational bul a enterplise-.and a
'"
SPHERES OF JUSTICE
preeariou, one 50 the .,...""n the teachen
their work to the requi.emeT1h of Etoo, 00 the One
to the ",e;udices of the p'lTents of their pupils, 00
the olhe.. The first or these forces gave form to the curriculum
"You, job:' wrote Orwell, """", 10 le..rn eXOlctly lho.e thing' WQIIId
giVi: examiner the impression )'Ou knew 1TlOfe than )'OU did
know, a, fa. as poosible 10 avoid bu,deninl YOU' bTain with
thing else. Subjects which I:ockN examination-val"" .. , were
completely nqlectN," The IOIld determinN the go'..,,,,ment of the
s.:hool and the character of lOci;al relation. within it. "All the ,'ef)' neh
boys were moTe 01 less undisguiKdIy fa''OfN.. . I doubt SimI
[the Mallerl e"l'er e:",ed any boy whooc fall>er', income wall much
..e 2000 pound! a }'Q,.-'U So the cblS syotem W3. reproduced
-naively by the boys, with calcul:otion by the masters,
TIoese elle,,,,,,1 forces-the public schools and the paying par-
ent5-did not always wOTk to the ... me end, CrOlSgOlh:. had 10 prcwide
:JOlT.., .leriou. academic training, its lUC'CeS$ in doing 10 had to be
di.playN, il il was to .tudenh Hence it needed not only rich
boys but bright ones, too. And since the parent. nlOlt able 10 pay did
not ""ce,...,;ly produce the chiJodr<,Il mod likely to do ",ell on the
"am., the OwnelS of Crossgates invatN money in a .mall number
of l\OTl-paying Or ,e<luttd tuition .tudent., looking for a ,eturn in the
fOlm of ac:ademic prestige. Or....ell wa. 01lC of these students. "J1 I had
'gone orr: a. promi.ing boys IOmetimes do, I ISim.] would
ha"e got lid of me swiftly. As it wa., I WQI\ him h.'o sc:holallhips when
the time came. 00 doubt he made filII use of them III his pTll5pec-
So, in the profoundly anh-intellectual .etting of the prep
:!Chool, thae elil;ted a few poteTitial intelllual., uneasy, intamit-
tently gr.ateful and sulkll, occasionally rebelliow. Toler.lted for their
brain., they ....'ere mb;ttted to a huoo,ed petty hum;li:ltioos designed
10 teach them the othe. boys 100\; for grantN' thai 000"" ,eally
eoonted unless he was rich, and that the greatest virtllC was not to earn
lllOTley but simply to have il. OTwell was i""ited to qu:llif,- 10' educa-
tional adv:mcement and then for bmeaocratic or prof""ional of
fi.ce.-but only within a syotem ",here Ihe higllest qU<llilicalion. were
hereditaf)'. ThOUllh wealthy parent. were, in eftect, buying adv,1Il13ies
for the;. children, the child,CTl ""CTC taught to claim those: advanlages
as a matte. of right. They we,e not taught much else:, CIO.sgates, al
o....'ell described it, i. "",rect illUltration of the ty.anny of weallh
d,1S O\'er learnin,.
I suspect that any pl"ep :!Chool, coneeived as, comme.ei31 "e"ture,
'"
EdOCiltion
....m instrument of t}'Rnny--indeffi, of these particular tyran-
nies. For the rrulrket can closro it is
pbce ....here morle)' counts. Her>ce, again, the importance
of a common "prep" for all children in strong and ir>deper>dent5Chooo.
Bul how em one pre..-ent from spending theil moneyan little
edra pT(p.lration! if all parents had the A'TIC income, lOme of
them would be more leady than otheu to lise ",hat they Illid lor tbeir
children's edocation. And e'en if 5ChooIs like ClOllSgates \\'tre abol-
ished, legally Nnlled, palents could still hire tuton for their children.
Or, if parents knowledgeable enough, they could lulor their chil-
dTell themsel..-es, professionals and offiee hoIdelS palling on their in
stincts fOi 5UMval and advance, Ihe folkwa)"! of theil Clall.
Short of separating children hom their parents, there is no Wily of
prC\'eI1ting this .TOf1 of thilli. It can, ho....e...el, playa greater or a lessel
rok in social life genCTally. Palenlalsupport for schools like Crossgates.
fOl eample, "'ill \'a", "'ilh the Iteepness of the l(lCial hieran:hy and
,,';Ih the number of acsl points 10 speeillli1.ed lTaini"g arK! officilll
positi",nl. ";\S lold thai would either do ",ell on Ihe eaml
or end up as a "little officeboy at forty pourHIs a )'car. ")(I His fate WilS
to decided, ....ith no chance of reprieve, at the age of If lholt
is an ;lCC'lIrale picture, Ihen Cl(lllgales Ioob almost like a sensible insti.
perhaps, but not irrational. But suppose the piciUle
"-eTe Suppose that the Stlttr with which one said, and the
",th "'hich one heard, that awful phrase "office-bo,. al forty
pounds a year" Were both of them ;nappmp.iate. Suppose that oflices
difFefently organized from the way they ""Cfe in '9'0. 10 tholt
"boys" 0lIl1d 1II0,'e up (or around) within them. Suppose tholt the pu\).
lic schools were one-but not the only-I'.ay of finding inlelesling arHI
prestigious ....ork to do. Then Cro:ssgates might begin 10 app""r as unat-
tracti"e to parents as it "'liS to many of the childlen. The "plep" would
less crilical, the nam less "ighlening, arK! the Sp;lCC and lime avail
able for learning would be greatly enhana:d. Even .peeialiud ochools
requi.e $OfJlC heedom fmm social pressure if lhey are 10 do Iheir
work------hrnce a sociely organized 10 yield that heedom, Schools can
never be enlirely f.ee; but if Ihey are to be f.ee at all, lhefe mUll be
roIlltraints in othe. spheres. constraints roughtly of Ihe SOIt
I ha'"C already described, on "'hat mol\e)' ean buy, for e:oample, and
On the nlenl and import...ce of office,
"3
SPHERES OF JUSTICE
Association Mild Segregation
edu<:alion i, business. At lhe b-cr b..,ls, leall,
school, in.titutiollS thai children must be, requin..,j to allend:
The ",hinin, ochoolboy, ",ilh h....tchel,
And $hini", momi", faa, crttpi"lllik. " ... il
Un",'il!i",1y 10 ochool
i, ,tock figure in m3ny different CtI1tm"",11 In Shak""pe3re'. time,
the willl .... t drm'e Ihe un,,'illing boy to school ....-:a, ....iII; the
,t3te did 001 compel attcndana:. 1ltc edue:otion of children depended
upon the weallh, and CtIhi'-:ation 01 thei, seem,
to lIS 3 ....rongful dependency: fi"t, bec:l1l2 the communill' as whole
has an inter..t in education; ,econd, bec:lusc Ihe children them-
scI.,.. arc assumed to 103''e 3n inter..I, though they 'ruly not unlkfStand
it ret. Both lhese intn..tJ look to the fulure, to ....hat child,Ctl ....ill bo:
and 10 the WQfk they will do, and not, Of not simply, to what their par
ent,e, or to how they st ..><1 ;n SOC'icly. or to the ......,..llh they hold.
provision b<:st mn:is these interests; lor it, tno, is for
ward-looking, dcsigllCd 10 enhancc lhe competence of individuals and
integration of (fulme) . BUI this i, nl'<':'nsori!y prO\;,ion of
a special 10ft, "'00sc rcc:ipents arc not enrolled but cooscriptoo. Abolish
the ronscription....d children arc thrown bad, admc:lles of
"dcsc:hooIing" like to suggc:st-upon their O"'n ,c:sourccs but upon Ihe
'CSOUr.... of their parCtlts.
8cc;Iu,," they arc OOllsc,iptcd, JChoolchikltcn are like soldier, and
p,isom:rs, and they arc unlike ordinary citizCtl, who decide fof t""m.
scI"......hal they ",ill do and wilh whom they ....ilI ilUOciale. But OllC
should 001 make tOo;> much of either Ihe resemblance Or the difiel'
encc.l1 Prisonerl sorndinJe:o "reformed," and the lraining thal.lOl
dieR ,ca:ive i, JOltlelimes u$Cful in ci,il;'n life; but "'C would be lying
to our1Clv.. if ....'e prdcnded lhal edu<:atiOll was Ihc chief purpose of
prison. O' a,mies. The$C i",lilutiol1l a,e shaped 10 purposes of the
community. not to those: of Ihe individll<ll, who a,e dragged into Ibcm,
Soldi5 $C"'c tbeir >untry, prOO15 "se,,'r But Jehoolchildren
in an important seilS<: scn"C lhemsel,"cs. The dislribution of p.ison
placo and, JOTTl(:limcs, of amw pLIca i, a distribution of social bad.,
0/ pains .i,ls. But it isn't merely a pl"etcna: of adults lhal school
places arc social goods, Adult. speak from Illei. own ","hCtl
"4
Education
they say tile)' the views children .... iIl one day
hold. ArK!, of the adults remember children in their
after-school hours fl'tt in ",ays that the adull.lthemsel\ICS can ooly
en\'}' and n('\'el re(;lpture.
Still, school is oompulwl)', and beeause of that eompul.
sioo, it isn't only plOlCeS that are distributed to childlen, childlen trn:m-
seh-es are distributed among the available placa. The public schoob
have no a priori elistence, they must be corlltituted and theil stlKlents
assigned by a political decision, We lequi"" then, a pl"inciple of as.socia
tioo. \\'ho;> goes to school with whom? This is a distributi"e question
in two senses, It is dislributi''C, first. brtause the coutent of the curricu-
lum \'aries with the char.lclcr of its reci,*,nb. [f children are associated
as future citizens, they "'ill be taught the history and laws of their OOIIn-
ITy. [f they are associated a' lellow belie\'els in this 01 that ",Iigion,
they will study litual and theology. rf they al"<: associated as future ",'Ork
en. they .... ilI letti"e "voc:ll\ional" edocation; if as future professionals,
an "ac:Kkmic" edOOItion, If bright stuo:knts ale brought they
",ill be taught at one l('\'el; dull students, at another. The examples
oould be extended indefinitely to mateh the prevailing set of human
differences md social distinctions. E\'en iF _ assume, as I ha\'C been
doing, that ehildlen al"<: mociated as citizens g;\'en a common edu-
cation. it is still true they can't an study they must be
segregated into schools and classes. And how this is done remains a
distributive q\lC'ltion becall$C, sewnd, children are each others' re-
5OIlTc-es' comra<les and rivals, challenging one aoolh.er, helping one an
other, forming what mar ,,'Cll be the clUCial friendships of theil adult
hes. The content of the curriculum i$ prob.ably less important than
the human en"ironmcnt within which it is taught. 11 is no surprise,
then. association and lCg,egation al"<: the most hotly contested i$-
sues in the sphere of edOOItion. Parents take a mIlCh livelier intClelt
in the schoolmates than in the schoolboob of th"'r children. They al"<:
lighl todoto--and not 0Il1y in the cynicalllCT'sc that " ....hom you kno....
matters more Ihan ",hat you know." so much of "'hat .....e know
",e learn from OUr pee,s, ""hom and what always go logetoo.
Randomness is the most asoociali\'C principle. If "''C were
to bring children together ""ithout legald to the occupations and
"'ealth of theil parellts, without legard 10 the political OIleligioul corn-
mitllTenu of Iheir parenti, and if, moreover, "'C were 10 bring lhem
in boarding school" cui oftlrom day-tCKiay conl;>ct with their
parenti, ,,'e mighl prodoc.: autonomoul educational cornrnu
nitiel. n.e teache. would confront hi. stlKlenls as if they WClC lIothing
"5
SPHERES OF' JUSTICE
but .tudent., a pont and ,",'ith an open Future-whate"ef futUfe
their learning would make pocsibk This kind of auociation hal occa-
sionally hem am1)C;lted by leftist groups in the name of (simple) equali-
ty, and it might well that goal. Certainly, the oppOTtunity to
qualify for speciali1.ed training v.oold be more c<Jually distributed than
under any altemati\'e arrangcmcnl. But random anociation would reJ>-
fesent a triumph not only for the school but also for the: state. The
child who is nothing but a student dors not exist; he would ha"e to
be created; and this coold only be achie\-ed, I suspect, in a tyrannical
society, EdllClltioo, in any case, is more properly described a.s the train-
ing of p.l.rticular penons, with identities, aspirations, lives oIthcir o,",'n.
Thi$ particularity is by the family, defended by parenti,
i\utonomolli schools arc mediating institutions; they stand in a ten5ion
with parents (but not only with them). AboIi$h compulllOT)' education,
arK! one Io5a the tension; ehildren become the: mr:re of their
f:lmilics and 01 the social hiel3lchy in which their families are implant-
ed. Abolish the f:lmily, and the tension is lost again; children bo.-come
the mere subjecl$ of the state.
The crucial distributive problem in the sphere of education is to
make child/C1l COmmOllerl 01 learning ,,'ithout de$lfOjlinll what is un
wmmon about them, their social as well as thcil genetic parti<::ularity
I shall argue that there is, gil"ell ceTtain social ronditions, a preferred
solution to Ihis problem, a lorm of complex equality that best fits the
normati\"C model of the .!Chaol, on Iheone harK!, and the lequirements
of democratic politics, Oil the other But there i$ nO uniquc solulion.
The character of a mediating irntilutioo <'an be dctermined onl)- by
leferellee to the social forces between which it mediates, A botlal\tt
mU5t alwaY' be .trock, different in dilkrent times and places.
In discussing 50ffiC of the pocsibilities, I shall draw my examples hom
the contCnlpol'3ry United States, a society COfl.iderably more hetClOlle-
f\COUS than either Orwdrs England or past-Sccoud World Waf Japan.
Here, more clearly than anywhere else, the requilemC'nts of basic edu-
cation and equality of consideration come up against the facu of eth-
nic, leligious, and racial pluralism, and the problems of association and
segregation take an especially acute form. I want to stras in advaoce,
hoo.I"C"CI, that these problems abo na\'e a gCllC'ral form. Marxi$t "'ritcfl
hne sometimes suggested Ihat the of communism would bring
an CIld to all diffelences rooted in race and religion, Maybe so. But
C\'en communist will not share a single philosophy of edllClltioo
(whatC\'er else they .hare) They will disallree ol-.:r ,",'hat 10ft, of school
arc best for the community at large Or fo< theif own children, and so
,,6
Education
il qlll:$tion whelhel ehikllcn wh.., palenlJ different
philosophies shookl allend tile ume schooh. III that
is a though it is hr less intdltttu;ll differ-
m=.
[f we stand IIISide tloe school, "'hat assocUttive priociples S<"I'm most
What reaKltlS do "'e ha,." lor blinging this p;uti<:uLu
group 01 chiklfen togdlle.' Expt lor a lileral ir)C;lp.acity to learn,
there ale no for exe1usion 10 do wilh Ihe school as
sehool. Rc:lsons lor ioclllSioo cr>nel:lli"e wilh subjects.
Speeialitcd sehools hrillg togctller qu;llificd students, ....ith speNl inta-
ests npae;tieo. III the case of ",",;" MUc:ltion. lite TeaKln for bring.
ing student, together is need (we assume inlerest and c:lp.acity),
is erueial here is the nCft! of ","'ery chikl to grow up withill Ihis denIO-
cratic commUllity and take his place: as competent citi7.l'f1. Hence:
the schools should p.altcm of tlut of
rMn and ,,'omen in dem.ocracy. TI,i, i, the principle tlut
fils the s<:hools' purJlO$<', but it is ''ffY general principle, II
exe1udes for we (;;III be sure tlut adull.! will not (by ddill;'
lion ill C(>mmunity) witbout regard to their
interesl.!, occ:up.ations. blood rcr:.lionships, md KI On, Bul be,-ornI that.
there are a number 01 p.allems follT\l that
least S<"I'm romp.aliblc with the Muc:rtion of democralic citizens.
Pr-i""te Schools "lid EJuCtl!i(m,,1 Voucher.r
Neither compulKlry Mucotion r>QI' a rommon curricululll rcquileJ
children go 10 the same lOfts oIsehooi 01" Ihal al1sehools
in the urne relation to the political communily. It i, a leature of Allleri.
C<ln liberalism cduc:rtional cntreprencu(s.like-mindcd p.alenl.!, and
leligious organization! uc all allowed to sporlilor private schools He(e
the principle is plONbly besl described as illterest
and ideology-though lhese mu,1 be laken 10 include an illteresl in
md an ideology 01 social class. The claim is tlut parent:r
should be to get "'hallhe)' w:lnt, exactly ther want, lor thri,
chiklren, This doesn't nessarily eliminate the mediating rok of lhe
achool, lor lite ,Iale can 'Iill license pri",te s<:hools artd sel common
curri<:ular ro:quirements. NOI" do parena "':Intlor their child'eTl
exactl)' whalthe)' themsd,'U nn PrO\;de. Perlupsthey are lOC'i:Illy or
inlellldually or ",-en ,digiously ambitious: eager Ihatthe children be--
COmc IIlOfr promlnenl, """,e -.pI!isticated, Of more devoul 1"'" Ihei,
parents And Ihe lacheTS in pri'':Ite schools ha'-.:: (what 0..
"7
SPHERES OF' JUSTICE
,",'ell', bekcd) .Irong ..,n"", 01 rorpor;lte identity aoo
intelkct ....J mission. In any C'a5C, don't '" e-aelly IhiJ
......y, on Ihe ba.i, 01 thcil social elus or elm upirlltioo Of ,eligious rom
mitment (or theil ideas aboot how to cduC'ate thei, children)?
But pri'OIte schools expensive, 110 parenl. arc nol eq....lly ca
pable of associating their ehildrm as they please. This incq.... lity $Cern.
,",'TOng, especially if the arc thought to be beneficial: why
.hoold children be denied soch ,imply broIuse of the
of their birth? With public .upport, the ,uppo5<.-d benefits could be
much more widely distributed. Thi, iJ the thru.t of the "'vuehe. pL.n:'
a proposal that tas illDoC)' for edllC'alional purpo.es be tunlt'd
<)\'e, to parenls in Ihe form of vouehersthat rould be spent on the open
lllarket." To thac \OUChcn, all sorll of new ochools "vuld be
foonded, catering 10 the full range: of parmtal inl",,,,ts ideoIot:icJ.
Some schools would ,till catn to eLllI interest., requiring tuition p.ay.
menu nd abm'e the \"Oueher and 110 a15uring wealthy ",,'ents that
their children nd mociate only 01 ehiclly wilh their social kioo, But
I will lea,.., this point a.ilk (there;. an easy lq;i,l"tive remedy) What
is more important i, th.atthc: ""ocher plan "'OlIkI g....'antee that chil
d,en go 10 .dlflOl with oth". ehiklT"n whoolc p.arents, at "'alt, were '''''1
much like their own.
TIle vouehe. plan i. a pluralist pmpmal, but it ,""cst, a plUrlllism
of a peculia, JOTt. FOf ...hile the plan "ell strengthen trlldilional
organizatiorll like the Catholic Church, the unit for ""hieh it ;, .pecili
cally dc1ig'lt'd is the organi].:ltioo of like-minded parents. It poinlS t...
"OIrd, would help to creale, a society in which thcre ".' no !lrong
ba:IC Of cu.tomary loyalty but, rlIther, a large and changing
variely of idcoIogical grotJp:<--- betler, of groups 01 consumers
broughttllgethcr by the Illllrkei. CitiZC1l. would be highly mobile, ,oot
Icss, moving ca,i1y from one to allothcr Their movcs would
be theil ehoices, and 110 they would ","!lid Ihe ernlkss argulllC"nh aoo
compromises 01 democratic polit;"'; ...hose pa,ticipants are TTKKe 01 less
po::rm,mently bound togethe. CitiZC1ls with '1lUChe.. in lheir h.:ands
could, in Albe.1 Inm., choose "cxit" m'CI
'micc."H
J doubt that thele could possibly cxist among soch citiZC1l' a suffi-
cient oonununity of ilkas and f""lings to ,u,tain the mueller
plan_'hich is, after all, slill a form of communal pl'O"ision. Even a
minimal slate requires deeper and stTOIlgel relationship!. In any
C'a"', the ;!dual experier>CC that ehildrm ,",1lU1d ru."e ;n schools "eely
chosen by thcil p.arents hardly anticip.ales rootlcssness and easy mobili
,,8
Education
ty_ For most children. p;lrental choice almost certainly me,,", Ins di'"f:r-
$ity, kss tension. less opportunity lor pc1l1Orlal eh;!nge than they would
in schools to \vhich they ",ere politically assigned. Their $CbooIs
,""ould be more like their homes. Perhaps soch an arrangemmt predict!
thcir o"'n future choices. but it hardly predicls the full range of their
contacts. WOIking relation,hips. and political allianca in a <!cmocratie
society_ Palental choi.,., might rut across ethnic and racial lines in a
""If that political assignments sometimes dont. But ",,'en that i, ur>ttl-
lain since ethnieity .M race would 'urely be, as arc today. two
of the principles .round ",hich private school, "'ftC oo-pnizcd, "tid
",,'en if these "'ere ;wcepl<rble principles. SO long as they ",.".",,t the
only Olles, in a plur.li,t sociri}'. it has to be strased that For palticular
chiklren they VoO\IId be the only ones
The ,uochft pbn a51umes the activism of p;lrents. not in the com-
munity at but narrowly. on beh.lf of their OWn children, But its
grealest rIonger. I lhink. ilth.:lt it "'ould expose mony childlen tel a eom-
bination of entrepreneurial rulhleuncs, and p;llental indifference.
EI..,.., ooflCffncd p;lrcnts ale, altcr .11. oft"" busy ebcwhcre_ "nd thcn
children 0" be defended only by agents of the state. llO'"CInm""tal
ilUpeclon enforcing a general code, Indeed, state agents may $till ha'"f:
work to do even if p;lrenlll arc acti"e .rn:I in,olYed, For the community
h.s an intelcst in the educalion of childrennd SO do the childlen.
",hich neither parents no.- entrePJC11CUfS adcquatcl)' replCSCllt. But that
interest Illust be publicly dcbated and givC11 specific fOfIll. Th.t is thl-
"or1< of democr.tic ...,mblies. p;lrlics, movements. dubs, ..,d so on.
"nd it i, the pattem of association necessary For thil "'U11< that halic
education mUlt anticipate_ Private $ChooIs don't do that The commu-
n.1 provi,ion of education.l goodl, then, hal to take a more public
form------<:Isc it ""n't contribute to the training of citium. I don't think
that there il any need for a hontol owult 011 P;lIcntal <,ooice, so long
al its chicf effect il to provid<' idcologi<'al di'"CIsity on the margins of
a ptclnmiTlC11tly public I).,tem. In principle, educationol goodl ,hould
not be up for purchase, but the pUlehase i, lolcr.lble if it doesn't <'aUf
with it (al it It ill docs. for example, in Britain today) enormous social
advantago. Here. as in oth.". .=,01communal plOl'ision. the stronger
thc public system, theasierone can be about the u$CSof money along-
side it NOf i$ there much 10 "'00'}' about thnsc pr;,..te schools
that pfOlidc spttializcd education. 50 long as scholmhips are ",idely
a,.. ibble. an<! so long as there arc alternoti'"f: routes to public and pli
..... te office" 'oocher plan fo.- specialized schooling and Ofl-the1nb
tt;ining "ould moke; lot of sense. But this would r>O! sc....e toaS$OCiate
"9
SPHERES OF' JUSTICE
children in with preference; it would them
to follow their own preferences.
Ta/rnl T,,,dJ
caree' open to il principle deaf 10 Ame.ican liberalism,
il has ohen been that schools should be shaped to lhe re-
quirements of C3fl'e'r. Children who an m""" quickly should
be: to do 10, while the work of slower stOOrntsshOllkl bc: :ldjusted
to the pace of theiT kaming. Both groups ...ilI bc: happier, 10 the argu-
ment goo:s; within e;>eh the chikhrn will find thei. f
u
-
tme friends--llnd, indeed, theirlikly spouses. In late. likthey ",'ill con
tinue to alJOCiate ..."ith people of roughly simibl intelligence. Parents
wOO think thei. children especially bright tend to 13>"0< this JOlt of segre-
gation, 10 tll:lt the the "righl" coutacts, J>a.tly 10
I"'t are oot bored iuschool, partly in the belief t"'t intelligence re
inforced is C'"Cf\ more intelligent. lust lor this reason, hQ,.,'t:\..... there is
often counterdemand-that bright children be: distributed through
out the school ... to stimulate and reinforce the othefS. Thu look.. like
uling the bright a reJOOree for the IesJ bright. heating the for
mer as nlCalll rather than as ends. much as we tre:at young
men when we conscript them to defend ordinary eititen5. But soch
tlC:atment JeernS wl'OIlg in the cas.. of student., ....hos.e education is sup-
to !l'we their awn jnteresll as well as those of the community.
Whether distributing the bright .tudent. constitutes wing them, hQ,.,.
C"e. depends upon ....... t one takes as the natur:llslarting point of their
o:mse:Tiptioo. If the starting point u C\..,ryday residenn: and play, lor ex-
ample, th-en it iSlhe sqreg:ation of the bright .tudenh that can plausibly
be criticized, it IookJ oow like a willful impove.ishment of the educa
tional npeTienn: of theotlle...
At th-e height of the Cold Wal. immediately aftl:1" the SO\-iet Union
sent its filSt rocket into .pac.., tracking w;a. ad\ocated as kind of n,a.
tiol,al defense:, the early recruitment of se:ientisls and thnieians,
men women whom ....., needed, or thought "ie n=kd, in
large numbc... If the community one "'';Inls to defend is a demoe-
racy, hO'lo'C"er. no foIm of recruitment can p.ecede the "recruilment"
of cilium. Certainly. citizens today re<juile educatioo in modern
scienc..; without thai, they will haTdly be plep;lred for "all th-e offic:es
both pri,'ate and pubtieof peace and "'';1':' And presumably this educa
tion will of them to purSlle one or anodlCr se:ielltifi.e lpe
eialiution; if many .och people re<juired. additio"al indllttments
,,,
Education
can olle-red. TI>t", i$ 00 need, to pick out lpc'
on. gi'-e them tlleir proptr n31l1es, as it tM
others had their challtt 3t illlpilation. To do so is limply to ac-
"recruit""'nl'" of citizenl h:l.l h311 begun
-and it will be milted, ex;Imple luggestS. in Itrong
schools. especially prim3,-y
Nor is it true that the trllcks though t!>q may help to
form, tM 01 ;wult citi7.crll, adult world il oot
segreg3tw br All sorll 01 work up and down
the statlll hicnlchy, require mixing: and, more important,
poIitiCl ""luirn it One could oot concei'-ably org;mize a
society without b.inging togclhCl people of e"a)" md kind of
3"d belr. of talent-not only in cities and townl but aoo in
lIloO\'emenU (not to lpe:llr. of bureaucracies and armies). nle lact
that people tend to m...y 3t thcir intellectual il of inteT'
est. let- public edUC'3tion in a societ}' il only incidentally
a tuining lor marriage 01 for priY.lte life generany, If tMre were no
public lile, /)f il democrlltie politics "'ere ladically devalued, th...., tr3elr.-
ing by talent "'Ould easieT to
limited uses of seglegation pc'mi<sible, e"en
aUl(lng citizens, Theil' 3rC educational ,easons for sep;!rating QUt
childl...., "'00a", ha'ing special diflieulties with m3thematics, for eam-
pie, Of with a But there neithel eduation31 rlOl
social realoni for malr.ing such diltioctiolls ocross the board, creating
a t"o-class system within the schools or erlting radially difielenllOrlJ
of achools lor SOIl! of students When this is done. and espe'
ciallY"'hen it is dOlle cally in the p'oceIS, it il nollhe asso-
of citizens that being ont;"ip3ted, but the cia.,. 1}1tem in
roughly itl present foI'm. Children brought together chiefly on the
balis 01 the;1 pre-lChooIsocialiution and home environments. It is a
denial of tlte school"s end05ure. In the United States today, this denial
is likely to produtt a hiemchy not only of social classes but 000 of racial
groups. Inequality is doubled; and the doubling, as we ha,." leason to
lr.now, is espeeially dangerw. fOf democratic politiCl
/"frs,ano" a"d School Busi"S
We will not a,'Oid rocial segregation, !IO'o'"C'-'el, br moc:i3ting chil-
dren on the basil of rnidelltt and play; for in the Ullited States today,
children of different races rlIlely live and play togfthcr, Nor do they
common edocation, 11tese facts don't arise most import3ntly
SPHERES OF' JUSTICE
hom differwcu In amount 01 5fIC11t QI1 thcil schooling or
in the quality of the teaching 01 content 01 the lhey
h:lve theil OI'igins in tbe soci:Il ch:lracter and tbe of
In ghcttoand slum schools. chikhcn ne plepared,
md prcp;ore one for ghetto and slum Me. The endOllure is
n<:\'el strong enough 10 protcct them from themsckcs and from their
immediate environment, They bbck<l, md taught to bbel one an
otber, by Iheir lIOCial Iocoltion. The only way to ch:lngc all this, it is
often Aid, is to shifl the location, to Icpua\c schook ho,,' neighbor
hoom. This can be rkmc by moving ghetto and shun children oot of
docir local schools or by moving other children in. Either way, il is lhe
U'lOCialiooal pallern that is being
The goal is the intcgJ1ltion of future citizens. but if, not easy to $Oy
what new pallerns that eoal requires. Los:ie p.csses III' t(lWlJrd
a public $)..tcm whele the social composition 01 <:\'el)' school ...'Ould
be euctly the Jame-1ot random 001 proportional al.SOCiation. Diffcr-
ent IIOrU 01 child"'n ...'OUki be mixed in the AUle in <:\'el}' school
within a ,i"en alea, the J1ltio v,lIying f,om area to area ...ith the O\'e,all
of the populalioll. But how ale we 10 identify the appmpri3te
areas' A",I how arc "'e to "'rt oot the children: by race alooe, or by
religion, or ethnic group, or IQC..I dus? A pe,fect
WQuld sm to require aTea, the brgesl pouible nnge
01 g'O<JPS and then the most dctaik<l lOfting Olll 01 memben. But the
federal iudgc;s who decided such queslion. in lhe '97011 foc:uoe<! thei,
attenlion 01' established political unih (cities I"",'...) and OIl ncial
integratioo alone. "In Bostoo," Judge emily dccl'ned in a
dccisioo requiring cxlensi,... inlJ1leity busing, "the public school
tion i, l>o-o-thirds ...hile and onethird black; ideally,
<:\'('1}' school woukl h:lve the""lTlC plQlXlrtionl.")$ No doubt, there are
good rcuoru far slopping at point, 001 il is WOfth emphasizing
th:lt the principle of pl'opo1tional would requi,e much mOle
ebOOrate amngemenh.
On the other no form 01 proportiooal ilISOCiation anticipates
the choic>es 01 dcmoc:latie citizens Comidcr, 1m example, the argu-
ment of bbck activists in md a,ound the civil righlJ TIIO\'emenl.
E"en in a poIilical community hee 01 C\lery of ncism, they insist.
ed, most black Americam would choose: to live togclhel, theil
o....n neighbolhoods and conlrolling local irutilutionJ. The (lI,ly ....ay to
anlicipale thai pallern is to eslablish local oontrol now. If the schooll
....ere run by bl;.ck profeuiooah and supported by black parenls, the
ghetto would ceasc to be a platt 01 discou'agement Wh:lt
Edocation
equ;lity requires, on this view, is that the association of bbck childr""
with othel bbck childr"" carry ",'ith it the Ame mutu;l
as the association of white childr"" with other white childr"". To opt
for proportionality i. to admit that such rcinfom::1TICI1t is impossi-
bk_nd to do 10 (again) before there hu been any serious effort to
make it work.
This i, a JIOI"nful argument, but it face, in Ame:riC<ltoday a major
difficulty_ Th.e residential oqrr:gation of black AmeriC<lns i' very differ-
ent from that of other group'" a great deal more thoroughgoing and
a great dcallw ,'Oluntaf)'. 11 doesn't anticipate plurali'm 10 much a,
it anticipates separatism. It isn't the pattern that we would apeclto
6nd among democratic citizeru, Unoo such COfIditions, local rontrol
i, likely to defeal the purposa of educational mediation. Ci"'''n a politi
cal victory for the local aclivislJ, sehooling will berome a mearn of Cn
forcing some '-err stlong version of group identity, moch as it is in the
public schools 01 a nation...tate." Childrcn will be educated for
an ideological lather than an actu;l citizenship. There i. no rnlOl1 for
the l.arger oommunity to pay for an education of that Jorl. But how
far can we oo'iatc from it while still respecting the a!1OC'iations Ihat
blach ....ould foem C\"CTl in a fully democratic community? Equally im
portant, how lar C:l.n deviate from it while .till re1ptt1ing the a!oSOCi-
alions that other propk already foemed? 1don't kl'lO"" nactly how
10 draw the line, but I am inclined to think that slricl proportionality
draws it badly.
I assume: a plUlalist society: 50 Iollg as adult. associate freely, Ihey
will .hap" di"crse communilies and cultUles "'ithin the larger political
community They ....ill certainly do Ihis in a C'OUntry of immigr.mts, but
thC)' will do it elsewhere, too, And then the education of children has
to be groop-depcndcnt_t least in the sense that the particularity of
the group, represented concretely by the family, i. one of the poJe. be-
tWttn which the sehools mediale But the other pole is the larg<:r 00'11-
munity, represented eorlC.etely by lhe .tate, ",hich resls upon the coop.
cration and mutual in,'OIl'ement of all the groups. So the sehools, ",hile
they Tl"Sprct pluralism, m",t also work 10 bring childr"" together in
ways that I>o1d open po$$ibilities for cooperation. This is all the more
important when the pluralist pallern is irlYoluntary and distorted. It
is not necessary that JChools be idenliC<l1 in social C<,ImpositiQ.n; il
is ntteUary that diff.,..""t JOfU of childrco eTlCOUnt.,.. one another
..ithin thClll.
This ness;ly sometimes .equires "'hal is called (by lhose who OJ>-
JlOSI' il) "forced busing"_1 if public education mlUt fOf some
"3
SPHERES OF' JUSTICE
with public The ph".., is in any unf3ir.
ince all school assignmenli are oompuboiy in charader. So, lor that
matter, is schooling foKed reading and forced It may
still be true that busing designed to meet thc requiremenls
of .trict pl'OpOl"tion:llity represent more m...:T'1 kind of roercion. a morc
direct disruption of everyday living pattern., i, desirabk. The
American expericntt lUggC$t1, mor<'l)\'er, that schools integrated by
bringing together ehildren who live entirely apart are unlikely to be
come integrated schools. E\'en strong schools may fail when they are
forced to cope ,,'ith social ronAiets genel3ted Oil the outside {and coo-
tinw.lly reinforced lrom the QlJtside). On the other hand, it is clear
that ,tate officials have imposed r.ociallCparati"im when adw.lliv-
ing arrangements called fof, Of at Iea,t allowed lor, diA'elCllt
tion:ll patterns. This lind of imposition requires repair, and repair nl;ly
IIOW require !>using. It would be foolish to ruk it OUI. would abo
hope fof a mOle direct assault upon tyrannical di,tributio", in the
sphern of housing and employment_which nO educational arl3nge
ment can possibly repair
.I\,',i,hbo,hooJ School.
In principle, a. I have no <KImis
sion, policies, Whethe. thry are ,haped originally 1. individllal. and
families who duster togdher Or by <KImini.trati"e decision>. highw<ly
pbc-ement, land "ipeculation, industrial development, lUb"",y and bu.
route., and 50 on, they will come in time, biming the llS'e of fOfce, 10
include: a heterogeneou. population-"not a se1tion, but rather a
"ipecimen of life a, a whok," 01 allcasl of national life as a whok. A
school, then, does not--<ll" not In. 10ng--5erVC a glOup
of peoIJle who ha'''' choocn one another as neighbors. But in.ohf as
different groups come to reg<lro a tchool as thei, ",,'n, its existe-ntt may
scr"e 10 heighten of community, This Wa5 one of the purpol<'S
of the JXlblic SChoollrOlll its inception: each school ""'. to be little
melting pot, and neighborliness was th, first of its product., on the
il to citizenship. It ""', al$umed that school districts geo-
graphic:llly drawn "'OIJ1d be socially mixed, .nd thai the children who
came in the "'Ould rome lrom \'ery class
.nd ethnic Nckgrounds. Bcausc of W\-"Cf\ants, zoning laws,
ar>d g....rymandered school distriels, thi, n""er ronsi.tently true
.cross any p:nticub, city or to"'n; rm not lu,e whether it is IDOIC 01
less true oow th." it u5fti 10 be, With regard to racial mixing,
"4
EdllC;ltion
the C'identt is ooghoorhood schools keep black whilr chil-
dren FOf Ihi' lea""" the associative principle of neighborhood
romr urukr harsh critici'm.
11 i" fle\..,rthdes" the prrFrmd principle:. F'or politics is trrri
based; the neighbo<hood (01 Ihe borough, tOW11, 100mhip,
"end" of tO"'n the contiguous set of neighborhoods) is hi'lorically tl.e
lirst. shll lhe most immediatr Dln'iow, base for okmocTlltic
politic,. People: mosl likely 10 be koowledgeabk concerned,
adi,.., dfrcti'r, ""hen Ihey cbe 10 Ilonle, amorlg friends
/amiliar enrmies, The dcmocr:alir school, then, ,hould be 3n endo,ur-.:
wilhin 3 neighbofhood: 3 'pl'Ci31 enviromnenl within known "''Orld,
""herr children 3rr brought togethrr ,tlJdc,nts exactly a, Ihq will
Onr day corlle together citium. [n Ihi, 5elting, the school most c::nily
reali1.es its role. On the O11r hand, children go to schools
Ih3t thf:ir Hkdy to support. On the other
political dl'CiJions abouttk school, m;odc by a di,..,rse group
of aoo llOIl-parrnl" within limits set by thr And thac:
de:ci,ioll$ 3rr cmied out by tc:achm educaled (mostly) outside: thr
neighborhood wen politically rf:SpoI1sibk. [t is
made for conflict_nd, inlact, school polities in Ihe
United prob.:lbly the mootli,..,ly engaging kind of
politics. Few parent, C"er entirely ...tisfied by its QUlcom<5, and
children almosl to lind WQfld school different from the
one they krlQW The school is a "oouse of the
).),mg ,lIrn 3nd ,,",omn," and 3 place with its own ch.u:Jclrristic inlrl
Icclual discipline.
P3frnts oftcn try 10 drfrolt Ihi' discipline, and the corps of teachm
i, 001 ah<":J)'S ,trong enough to maint3in it. The distribution of
schoo!illi i, ,haped in ,ignificant "'":J)"5 by 001 poIitiC'l[ 'Iruggles O\'el
the ,iu and the C"erydly go\,etnmcnt of thr school di,trict, thr a[\oc:;J
tion of funds, Ihf: sear-.:h for new tc:acoo" the precise rontrnt of the
curriculum, and "" on. Neighborhood schoob will II."",r !It tile .. me
diffnent nrighborhoods. H.-oce lho- simple .-qu.t[ity of OIle
child/one place in Ihe edUCOltional systrm rruakrs for only part of the
'10f)' of justice in edUCOltion, But I think it i. to ""hen neigh_
borhoods opell (",'hen or ethnic identity is 001 o'..,r
member,hip placc:l, and wkn "elY neighborhood ha, its own
,trong school, then ju,tice ha, donc:. The childfl:f1 afe equals
""ithin complex set of distributi,.., 3mngl:fllCut,.1lJcy rec:ci'"e 3 com
mon edUCllioo, C'"rn if there i.lIOme ill the curriculum (md
in the ways stress or dide: Ihi, Of that area within Ihe CUlncU'
"5
SPHERES OF JUSTICE
lum) from place to plJa., 11te rot.e.i,'enns of I"" l:Kulty.".d I"" roop-
01 critie>1 zeal of the p;uenb will val}', 100; but these are varia
tions intrinsic to the characteJ of a democratic school, inevitable fea-
tmes of complex equality.
The Ume thing can be l3id of the, patterns of student assodatKlII.
Some school will be lIlore hetefU@:enCO\lS than othelS; 'llllle
eonbets aerou groups, lIlOfe lense than others, The boulldal}' ronllicls
endemic to a pluralist lOCic:ty will be faced in every school, but 5Ome-
times in a miklc:r, 50metimes in a more acute, form. Jt requiTCS erlfaor-
dinary ideological zeal or gTeat prigsishnc:u to insisl that the:, be faced
in their 111O$t 'leute form c:verywhele and all the lime. 011e coold, in-
deed, nrange for that, but only by a radical Woe: of slate power. Now,
the state lou mIlCh to do with regard to education. II requiles school
attendaoce, establishes the genmll character of the curriculum, poIicn
the process, But if the schools are to have any inward
shength at all, there must be limib on the state's ac:tivity--limits fired
by the integrity of ac:adc:mic: subjects, by the profc:lliooalism of teach-
tIS, by the principle of equal romideration-and by an associative pat-
tern that democratic: politics but is not dominated by the:
powerslhat-be or Ihe reigning ideologies. lust as SUCCCII in the Cold
War was 1le\"CT a rason for doing anything more than improving the
quality md attractiveness 01 the specialized scllOXlls, 10 the goal of an
integraled society was a reuon for goillg beyond the remedies
required to end ""inful segregation..... ny more ,adie>lsubordination of
schooling to political purpose uMermina the strength of lhe school,
the success of ill mediation, and then the vallK' of schooling as a social
good. Ultimalely, it makes lor less, not greale" equality when studenlS
and teachers are subject to the tyranny of polities.
,
Kinship and Love
The Distributions of Affed
Kinship tin ,c!:llion. arC commonly thought to COIlstitut..
a domain !>eyor>d the ,each of justice. They arc judied in
other te,ms, or ....., arc taught not to "" judgmental. People Joo,..., as best
ther can, and their feclinglO an'! be ,cdi.jribuled. It might Ix, I"""
as &lmuel Johnsoo llnec said, thai ":-'Imiages would in genelal be n
happy, md ohen more so, if they werc all made by the Lord Chmcel-
Ior."l But no one has s.eriously propos.ed a1mding the Lord Chancel
lor's P'O""CI in this way, IlOl even for the sake of greater happiness (and,
ilthat, why not equal happiness?). II would, r>e\'erlheless, be a miJtake
to think of kinship and \o\"e as a sphe.e dillerent from all the others,
as a saeR'll precinct, like lhe Vatican in republic:ln [taly, safe from
philosophical criticism. In fact, it is closely connected to oth.". di'lribu-
Ii,..., spheres, highly \'ulncr;lbk 1(1 their intencntiOIll and itself pcrvll'
.i...ly inA""nl",!. III boundarico oflen h.., lQ be dd..,KIM, if nol
.g.in.l t Lord Ch.ncdl<x, lh..n q.itlll JOIII 01 tyr.mnical in
lruoior>----t qU:IrI..,ing of troopo;n priv,ll.. homa,!Of ..umpk, Of I....
d<'m.md for child bbcw in f;,cloric:s .nd milICI, or I.... "viiito" of 1OCi31
'to'Or1:..rs, trwml offi.cffs, polittmen, .nd oth..,. '&<'flU of ITJOlkm
llal... And at...., spherco h.,.., to b.. defended .pinst itl intrusions,
apinsl nepotism .nd in our socidy, though not by
.ny m"'nI in .11 5OC;"li... , .... blocked act. of 10\....
[mporl.nt dillributiom .re carried out within the f.mily .nd
through the .lli.nce of f3milies. Dowries, gifu, alimony,
SPHERES OF JUSTICE
mutlUl aid of many different kind!, all these are subject to customl
and rules that are corwentional in character md refkct deep, bUI TK:\'er
urKknlandings. More imporbnl, kn1: and
too, and p;lrCTltal COIlce,", and filial respeel are similady subied and
limiLlfly rdIectiR "HOllO' Ihy father and thy mother" il a dillributi\1:
rule. So is lhe Confuci:ln malim about eldeT brothen,l So are the mu].
Iitude of presc:riptions that anthropologilts have turned up, that attach
chiklTen to theiT maternal uncles, for example, or wives 10 lheir mooth-
ero-inlaw. These: dillribulioos, too, dc-pmd upon ctIlrural understand
ings thaI chanse 0\l:T time. If people Io\'e and marry heely, as"e sup-
posedly do, thaI il becaUlC of ..,hal kn'e and marriase mean in OUr
!(lCiety, Nor are we entirely free, despile a luccasion of liberalion stlllg-
Sics. Incat il It ill ruled out: 'TIle laual permisli\-.:ness of the COIdem
porary w.-stern world has not dorle away with this restriction"} PoI)"g
amy is ruled out, too. Homosexual marria&e remainl legally
unrecognized and controo.'enial. MiKegen.:ltion C\Trrin with
it5O<:ial, if no longer legal, penaltia. In each of these: (\1:ry different)
cala, "Iibcntion" ..'Ould be a redistributive act, a n..... aTrangement
01 commitments, obIigationl, responsibilities, and al1i:1nces
ThTOUiOOuI most 01 human hillory, lo-.e ar>d marri:lge h3\1: been
far closely r..guLated than they aTe in the United Stall:s tochy.
The rul.-s 01 kinship a.e an anthropoklgi 1feast, wonderfully various
and highly snsooed. lb.-.e a.e a hundred ys in which the basic dio-
t.ibuli,'e question-Who, .. whom!---is asked and ans..'e.ed Who
.... n sleep with Who can mall)' whom? Who li\'es with
Who eall wilh Who with whom? Who mUltshow
respeet to Who il Tesponsible for The am"1:llto these:
questions OOI\.ltitute an elaboRte system of .ules, and il i. a feature 01
the earliest understanding of JlO"'e. that chim Of princa who
violate these rules are tyTantJ. 1be deepest understanding of Iyranny
p,obably lies here: it is the of JlO"e. O"e' kin.hip, Marriage
il mely what John Selden .... Ikd it: "nothing but a civil COIltract:"
It is part Q/ alariC' system, ..hich Iqilbtors ordinariI)' deal wilh only
at the maTginl or after the fact, for the TTIOfal ...d abo the sp;llial a.-
rangemenl of "pri,,,te" life: homes. meals, wits, duties, expres!ionl
of feeling, and tranlfers of goods.
In many times and places, the of kinship range C,'\'cn
farthe., lhaping politics, too, and fixing 1q:al .tatul and the lif..
chanCel of imli,iduals. Indeed, Ofle ,iew of human history has il that
all .phe,,," of rebtinmhip md di.l.ibulinn, all the "oomp;lnies" of
men and women, Ipin oft the family, much al the full of Ilale ofIicn
,,8
Kinship 1...0\1:
institutionllpin off the kin.g'l But the oppolitioll of kinship
and po!iticl is "el)' old, pe.haps primordial. "E"ery lOCidy," the coo
tnnp.mry anth.opoIogist MC}1:1 FO.tCl has w.illen, ", . , comp.ise!
two biuie ()fOCIS of 5O(:;a\ rebtiolls .. , familial domain and politico-ju"']
domain, kinship and poIity."6 It makes .!'elllC to lilY, then, thai killship
rules don't cnromp:l$l: the lOCia] wOfld but mnk off the first sct of
bounda.ies within it.
The family is a sphe.e of Ipcciall"Cblionships, This child is the apple
of its father's C}1:; that child is its mother'l joy, This brother and siste.
Io\e one ar>Othcr ""tIel than they should. ThaI uncle dotes OIl a
niece is a wOfId of p:lssion and ;calous)', whose mcmbcn f......
quently seck 10 monopolize aeh othel'S affections, while all of them
ha'1: at the liImc time $OfT1e m;n;"",1 dairn--atlc<lst as against OIlbidcn
who may "'1:1\ ha'l: no claim al all, The line beh<..-en insiders and out
siders is often .halply d.a,,'n: inside, "the rule of p.esc.iptive altruilm"
applies; outside, not? Hcnr:c the family is a pcrcnnial SOIJIC'C of incqtul
ity. Thi. is 10 r>()\ only fof the reason usually gi\'en, bec;oU$e the family
functions (diffe.ently in differenl !OCielics) as an OfIomie unit ....ithin
,,'hieh walth is hoarded and p:lSlcd on, but also bec;ousc itlunctions
as an eUlolionalunit within which !m'e is bo;tlded p:lucd on We
might betlel lay, paucd around and then p;lucd on, and initially at
Ic<Ist fOI' intnnallealOnl, Favoritism begins;n the famil)'-as ",hen J&-
lCph i;nglcd out from his brothen-<md i. only then ""Ic",led into
politics md .eligion, into schoot., markets, and ....()fkplxcs.
Pldlo', CUdrdidnf
The mOiltlarlic:l1 egalitarian p.oposal, then, the simplest ";ly to sim-
ple equality, i. the abolition of the Iomily. I h..1: alr1:arly OOrISide.W
this p.opoul in the sphere of wOOltion, where the school oHen ao im-
mediate altemali,'e, But the school, C\1:n the aU-fllOOmp;lSling school,
abali.hcs only the .]><'<:i.1 relalion of pillenl. wilh child.en above a CCI_
tain age; md it is "'()rth conside.ing a more ",diC311 abolitionism. lmag
ine a lOCicty like lhat of Plato'. Cuardian. whe.e, within each genera
tion, all the mcmbcu are sibtiniS, brothcn and sistcn who know noth-
ing of their own blood ties and who pmdocc thl'OUih a kind of civie
"9
SPHERES OF JUSTICE
iflCCSt a new gnlCr.ltion of ehildlen to whom they only
M"ol'r particular, parents. Kiruhip i! hence dfecti\l'ly
assimilated 10 political may npKt that
passion and iealousy witt find way even into hearlJ 01 uni\1'rsal
siblings;. But wilhoul a dea' 1CIlM: of and "Ihine," ,,'ithout u
dusin 10 penons 0' lhings, Plalo ug",,", "a fit of passion i, las
10 grow inlo a serioo! indj,'idual as know him
brtd as Plato h.ew him), who "[drag'l oll' com f", him
KU into a he [hall his family, fornling
a of joy1 and IOIrowS," wilt no exist. Instead.
men and 'NO"",n will experience pleasure and pain as COmmon passions;
the jealousies of family life will be lepbc:ed by an emolional, as welt
as a material. egalitarianism the ,egime of "fellow feding,"IO It i. the
triumph of equanimity O\-er paSliorute intensity,
The triumph, too, of political community for, as La,,'rerK'r
Slone hal written in his study of Ihe dr.elopment of the contemporary
family, "the distribulion of all'ective lies ... is something of a le'0-5Um
g.1me. , . , The highly penonali>.-ed, inw;ml-Iooking bmily was aehiC\'ed
in pall at the cost of ... a "'ithdl1lwal from the rich and integr.lted
community life of the "",I."" The ,,"'''' withd,a",,,l to haY<:
OCCUrled in earlier times, too. Perhaps the community life of the pa,t
is a golden age, and abolitionism a perennial utopia, In any case, the
purpose of abolition is oot 10 achiC\'e some belween kinship
and Cl;Ommunity, but radically to rC\'ene Ihe oulcome of
To be ,ure, Plato imposn his egalitarian regime only 011 the Cuardian,
His own purpose: i! not to produce a I'uly uni\1'rsal "mour 1OCi4/ or
10 equalize the erperience of 10-'1' (though he attaches real '-alue to
equanimity); he ,,-anll to eliminale the of I",.., in the politics
of the city_hl
o
free the Cuardiaru from lhe temptation to prefer fam
ily inte,ests 10 1hQ.:", of the ....hoIe community."u 0."..,11 dcs<'rihes a
,imil:lr purpose in his IlO\'t:I Ninrtern Eishtr-Four: the .... L..eaguc
seeks to bar.n kinship ties among parly members, so .. to bind thrm
unequi,-oc:ably 10 the party (and to Bij: Brother). Bul the prolcs are
free to m.arry as they please and to Jo::,..., theil own childlcn, .... demo-
cratic [ assume, could not tolerale sueh a di"ilion; kinlhip
would ha\'e to be abolished enti,ely. It isn't :occidental, thai
philosophers and oo\..,lislJ who ha\'e imagirlCd the abolilion ha,,,, so
often thought in telms of an elite, "'hQ.:,,, members could be compen-
JIlted by ,pedal p,crogati\"CS fo' loss of 'pKial affection,.
For it is a loss, and one that is likely to be .esisted by mOliI men and
"vrnen. Whal "1' think of .. the highest fo,m of communal
'3'
Kinship Lovt
lifc-un;V<:rsal brotherhood and liste,hood-is probably incompiltiblt
",jlh any plOCUS of popula, decision 11lt ta"C is tht same in
moral philosophy. A numbel of ,,'ritcn ha,oe a,gued th3t the highat
(Olm of tthico:ll life is OOe whele the ",uk of p1eICripti'oe allruism" ap-
plies uni,'ersally, and there aTe 00 obligations to (or
f,itnds)U Faced with 3 choice between s:",;ng my 0"'(\ child or lOme
Olle t1"Cs fmm 30 imminent 3nd teflible danger, I ",ould adopt 3 Tan-
dom decision prottdu'e, It would be much easie', ob,'iously, if I "'e,e
not 3bk 10 rreogniu my ()lO.n childTt\l 01 if I had no chiklten of my
","'n. But this hight$l form of ethiCllllife .. 3'<Iibblt 0111" to 3 lew
stlng.minded philosophefl 01 to monks, helmits, and platQ<Tic gwm:l.
unl. The Ttlt of ul must settle for something Ies., which "'e aTe
10 think ol3l something bettel: WC' draw the best line tholt "'e can be
t,,'ec:n the family and the commullity 3nd live .....ith the unoeqwl interni
ties of Jcr,'e. 1'h3t n>tans th3t some bmilia will be wa"lIer and mort
inliTTl3te th3n othe,s Some childlen will be bette, loved than othe,s.
Some mt\l and women willlOO\'e into the spheraof educatiol', 'nooey,
md politics wilh alilhe sdf-confidtoce Ihat pa,ental affection and ,e
spect can while uthell will slep f"""<I,d haitantly, full of
self-doubt, (But "'l:" Cll(\ slill try to rule 001 b'"OIit"m in the school!
3nd "family alli3nca" in lhe ei,'il
If ,,'e give up uni,,,rsal kinship, "'" 3'Tangement of family tie$ letnu
to be theoretically 01 <:\'en generally p,eferable, Th"e is 00
sinele sct of pililSional ronnedionslholt is more just lhoin all of the altCl-
nati,,, sets This point, Ilhink. is commonly COIlttded by ,,'rilen wOO
"",,,rtheleu letk a highly specific and unitary justice in othe. sphe,a,
Bul the a,gument is the same here as elsewhere. We dOIT't know, fOf
tllampk. whether the political community should make the d'3m3
equally accessible to all its rnembe.., unlil we know what tk drama
mtans in this 01 tholt cultu'e, We don't whethel the gle of gunl
shouk1 bt a blod.ed elchange, unlil ,," know how guns 3'e used on
p",ticula, $I,eets. And we don't know how much affection 0' ,espect
is due to husbands, until "'e the an$\<... to the question with
which LlK')' Mai, openl he, anth,opoIogical study of marriage: "Wh31
3.e husb:md$ 10,/,'14
In each Joc-ll ",tting, of the,e a,e ob;ectil'e l',incil'lI':s, SOnlt
times di$puted, often "iobted, but commooly unde..tood. Joseph's
brothe... ,esented thei, father's !amriti,m beClluse it ""01 beyond the
bounds, so they thought, of patliarchal willfulness. In soch caleS,
though ofte" wilh unhal'P)' co"lIe'llltr>CU, "'e Iea,'e the en!o,ce,nent
of Ihe lekv.lnt p1iocipll':s to the members of lhe f3mily. We don't "",nt
'3'
SPHERES OF' JUSTICE
government officials stepping in to rruake sure tlut l:\'er)unc: (or lIO OIIe)
gets J C();lt of rflimy colon. Only when hmilial distribution! undeleut
the promises of comlllu!lJ1 membenbip Jnd we1fJre Jre intervenliollS
requirtd, J! in the ale of negJeeted childll:11, $;Iy, ()l of h:lllered wi"e!.
The distributioll of family weiltb is also jqally regulated; bul tl>oe
rqulatiollJ ale likely to represc:nt, as I ha"e already suggested in my
dilCul$ion of gift, and the exlcmill,."fOlCf:mffit of prinei
pies originally inlernalto a particulal understanding of family lies
Family and Economy
[n early modem political thought, tloe family is often described as a
"Iitlle Ilale>O within which children ale taught the "i.lues of obedienCf:
and Plepared lor ciliumhip (or, more oftm, subjection) in the larger
s!:ate, the politic:ol community as J whok-
u
This looks like a formula
for integration. but il also had another pmpose. If the hmily "''as a
little l!:ate, then the bther was J little king, and the realm o'"l:r ""hicb
he ruled WolS a reilm the ting himself eoold lIOt in"ade The litlle s!:atcs
bounded Jnd contained the larger one of ",'hick they were also the
p.uts. Similally, we canlhink of lhe family as an economic unit. par
tiany integlatcd into, but also fixing lhe bourn:!:,,;'" of, lhe sphere of
money and commodities. OllCf:, of course, the integration was perfect.
The Grcek "''Ord from which our tcOnomy derives means ,imply
"household it dcscriba a sinile sphere dillinet from
thJI of politics. But whCfIC"ICr the CCOllOmy tates on an independent
eharxter and mata for the company not of rebti,"CS but of strangers,
Whcne-.Cf the market replaccsthe sellsub3iSlmt household, our under
stamling of kinship sets limits on the teich of establishing
a within which markclllOfllll don'l apply. We can sec: this most
clearly il ""e COllSider a period of lapid ccooomic as in the cady
Industrial RC\'Olutiou.
MDnchtslcr, ,8.,4
Engels had a great deal to say aboul wo,tingdass families in his JC'
rount of fJctory life in Manchester in ,8#_ He told a ItOlY not only
of misery but also of moral cataslrophe: men, women. ami childr""
wOlling from ria..'n to dusk; infants left behind, loch'll up in lilly un
'3'
Kinship and Love
heated rooms; radical failurf of socialization; brakdown of tht
structures of md mutu.ality; a lou of kin,hip feeling Undf' coodi-
tions that those feelings no room no realization 16 Histori-
ans tOlily that Engds the strfT1gth resil
iency of the and hdp II was able to pTO\'ilk. un<kr but
tht "'(ITst of ronditioru. to its memkn. l' But I am less in
tht accur.lCyof Engfls's attOOmt-it is eoough-than in what
it of arly socialist
They saw as an on thf family, a disrup-
tion of domestic bonds: "all ,"mill' tiM among tht prokhrians tom
and thfi, ehildrfT1 into simpk articles of com-
mera of laboT. HI! Am! to this tyranny they .ld them-
Sfhes in opposition.
as Engels dcsc'ibed it, is anoth.." example of the un
l.Ond city, money lTiumphant So into
tht faeloriM, ""Omen into pr05tilution; til<' family is
is no ..,nl<' of and home, no time fOT domestic
and family celebrations, no rest, no intimacy. 1M: family relation,
and Engels wlote in the Man;fnta, is ",educd ... to a mere monfy
Communism, they _nt on, will brirli with it abolition
of tll<' boulgmis ,"mill'; but since the bourgeois family aheady repre
lCf\ted. to their mimls, til<' abolition of kimhip am! k,..-e-the ensLne-
ment of childlen and "til<' community of womcn"-what they really
intended is something closer in it! likely efFtttI to a Icstoration. Or
IIttter. they argued that when production is finally and fully socialized,
til<' family will emerge for the lint time an indcpcn<knt ,phele, a
sphele of penonal relations, b,ased On md free entirely 110m
the t)TlInn)' of tnorl"}"--'lIld abo, they th.otlght. from elo.sely ,elated
t)'ranny of fathers and husbands.
19
'
The 'CSponSf of tra<k unionists and reformers to the COIlditiom that
Engels described was more simply dcfensi,e. lbey wanted to "5o"VC"
the uisting family, and that i. the pu,pose of great <kal of nine-
tecnth-ntury factory legislation. ChildlaboT laws, the shorter work
ing doy, TCStlietions 00 the WOTk that women might do: all these
designed toprotecl bmilytiM .gainst the market, to mark out a certain
All"""'" E.,..lo pbyo lit "" on ,10< "'trine 01 <Md... ;" h. "'......0: -.. 01 _I
,..-<boo ld. m M.n<hr,m-, <d M " _ to II< '"
-'.CI>IdmI wil 1I< <d forUOll" U,,101hH both 1" _ ...... m-..l """""'"",,
...kn
LbbutL Bot rrn ,lit ""ocI;';"'. 01 ..... _I. h\tlr to o<tIdt ... "", .. 01
.... -.., bono< m 'h< r.m inof""" '" II", waOal ............. Th< l.m'Iy, -.. pal
...;"yol." '".1oiclI mclo<I< b<lI .._ lit h<t<>nd ,,,,,,,,",,-,,,;0.,,1 __'_
,.,."lI {.hy ' ,II< "'mill ........ oocioI .. PK"!ocliooli. -n to _ 'ho' ....
SPHERES OF ,USTICE
to free minimal time, for domestic A"cry old roncep-
tioll of domaticity underlay this cllort. T1lc space and timc were meant
primalily for rnothcTl and chiklrl'n; the home """. conceivd to
on two, whik werc nlOre distant protectors, who pm.
tected only in order to protect thci. dependl'ntl. Hern:e
"womcn commonly cxcluded from trade unions, and male trade
unionists demanded a wage that could suppol't the entire family."ll
T1lc domestic """s woman'. place, child.cn around hel,
in her nurturing Victorian sentimentality is as much a p.oIe-
tarian as a bOUTgeoil c.eation. T1lc family is the Ii.st form
that the distribution of kinship and taka, in West at least,
once household and economy pulled apa.t.
Marriage
But the establi,hment of the oo","lic sphere begins Ioog befooe the
Industrial Revolution and ha' consequcnces '"CI)'
from those suggested by the word domesticity. These arc mOlt clearly
"isibk in the upper claues; they growwt of a twofold of bound
ary drawing, not only between kinship and economic but also be
N"C"n kinship and politics. T1lc aristocratic and Mul bourgeois Familia
of e;lrly modern period ...'ele little dynasties, T1lcir marriages "'"CfC
complex matters of exchange and alli<lncc, carefully planned and da-
bor:otdy negoti<ltcd. This sort of thing penis" in our own though
the negoti<ltions flll\\\idays rarely explicit. I suPJlO5': that marriage
will al"""ys have this aspect, so long as families placed
in the social and the political "''OfIds, 10 long as Family busi
neues and wen-eslablished networks of Simple would
cxchange and allianee by eliminating familial diffCleJ1cc, "II
""CI)' family brought up at lame cost," wrote Shaw, ""'"C
should all hi\"C the lame habits, culture, and rdil>Cmcllt; and
the dustman"s daughter could marry son as easily a, a ,tock-
brokco's IOn now marries a bank manager's "11 All marriages
WOIJId bc 10"" matches-.and this is indttd the tendency,
a, it of the kinship systcm as .... currently understand it.
But Shaw O'ICfcstimated power of money. He WOIJId ha,"C to re-
quire not only that noehild be blought up ill a fllmily ""ith IDOlley
'34
Love:
than othn families, but 00 child be: b.ought up in family
"'ith more: politic:ll influenoe Of other None
of this is pouible, I think, SOOft of the of the: itsell.
Somdhirli of the ume: dlc:cts can be howevcl, thlough
ration of distlibuti"e sph....es. If family membel"lhip politinl influ-
ence arc entirely distinct, if nepotism is ruled out, inherihlncc
lido md 50 0<1, thc:n thele is much Ins re:uon
to think of n eithe. or ..... rK! then
sons CLlUghtCl"l Cim bnd will) search fOl' ",hom they'find
physically OIspi.itually So long as the family was intcglillffl
into polilical crooomic life:, [l).rumlic Io-'e had its place outside.
lroubaool'l celcblilted was, 50 to distribu
tion, The independence of the family rnne 10' 3 .docalion of Jo.,"t:.
0. Qf romanCC: forlo-'e c:Jlisled in the oklcr family,
100, though il ""OS often about in a lhe:torically ""'y.
NO'" romantic Io-'e, mo.e o. los infbted, is conceived to be the sole
hasis fOl' malliage married life. But that mcan. that
marriagc. 31e out Qf the hands of pa.cots thcil
for eample) deli'"CTcd into the hands of childlco.
The di.tributi\"t: principle Qf romllntic Io-'e is f.ee choice. I don't IIIC.an
that lIee d>Oicc is the sole di.tribuli..., priociple in the sphere of kin-
ship, 11Iat can neiler be the case; fen though I choose my spouse, [
don'l choose my lPotJll"S rel.ltil'cs, and the Further obligations of m.u
.iage a.e at...lIyJ culturally and not individually dctcnnincd. Nc-'e.lbc-
less, kr.'e focuSCI OUI allention on the couple who choosconc
And it has this crucial implication: the man and the: woman
are not only Free but equally flCC. The feeling must be mutual, it lakes
two 10 lango, and 110 on.
Hencdorth ""t: <'all pa.enls if they tty 10 usc thcil eronomic
01 political prl"'er 10 Ib""'ll the desircs of lheir children. Ihe
children arc of age, pa.enU ba..., indeed 00 legal .ight to punish or
rcstlain lhem; lhouah SOIlS and daughlefl who n,arry can
still, as the uying goes, be rei oft ....ithout emt, Ihis thrat is no
longel pa.t of the (in some counllics, it's not
palt of its legal alsenal eilher): in these mallell, parenti ha"" lillie
aulhority. 1l>cy must pby, if they can, on the feelings of
thciT children. This is somelilllCl caned, when it "o.ls, "CITKlOonaI
But I think that phrase is 'A-TOflg-----()r. it i. used metaphori-
cally, like Some:.set Maugbam's bondage" rOT the play 01
feeling, the c:Jlpc.icnce of emotional intensity, ;s ;ntl;nsic 10 the
sphere of kinship and not inIrUli\'e upon it. rTcedom in kr."C de
'35
SPHERES or JUSTICE
SCTib... choke made: irxkpendently of the ronsl ..inb of exch.nge
.nd .lliantt. not of the C'Qmtr:ointl of Ioo,c itJelf
Ci"it Ball
If children .re frcc to Icwe."d m.ny" they ple.'C. ther<: mrnt be
social sp3ce Kt 01 ur.ngements .nd pr:ottiec:s....ithin ....hich they
can rrulke their choices "mong politial.mI socialtheorislS. R.J.u,...,.u
reros:nized this most ...d. with th.t exll3Ordin.ry foresight th.1
so often m.rls hi, WlIrk, dacribed wlut .....s 10 bccomcone of tl.e most
romrrtOll arr.mgement a p3rticuur J()l"t of public festi\..l '"the Nil for
)"OUng tt.. rriaguble persons" In his Lrlttr to D'A 0" 1711"
atrw. RoulSC.u wished that there were not som;,"y '"Krupulou, doubt,"
about dancinli: among lhe Cene",,",. For wh.t better .....y is thete than
this "agreeable nerciJe" in which )"OUnli: men .nd ....omen C':I.n ",how
themllCka of! ....ith the chaTI'm and the faults ""hieh they might pol-
ICU. to the people ""hole inteled it is to know them ",'ell kfore being
obliged to Io\'e them!"]) RooS50C311 to be sure, thought th.t molhers
and falhen (.nd gr.ndmothers .nd gr:ondfathml) should .ttend theJe
I>.l1s, ., lpecblol'l not p3tticip3nls; and Ihi, ....ould, 10 uy the lent,
imJ'OSC' cetl.in ..g"'...it)'.. upon the ocasion. SlilI, the ,,'ent thol I.e
describe. hos puyed. urge part in Ihe rom.:Inlic life of Ihe young O\'er
the p;lsllC\'er.1 centuries It is often org.ni-td on euss b>sil--->llntry
dub lX)tiliions and "roming oot" p3rties----but it .ho hal more demo-
cr.tic forms, as in the high school prom. ""hith aIry fmward into oor
own time ROUISCOlU'I C':I.utiously expressed inkntions; thot "the indil'"
tiolll of childlen WlIuld be some....hal [their) choice "":lUld
depeml somewh.t more 00 their harts; the agleementl of age. lemper-
ament. laste, .mI chancter ....ould be conlulled som......hot more; and
1m attention would be p3id to those of station and lortune" Social
relations would become ea.ier, .nd "rrumiagel. less ciTCunucribcd by
r.nk.... ... temper nccssh'e inequality. "14
The implicit romp;lrilOnl in the powage I h..'e just qlloted ale ...ith
the l)'stem of artanged Hlilrriagn, the nch.nge of childre" "'"d mate-
rial goods, too),.nd the allianee of families. Rousscau's civic 1>.11 is de-
signed 10 l'aeilitate al well as npress the ne", syllem of free choice.
The p;lrenll are there. above all, to sienalthcil acquiesc:ence. though
also no doubt to qll;llify the fleedom in subtle and not SO wbtle ..... )'1.
11le cily's er>dorscment ho, another plllJ'OSC'; it confilll1sthe family',
(p;lrl;;,l) "'p;l",lion from political and C'COfIomic life ilnd guanlltces,
or at least protects. free choice in kn'e, I" e""etly the same ..... y. cily
'3
6
Kinship and Love
magistrates misht .p01110' a fair Or a malket and gUOlr:lI1t.-e frec ex
ehang:c_ But the city in any scnse fill in lor the lost pllYo'Cl of
Rousseau actually proposed that a "Queen of the Ball" be
elceted by a $cl of judges; but the magillrates don't l-ote, nOl' 00 the
citizens, on "'ho shall marl}' whom.
Idtd of Iht
I [lte;!n to d"ell for a bit 011 tllCSC mechanisms for the distribution
of 1o\'C and maHiage bK:ouse the)' play such a crucial j>art in t\'eryday
life and to rarely ligule in disowions of distributi\'e justice We think
of them now almo:st entirely in terms of freedom, the light of individu-
als to do as the)' please ....ithin $Orne Jt1OI1II and legal framewOIk (....hich
ess.mtially establisha the r;ghb of other indi,-idUOlls), Thm the old b",
ag>inst copubtion, exlramalital scx, are underllood .imply as infringe-
ments of individual freedom. So they are, I suppose, at least to lIS; aoo
"'C are inclined to believe that they 3re enacted IOkly lor that purpose
by .mallminded IegisbtOls offended by other people's pleasures. But
thc3e ",ther, the system of Illoral and legallestraint of which
they eonstitute the taUeled rcmains--are designed "'ith brg:cr goals
in mimi, They ale $0 many eftorts to defend lOCial goods the "honor"
of a ....oman and hel family, for example, or the vallie of marriage or
of the Clchange or the alliance that marriage embodies, Ami they be-
eome tyrannical only when physicallol'C is publicly cooceivcd (l hal'C
no doubt that it has always been p,intel)' colleeh'ed) as a goodin-itself.
0.-, when it is eonceiled as a good instrumental to free choice in mar
riage; "an exercisc" by which l'Ol.1ng men and "Omen "show
themsell'C:J oft ... to the people ",hose interot it is to them ....ell
befOie being obliged to them." Were it not instrumental to mar
ried kn'C (at least sometimes), I suspect that "''C ...ould worry more than
""e 00 about the pli\1Ite assignation, whele children are entirely free
and the porenlal prescoce di$;lppear.
The oomesticated \'ersion of the assignation is the "date," probably
the most common form of courtship in the West today, The early hil-
tory of the date is staid eroough. We can get JOme scnscof it, for exam-
ple, in the following brief acoount of courtship in rural Sj>ain: '11>erc
young men choose thcil girls at the Sunday CI'Cning prome,udc ....he.e
all the unmalfied peopIc of the \'ilbg:c circubte together. The suitor
first "1Ilb ....ith his gill in the th.." goes with her to the
<:<>fne, of her .trm, and final1y commits himself by ",king to entel her
house,"" H."e the promc-nadc is a kind of malkd; the young people,
'37
SPHERES OF JUSTICE
hut espttYll)' the the goods; "<lIking togrloo is
ti,l.' exchange, These gen<:nl prt'lttI;Iures ha,l.' been extrOIOrdinaril)'
bk (ro"CT though they ha,t: also been markr!! In lurs by
gruter equality intimaey in the both equality
and intimae)' are the consequences 01 ,,=lorn in lO\e. The prllCe.. still
culminates, \t:ry often, in the family visit, intnxloction to pilrents,
soon. But it can obviously culminate differently, oot in a marriage hut
In then the family visit is likely to be avoided-then, in
deed, the cOfmeetion bet",","," lO\'e killlhip i. likely to be broken
oft entirely.
Pe.haps "l.' shouldla)' that theJe is a sphere of p,i'<lte a/Jain, within
",hich irHIi"idual men women are radically free, and where e>t:ry
kinship obligation is as a kirHI of tyranny, [n effect, lhell:
are 00 obligations-flOt, at least, untit iudges step in to e"fooce a kind
of kinship, requiring alimooy p;lymenls, for nampk, to fOlllle,
loven, The sphere of lHi.....te is euctly like the marlet in com-
modities. except that these commodities o"'n themseh'C:S' the gilt of
..,If and the YQluntary exchange of ..,hc:s the model lr:msaciions.
Love, alfectioo, friendship, generosity, solicitude, and rc:spect arc not
only initially but continuously, at evCJ)' point in lime, malle" of
individual choice, TIlC disltibutivc mechanism through which these
choKo are made will be oot the ci\ic Nll or the public promenade
but something lOOI'e like the single<' Nr md the claS'lifiro ad...erti..e-
ment. The .c:sultillg distribution.< are obviously guing to be "ery un-
equal, even if opportunities are lOOI'e Of less the s;rme for C\'eryone;
more they are also gtling to be ...ery precariom. Against thi.!
Ncqroond, "'-e can <ee that the foImily is kind 01 "'dfare which
guarantees to all its members KlIne modiCtlm oIlO\-e, frie",hhip, gene,-
O$ity, and 10 011, and which tases its membcn lor the s;rle of the guaran-
tee. Familial love is radically unronditionro, ",he'Qs a pri\':Ile afFai.
is a (guod Of 00d) Nrpin.
Childrell ob"iously a thrQt to the aMolute freedom of the af
!air_which i., indeed, more PeJfectly .eprcscntoo by friendship th:1n
by heterosexual Jo--e. An)'OfT(' rommiltro to the affair must find some
"':Iy to liberate p;lrents lJOffi children or men and "llrTICII generally
from parentinr;. Hence a '<lrietyof pJOposal1 ha'e been brought for
ward, aiming, mostly, at one or all(ltber fOfm of institutionaliution.
[t i. hard argument, hut a true ooe, that the intCirity of pri,.. te
requira Hem.., lor abandomllCnt. And then if sonle children are
aN"do"ro 10 bureaucratic rearing, "'hy nol, in thc narne of c<jll:llity.
aU of them? One might gtl farthe, still and libente won'", from child-
'3
8
Kinship and Love
birth as ....e11 as pilrents f.om child <:3.e, b,.' cloning the next genelation,
fm eample, or by purchasing b:lbies from rounlriel
l6
This is IlO! the m1isl.ibulion oot the abolition of pilrental and
I suspect thaI il ....ould quickly produce a r.ott of men mel "''O'Ilen i1\<:;l-
pilbk C\'en 01 the commitment required for an alhi . The shength of
lhe f:unily lies. again, in Ihe gw.anlee of 1bc gnarantee isn't al
....3}l dfceti,-e; but for children, at least, 00 0I1e has ret produced a ltlb-
slitute.
1bc sphere of p.i,... le affair! <:3n nn"e\" be a stable place, The market
in commodities wod" beeause the men and women who t,ad<: in com-
modities are C(lnneeled eLse.'here (moll oflen 10 their bmiliel), Bul
here men md women l.ade themselves, and they .re r.Idi<:311)' diJCOll-
neeted, lreelloating subjects. It is. "'ay of life tholm05t people ..ill
choose, if Ihey choice, ooly for a time. From the poinl 01 "iew
of roeidy os ....hole, priY,lIc .ffoirs .re morgin;ll to .nd I"'''nitic upon
bmilies. Exeept.1 the m.rgins, pcnonallife isllO! UK;
fully ('onm'oed 's a affair. [t is focused on the family. even "'hen
the locus is tense alld oppoII;tional. To say this is net by any means
to dclelld political inler"entions in pri",te affairs. 'Because ...e f,eely
love, .s in our ...ill 10 or not:' all sueh interventions arc b:I"ed:
they represent lhe exereise of power outside ilJ sphere.27 [ .....nt only
to reiterate tlul the C(lIlstraints 01 kinship, though they are often oor-
denlOnle and elo:se, arc not for thal.ealOl1 unjwl, Because of ...hot fam
ilies are, freedom in can lafely "'" anything moor<: than a f.ee acp-
tanrt of b pil.tieul.r set of) domeslic rotlstraints.
The W01llan Question
F.ecdom in kn-'e rooically allen lhe sl<lnding of ..'Omen. but it doesn'l.
certainly not in any autom.tic y. end their oppression, For thol 0p-
pression iJ only pil,tly siluated ithin the bmily, As a little economy
and a little state, ruled by a father-king, the bmily hos Ioog been
setting for the dominalion of ...i,on and daughte.s (lOllS. too). It isn't
difficult to collect stories of physical bmt.lity or to describe customa.,.
praetices .nd religious lites that seem designerl, .bove .11. to brak lhe
spi.its 01 young "",men, At lhe same time. Ihe f.mily has Ior'i bet:11
wom.ns place; she "'as .b.ol"tely necasa.,. 10 its Cllislcnee and then
'39
SPUERES OF JUSTICE
to ill wellbeing; and at so"'" ko.-el, in most eultu'fl, she had to be re-
garded as a valued member. Within the hou.Ichold, if only there, she
often l( scmd coruiderable power, The re.:lll domination of ..."Omen
has less 10 do with thei, bmilial place than with their exdusioo from
all othel placfl, They have been denied Ihe freedom of the city, cut
off from distribuli"e processes and tOcial goods outside the sphere of
kinship and love,
Nepotism is the most ,cadily uno:krstood of lhe forms of familial
dominance. bul it is by no means lhe m05I,mportanl. The bmily oot
only favon 50mC of ils memherl; it abo disfavors othell. It reproducn
the ShUCtUTfl of kinship in the largCf world; it imposes "'hat we ru,
renlly call "sex roles" upon a range of acti"itifl to ,,'hich sex is entirel)'
iude.... nt Alongside ncpot:ism--an expressioo of kinship p<efe.-enCfl
whele Plefefence has 00 proper has long cxisted some-
thing like itl opposite: a kind of poIilical and economic misogyny_n
expression of kinship comtraintJ where constraint has no proper pbx.
Thus Ihe denial to ",omen 01 the light to vote, or 10 hold office, or
to Oo'n property, or to SIlC in court, and soon. In the reasor\l
giv..." when anyone bothers to give rcasons, ha'-e to do with woman's
platt ,,'ithin the bmily.u So kinship patte...s are domin:lnt outside
lheir spm-re. And liberation begins oulsilX, wilh a succession 01 claims
lhat this or IhallOCial good ,hould be distributed for it, own, not for
familial, reason'.
Consider jull a few examples, In nineleenth<enlury China, one of
the key demands of the Taiping rebeIJ walthat men md ...Omen alike
,hould be eligible to tah tbe civil service cx3min:llions.
l9
How could
"'OI\1CTl justly be excluded from a .,.'tem aimed solely to di$C'O\-.:r "",r;-
loriouJ Or qualified individuaIJ! I don'l <ioubt tbat deep cultural t,ans-
formations mUlt have taken place befOle it bcca"", possibk C\T1' to
a,k that question. Aflef all, the eraml had been around for a longtime.
But if they do not by themselves prompt the qlJotJtioo, they do pf'O\-'idc
ill moral basis----,and the moral hasis, too, fof the extended anSWCf that
it rci'fl. If women are to take Ihe exams, then they must be alkJo,.-.:d
to preP;lTe for them; they must be :tdmitted to the schooIJ, freed from
concubinage, arnnged marriaga, foot binding, and 00 on The family
itself mu,t be reformed so that ;\$ flO"'e. no longer reaches into the
sphere of ofIi("'f.
The \ffi"",n', suffrage U!O'l'ement in the West <"aD be: .imiLnly de..
sccribed. lis leaden pb)-cd On the meaning of citi7.c:nship in a demo-
cratic "",,;ely. They had, 10 be sure, a i"eat deal to l;Iy about the special
''alues that \ffimen ""0lI1d bring to the performaoce 01 the;, political
'"
Kioship aod Lo"c
role, and these "'ere essmtially the "al\lell of the family, mothe'hood.
nurturan"". sympathy.)O But it wa,m't this IJ(lrt of ara:u",entthat made
their claims ultimatd)' unanS"'erable. Indetd, the coontCTarguments
of the anti-suffragists may yet pro'"C nearer to the truth that the
Ia,ge-scale participation of women i" politics ,,'ill introduce r>t'\l-' forms
of conAict, new cakulations of interest, into the kinship s)'5tem. I Sll$-
pectthat ""hen in 19.7, out of a C01J,ttTn fa, pe:lsant (male and female)
seruibiJilies, Io.too Tse-Iung tried to slow down the commu"ist attack
on the traditional family, he ""3$ restrainillg some of his female com-
rades, who longed 10 introduce the class war into lhe domestic sphere,
'The abolition of the clan system, of supelStitions Ithat is, aneestor
W'O'nhip), and of inequality klween men and women," he wrole, ""..;11
follow as a natural consequen"" of victory in political and econoolic
strlliflJes," And he warned against "crude and arbitrary" interventions
in lhe clail)' condoct of family Iife,ll Presumably, women"..;11 act like
men in politics: that is, we whal power Ihey can muster fOf purposes
of their OIO.'ll-not OIlly a, members of their sc:. (or of their lamiJies),
but as memklS of other gmullS. too, and as iodi,iduak. It is iwt for
this ,eaJOn lhat democracy p[O\'ides no ba,is fOf their nelwion,
The case is the same. with contempo<ary demands for "aliir"
mali.'e action" in Ihe economic sphere, lbough Ihese JOmdimes look
like demands for prde'ential treatment, their deepest purpose is simply
to establish woman's pia"" in the frc.: market, Iwt n mark! forees
should nOl be allo...-ed to disrupt family lies, 10 a particular sri of family
tia should flO! k allowed to con'lrain the play of market fOfCC! Here.
too, there hal been some notion among feminists that "''Olllen would
(or that they should) change the terms of play: reduc.: the slrai1lJ of
rompetition, lor example, or transform the discipline of a full-lime job
or the commitment hitherto entaikd by a career, But whal iS1ll0st im-
portant right nO"" is thai the market, as it actually functions and as
We ur>dmtand its fUrlCtioning, sets no internal bar to the participation
of "''Omen, It i. focused on the q""lity of goods and on the ,kill and
energy of persons, nOl on kinship ltanding or SOl-unless il is sell ilsell
th.t is being sold, whether the merchandising of "'" and se.uality will
be unOetl:\lt by the enhanced pr=nce of women in the
or merely made more various, remains an open q\lelltion, In any case,
the compan)' of lhe market, as of the forum, is a mi.ed company,
The family ....ill eeltainly be a different ",hen it i, no longer
"''Oman's e.dwi"e place and when the stroclures of kinship are no 10,,
gel reitCTated in other distrihuti,'e spheres, ThI'O"'" back upon its own
laoJurca, it may ....ell pl'O\'e a more fragile aS5OCiation than Ihe kinship
'4'
SPHERES OF JUSTICE
groups of other okkr lOcidier. Still, the of
tions, domcstic reproduction, ehiklTuring lemains, e\'en
oorsel\o'CS, the focus of CIIOfIIlOUSIy distributions, The
"ruk of pll:scriptive il not ruk mo:sl will willingly
up; the .haring of familial weolth (with women nOW of
their rightful .hare) i$ crlJCill.degllud, even in the welfolre statc.
Rising divorce: rata suggat, perhaps, the hood of k)\'e, without
the leinfo:ementl of power internt, will not ma"" lor
stability. But we at .uch point in the hiliOf)' oi the
independent man's ....en as woman's platt, that it wwld be
foolish simply to project currenltrcnds. Nor, as I ha'c argued,
is freely chosen Io'c the IOIe !:wil e.-en of the rontempor:llry
'The love of s.iblingl is important, too, lor e.... mple; though an the
forces of modern life act to undermine it, 10 that "Jibling soIidality
wwld Stt111 . to have little chance of ootbsting ca.ly childhood
.. the C\'idcncc shows that it remaim affective and 1TIOf;1I!
lorce lor mo:st thmughoutlik."H And the nurturancc and wu
eation of children centers the family in nev.' ....;;Iy: parenti today
more likely to take pride in their ehildren"s are chil
dren in the statlll of their parents (or in the ancestors of thei' parents)
Thi., too, n a product of the lqlaration of the foImily from politics and
cronomy, the dcdin.c of national loc:ol the triumph of
complex eq..... lity, Today ...e protect our children as best we ean, prepar
ing them for JChooI, euminatiol1J, work But ....c
determine or guarantee their eareers, assigning daughters to do<rJe!;tio-
ity and motherhood, 1m eumple, sons to the church or ll,e la...
or the lar><!, They make their """n .... bearing the uneq.....l burdens
of parental expect;ltion. the unequal of p;arcnlallove. These
last inequalities anoot be dimi .... tw; indeed, the famil)' nisu,
",ill continue to eJlist, precisely in ordc. to place for them.
'4'
,.
Divine Grace
Grace is thcgilt Cod.llegil'O il towhoolC\'el'
He pleaoes, to those: who des<:r.c it (u if recognized by a JUT)' of angcb)
or 10 thooe whom He m:lkcs descn'ing, for ra50llS kfI(M'll only 10 Him-
Hul_know ooIhingabout these gifts. Insofar all nlCfl arwJ wom"n
rome 10 Jx.lie-.-e th"mseku sa,"I, Or are 1:M,1ie,-.xI b)' otllen to be A"cd,
thry are .rcipicnu of JOCiol g<XXI, its distribution medi.lrd by
an Ofpniz.:ltion or a religious doctrine, This isn't a good
a,... in aU, I"',h.f'$ not ;n 1TlC$1. cultures .rxl5OCictie-l BUI it h;.s
been )0 important in the history of the West that 1 must lake it up
here. Crace m.s oflen beat disputed good, not b:Iuse il is nttnYrily
scaOC'e and my h.,-jllg it diminishes your chancel of getling iI, but for
two different rc:wms: filS!, ill .,...ilability is 5011lCtima thought to de-
pend upoo spttific public second, its possession by som"
(and not 0/""") is somclimes thought to COIfry with il cer,.in
politiaJ I"'cros.1i'-a. Both thac beliefs arc commonly drnied today;
but at ,.. ,ious times in the it has taken some rom"ge to deny them
"rid thell to ,esiSI their OOCJ<:;,'e implementation.
Wh.1t makes the two deniab so cary tod.ily ilthe gcn.....Uy hekl
that the pursuit of pace (and certainly;ts dish;bution by an om,,;po.
tent Cod) is nC'CnSarily free. The extreme of this is the Protes-
t"nt :K'WUIlt of the ,dation belWCCll the individual and his Cod-the
possessive pronoun il imporlllnt_s an entirely pri,..te albi,. "E.aeh
one Itands fOf himsclf where the divine promise il concerned:' LuthCT
'Hote. "Hil 0'&"1l faith ;1 requim:l. Each mUit respond lor himself,"1
But even if "'e inlllgin<: g!"llce to depend upon the IOCiaI p!"lletice of
communion, it il still thought that communion must be free, a milller
'43
SPHERES OF JUSTICE
of ;ndividWl\ choiCl:. He.e is pe.haps the example in 001 own
eultu.e of an autorlOmotIS sphe.e. C.aCl: annot be pulchased or inher-
ited; r>Or C'an it be coerced, It annot be 1wI by an exam or
by holding an ofli.ce. It is not, though it onCl: wn. of comnm
"al provi.io".
This autorlomy didn't comc easily, OF there ...e.e .!ways p0;>-
litical rulers in the Wcot ....ho gued that religion wu sphe.e
.pa.t-and then th.t p.iesh should not interfere;n politics, But C\'en
mch rukn oFten found it useful 10 control, if they cook!, the m.chir>ery
through which communion and the ...l,.. tion we'e di.t.ib-
uted. And other rulen, mo.e pious (them<c:l\"co the .ecipients
of g",ce), or pli.ab1e in the hands of interkring priests, insisted that
it their duty to o.ganizc the poIiticallealm 50 as to make Cod's
gift available, perhaps C"Cn eqmlly available, to all their subjects, Hi<
ehikl.en. Since these .ulers mo.t.1 men "'"(lInen. they coold
do nO more; since they bo<e the ....cuLa. sword. they could do wh.tC"e.
they did with consickr.rble dfr:ct eguLating the teaching of leligious
doctlinc: and the administ",tioo of the sac""rn:nts. lC'quiring church
50 011 I OOn't to deny th.t it ...... their duty to
do theu thing< (th<.>u&" I """,Id t>op., to d",w the line ",'en thi. side
of burning heretics). Whethe. it .....s their duty depend. upon the un-
derstandings of grace political power tlut they sh.red ....ith thci.
subjects---not, it should he: stressm, upon their pri,.. te understandings.
F'.Om the beginning. hoo.o.-e''C political <::()r.eion .nd Ch.;stian doc
t.ine ... t uneasily together, Cl'lIce might be .ttained th.ough gQOd
woru F.eely ehoKn. or it might come only with F.ith, but it nc,'e.
5ttmcd IOmething with which p'inces had much to do Hence princes
....ho interfered in the "'"(luhip of their subjects oftell aIled ty-
.ants-at least by those ....ho .ufle.ed the interfc.eocc. Protestants of
va.ious sorts, defending religious tok",tion in the sixteenth and 5O:'-m.
leenth centuries, we.e able to dl'llw upon latent but d""p conceptions
of ....hat war.hip, good works. faith. and ...lvation .eally When
Locke, in his Ufler CofWf'm;ng Toleration. ",sisted that "no llIan an.
if he would. conform his faith to the dict.tes of .nothe.... he w:lS
merely echoing AugUlline's statement. quoted in tum by Luthe., tlut
"No one can or ought to be comtl'llir>ed to he:1i....'C...
1
eh.illian doct.ine wal sluped by that distribtJti,'e ruk,
"Render unto CaCSOl. the things ....hich afe Caesar's; and unto Cod the
things God',' (Matthew 11:2'). Often m'erridden by impcri.al
or crusading enth",i.asms, the rule w;u regularly re.sse.tro whenevef
God's scrvanlJ oreae... ... found it OK!U!. And, in one form onothe.,
'44
Divine Crace
it survival to serve the pl.nJlOSCS of the early modern oppor>ents 01 reli
gious pe1loCCution. Two "renderings," t...'O jurisdictions, t",'Odistributil'C
spheres, in the one, the magistrate presides, "procuring, prc:scrving, and
adl-aocing:' a' Locke the civil interests 01 his subjects;' in the
other, Cod Himself presides. His power invisible, leal'ing His seekers
and ",'Orshipers to adl-ance their spiritual interests as bat they COIn, and
assure Ihemsell'C$ or one another of divir>e fal'Ol' They C<ln oriJInize
for that JII.lrpose in any way they pleaS<' and mbmit themselves if they
please 10 bishops, priests, probyters, ministers, and so on, But Ihe au-
thorityol all .uch officials is connnalto the church, as the authority
of magi.trates is coofined to the common""ealth, "bttause the church
, .. is a thing alnolutely separate and distinct from the OOnllTl011\"ealth.
111e boundnies on both sides are fi,ed md imrr>O\..,able, He jumbles
heal'en and earth logether ... ",'ho mi,es these two societies.'"
Tlrr \tIalllNt....u" Church Itnd S14le
Within a century after il was wrilten, Locke'J L.tter found legal e,-
pression in the first amendment to the United States Constitution:
"'eo"greJS shall make rIO law respecting an establishmellt 01 religion.
or prohibiting the fm: exercise thereof" This simple .senlmce bars any
attempt at communal provision ill the sphere of gr;>cc, 1be state is ex
eluded from any concern ....ilh curing souls. The eitizem cannot
tlI,ed Of roelcal--not for the cure of their own souls and not 11>1 the
cure of allj"one ebc's either. State officials "",nrlOt CI'en rqulate entre-
preneurial activity in the sphele of grace; they musl ",-ateh without
commelll Ihe st\"ady proliferation of offering sah-atioo on the
eheilp or, perhaps mOre excitingly, at an ellOflTlOUJ e.JlC11se ol rrIOIIey
and spirit, Consumers cannot prolt'ded frOln fraud, for the First
Amendment bars the state from recognizing fraud (nor iJ fraud ea.sy
to rttOgnil..t in the sphae 01 grace whae. as it is said, the most unlikely
I""OPk may wen doing G<xl's W(lTk).
All this is caned u"ligious liberty, but it is also religious egalitarianism,
The First Amendment is a ruk ol complex equality. It does not distri!>.
ute gr;>cc equally; indeed, it docs nol distribute it at all. NCI"Crtheless,
the wan that it raises has profound distributi"e tfJectJ, It makes, on
the n:ligious side. for the priCJIhood of all be1ie1-en; that is, it Ieal'es
all beliel'er5 in charge ol their OWn sah-ation They can ackoowledge
eoclesiastjc;11 hierarchies they lib, but tht acknowledgml"nt
is theirs to give or reluse; it is oot \q:ally imposed or \q:ally binding
And the wall makes, on the poIitjc;1lside, for the equality of beliel-en
SPHERES OF JUSTICE
and ll(lfl-bdievers, Jaints and worldlings, the Ja,-ed and Ihe damnn!:
all are tqllOllly citizens; they possess the Jame set of constitutional
rights. Politics is not dominant (l\'er gratt ,,01" g....ce over pohtics_
[ want to stress the second olthesc nqati'"e propositions. Americans
are "cry K'llsitive 10 the first. 11>e willingness to loIcr:ate (religious) con_
Kientious objlion hall its origin in that sensitivity, and it CCTtainly
suggests a ugnific;,nt forba....llee by the political authorities. Propk-
who belie..e thai lhe: ...fely of the:ir immortal50uh dep'mds upon amid
iog any .orl of parlicipation in warfare are exempt from the draft.
Though the .Iale cannot guaranlee immortality, il al leasl ("efrains from
laking it away. TIle slale doa nol nourish lOUis; nor doe. it killtrn,m.
BUI Ihe seconod negation rules 01.11 kind of dominance that no one
talks aboultoday. in the Wcst at k-ast; and 50 W"e may well have forgot
len its hisloric::ll significanee. FOI Locke, in Ihe sc:,-enleenth cenlury,
it was lIill crilieaUy impol'lant 10 deny Ille claim thai "dominion is
founded in grace.'" The claim had only recently been put forward, and
wilh considerable '"ellemence. in the COUrse of lile Puritan Revolulioo.
In.decd, first parliamenl, "the parliamenl of JailltS:' was
an altempl 10 gi"e il polilical effect; and Cromwell opened the firsl
by aunling precise'" what Locke want".) to mny "Cod mani
fests this to be the day of Ihe power of Christ; h,-'ing, thlOlJgh 50 much
blood and 50 much Irial a, hath bn put upon nalioos, made
Ihis 10 be OIle of the greill issues Ihereof: 10 ha'"e His people called 10
Ihe supreme aulhority."6
The Pur;/qn
Cromwell acknowkdgo:d the inequality of Ihis "call." Only the ... ints
were invito:d 10 share in the exercise of power At>d it w"",ld make nO
soenJC: 10 submil the: saints 10 a democratic decliou 01" e>-en--what
WOt1ld h..-e bn more like'" in se>-enlcenth-ttnlury Englaud-to au
election by male property OWRCr., 1n neiloo case woold "His people"
won a majorilyof the votes. Cromwell hoped for a day wrn,n dec
tioos wook! be possible, thai is, for a day when the people IhcnlKlvcs,
all of lhem. WOt1)d be Cod's elttl_ "I would that all ,,"ftc fit to be
called," Bul "who klKlVo'S how soon Cod may filthe people for such
thing?"7 Meanwhile, it was ueccssary to i0oi: for lhe oulward ,igM
of inner light. Hence members of Parliamenl wCre chosen by a JCarch
commillu, nol an electorate, and England was ruled by the mooopo--
1i.s1J of grace.
Locke', argumenl, and the argument embedded in the: United Stales
'4
6
Divine Grace
Constitution, i, the saint, free to thci, monopoly
to rul.e society (church Or sect) they
Crxe is no doubt grat privilege, but there is no w;ly to gh'e it OIlt
to thos.c who di,bclic\'e in its or who adopt of it r.odi-
cally diffe,e"t from 01 the sa;nb, or \\'ho hold the same "iN.' but
with Icss fe,,"Of; nor i. there way to force upon th.c gint. lTlOIe
un<k"t;lnding of th.cir gift. In case, th.c ITlOIIOp-
oly of the saint. is enough SO bng it doesn't ,each to politi
nl power. 11Jey no to rule the which they did not
fOf whose: work as.unnce is no
lion. The purpose 01 the wall is the not
the redistribution, of gr;>C'(,
Yet the .tatc might be differently ronceil'ed, lIot as but
as;l religious ralm; inte,csts might be undcntood as Cod'. inte,
ests, too, The wall between church and .tale i., after a human ron
.truction; it might be tom down or, as in Idam, r>e\'cr l';1ised in thoc
pl1cc. Then the rule oftlH: saint. would W nther different: who
not Hi. pcople-lhould rule in;l =Im fa, ""hich Cod Himself
It may be the case, mOrl'>"t'r, only the saints om
the ""'eryda)' arnngements m;lke the pxIlife.
then the etem;lllife, to lhe felt of the population. For lhese
pc,haps, to be lead out of Scripture. and it is thoc
inner tight illuminates the Word The real f-o:c,
a sufficiently widesprc;id commitment to the undcfly;ng religious
doctrine. But if cnough people are committed to the rule olthc Aints.
then the .... intl .hook! have no difficulty winning election.
In any ase, the force of the a. lOOO as the COm
mitment falten. The New England Pu,ilans offer ;l nice example of
Ih;., TIlCir ,,",hole edOOltio"al.ystt"m was bent to the t:uk oll"t'Hgious
COfll'er.ion. Its ehicf end wa.l to reproduce in the lC'COl1d genel';1tion
the "npericncf: of g'1lCC" the founder. had known. At there
"'<IS 00 doubt at that this ....as possihk. "Cod has SO cast the lioe
of eb:tion," Incl"t'ISC Mather wrote. "Ihat lor the IIIOlII pari it runs
Ihrough the loins of godly puentl.'" Teachers little to do but en
liven the Iatent.piri!. But the gift of il not 110 asi!)'
passed on, ootlh,ough the loin. not through the school" neither
natme nor nurtur<:. app;lrently, the In tl>c
C)"CSoi its elMrs-in itsown eyes, too-theSCCOT1d generation of AI1lCT
icon Puritans, like many othe, second genc,ations, tumed oot to be
deficient in grace. Hen"", the compl'omisc of the eo....",allt
of 166:. which pe,mittcd the children of the saints, e',-m if they
'41
SPHERES OF JUSTICE
00 experien of gmcc, to maintain some loose with the
church for the s:ake of the gmndchildren. But this wasonly to postpolle
the obvious difficulty. Consider, wfites a modern schol'lf, "the irony
of a sihution in ,,'hi<'h a ehostn people cannot find enough chosen peo.-
pic to prolong its existctlCl:.''''' sneaks into thc Puritan rom-
monwcalth in the fOfm of religious For mcmbcfShip
in the commonwealth is indeed tmnsmilled thmugh the loins of godly
and unsodly P<ln:nb, Am! so the rommoowcalth soon inclOOcd not
only saints and WOI"ldJing......-thc first group ruling the >C)nd----but also
worldlings who "'Cre the JOnS and daughters of the s:aints and s:aints
who were the $OIlS and daushten of the "",ldlings. TIle dominion of
grace coold not suM.'e this entirely pmlictablc and entirely unex-
pected outcome.
secularism sneaks into the Puritan OOnllllOll"'ealth in
the form of religious dissent: whenthc s:ainls dis:agree about the e,ery
day arnmgemcnts necessary for eternal life, or when Ihey deny one an
other's saintlifloCSll It is al...a)'1 (IOS$ible, of to rCJllcss the dissent,
to exile the dissenters, Of even, as in the Europe of lhe Inquisition,
to torture and kill them fOf the uke of their OWn (and evCf}'OIle else's)
",Ivalion, Bul thefe arc difficultico here, too, common, J think, to all
the religions that preach Al'"lItion, and ...hi<'h I ha"c already identied
...ith regald to Christianity. The idea of grace sc:erru deeply resistant
toroe.ci,'C distributions. Locke's a_rtion that '"men cannot be
to be s:a,'Cd:'IO may .cpreKnt the claim of a dw..nteror"'Tn a skepti<',
but it builds on an undentandingof salvation s.... red by many believers.
If that is so. then religious dis<lgreement and dissent set limits on the
usc of fOfce-------limits that .,'Cntually take the form of a radical separa-
tion: the wall bet"'ccn church anod state...... nod then e/forts to breach
the "'all. to impose the armngemc:nis o. oocrce the behavior that sup-
posedly makes for- s:al""tion, arc properly called t)rannical.
,.
Recognition
The Struggle for Recognition
/I Sociolog)' 0/ Titlt8
In a biemchiCOllllOC;ely like lholt 01 feudal Europe, title is the name
of nk .ll.chffi 10 the n'me of. pcnoo. To all a J'C"iIOn by his
title is to pba him in the soc..1onk, and, depending on the place,
10 honof or di,I)(>I>o< him. Tilles rommonly proliferate in the uppn-
ranks ",IK,c th.,.. mar\; oft fine distincliolll and suggcst the intcmity
and import.n<'l: of the struggle lor 1lte \oY.." r.nks aTe
nlOft grossly litlc:d. and the lo....al men and WOmctl h.,'e no tida .1
all bul are called by thci, 6rst nama or by some gencr:al
("Sb'T," "boy," "gi,l," and J(lon). Thne is a propn form of
addrl'SS for e<lch and e.'cry ptrsOI1. QIlC thol' ahlblishn
the degrtt olrroJll:nition to which he is entitled and.cwrds him jml
that degree.
l
Oftl'11lhe U$<' of tl... title musl k by ouch
oon'..,ntional gulu.a .slu>ttling, bowing olle's head, dolling OM'S cap'
thoe ,epracnl an extension of the Iille, the tilk mimed, as il
and they lhe doubk pUTpOIIe, Simila,ly, peopk may wea,
thoi. or corduroy, knaobre>:ehes Of Ans<ulottel---SO 1....1
getling il: a kind of fttOgnitioo, and walking ;n lhe
.heet i. a for Of an ackllO'olo'kdgment of U
... know e'o'M)'O"'" titk. thcn know mal order; k"ow 10
whom w'c mu.sl dd"c. and wOO mull defer to u.s; ...c are prq>ifrcd fOf
all cncountcr. It i. the greal oon''Cnientt of a hicrarchicalllOCicly thai
this JOlt of knowledge i. eny to by and wieldy diffused.
'49
SPHERES OF' JUSTICE
Titla illllant rognitionl J a.I there is tille '0< e,nyone,
e>'eT)"O<Ie i. rq;niud; there are 00 1Il,-;sible men. This is ""hat
Tocque>ille meons whell he says that ill ..islocratic societies, "110 one
<:.In eithe. hope or fellr he wi111lO1 be IIttn. No socioll
ing is so \ow but that he has a stage of his own, and '10 man can. by
hi. obscurity, avoid praiSC' or blame:") But Tocque"ilk mi.
describes tl", position 01 sbva in all .L:.ve.hokling aristocracies; he
is probably wrong about SC'rfs ICrvanls, who ha>'e in any Ole 00
v(1)' ample stage of their own; he may well be wrong about the
aristocrats themselves. He suggests that there aTe standaflls lor each
rank, e>",n for Ihe Io--.,.t, all the more so, thcn, for the highest, .nd
that men and women who bil to li\-., up to tl,.,.., ,t.ndards Truly lose
the OOtlOl" oltha. titles. But that is ius! what the men and wOmen
of the aristocracy cannot do, One can say of the top oIthc hierarchy
what Lord Melbourne said, admiringly, of the Most Nobk Order of
the Carter: 'The.e is nO dam.-.ed merit about il " Praise and blame
are i..ele-.-ant; there is oothing to test and nothing to pl'O\"'.
Of course, ..istocrats and genllemen can bellav" badly, and often
do, and their social inferiors are likd)' to ootice this comment on
it among themselva, But th"" <:.Innot comment n'orc widely; th.". """.
not mime thei. comments on public occasions. Short of rebellion or
,,,,",olutio<l. they ha'''' nO choice but to yield the hooor, deler
"nee that is con"cntionally due to bad as to good ..istocrats, n,e sen
te!)C(, "You',e nO gentleman:' is not likely to be spokell by a serf to
his lord or by serY,lnl to his In a hierarchical society, one on
pr.ioe Or blaTne equals and inferiors, but rKOglliliolll of superiority
must be ur>qu;lJi6ed.
Rank, th-cll, is domiru,"t O\'er Tq;nition. If titles 3fe hereditary,
blood;s dominant ewer ,anI:; if II"", C"an be purchased, money is domi.
nant; if th"" lie in Ihe hands of the rule.. of tl", state, political JlO"",r
il domirumt. In """" of these ""SCI are praise blame frly gi,,,,,,,
(In oone of tllem, inder:d, ale Jove and hale frttly gi'-en Of likes and
dislikes freely C'llHessed, this may _11 be IllOre importanl; but I
'Th< ..- 01' o.t.ndoo r.".._ .... "p!, .. , .,..,. .., ",*,..1. ..-..l
........... 'bo ...... ..,.....,. , _ ploo<" - 0110;,,,,,,," Sb, 'bo.,... 01 ,n..,
....... .'" N". .......,a.a., ""........ inI n.., <0<> be '" r<\. .... ,...,
_ .... ,I>< I""l""""" 01 ,I.< -.If, be I"oiood '" 1>10.-1. n..;, u ,I.< prier 'hor __
..-..r>d II -...., ..... ,Iooy , .. *"a_ '" ..,. ,_a 0I.ah><, B.l' "'"' do
"'" ,1><"- pott;<;poI<'" lb.. dM -no- I)- "" .. odrnc< hom 'bo "","....t
d......l "'..... 01 ......-,:. wril<r Pott...- ..., , .."._01 "'..........t
rio< __01 '.,., Iodd t". , Sb,, ond ....Urn do twh
01 ""r<d The ,_ &_." "-!>iJ" _." <!o;m<d. ond ,II< ".,..Hoy 01
,""'..- u 1>erI""",_1ood ' ........ 01 .............", ........... ,he
rI><uo-y 01 th., ...to'
'5'
Recognition
am COlla-med here with something dse: with respect nlhcr than kn'e,
with contempt rather llun hale, wilh the way we \';llue people md wilh
Ihe way the)' are ''31ucd in society 35 a "'hole) Concei''3bly, the domi
nanCC' of rank and blood, lhough "'" of walth and power, can be so
slroog thai it;. ;m!K'5'ible C""Cn to think about flee recognilion, In the
JOOroChriliian ..'Ork!, howC"er.the thoughllw al"''3)'$ been pol!ible
beaux God prO'.;d<:! a model. judging 10"" and women without regard
10 lheir worldly standing and inspiring a CC'rlain soei31 skepticism:
WMn Adam .rw1 E"" 'PO"
Who _70S then tbe gentlemon?
But thi. "'70S a sub,'enive q\lClltion, Religiom doctrine more ofl.... lali
lied, and rdigiou. inslitutiom quickly duplicaled, lhe hi=l.
chy; and both confirmed tlte furnlamenlal trulh. of a hier.lrchical order.
Ret'OC"itiom depend not upon iOOcpendent judgmenu 001 upon social
I"ejndgmenh, embodied III names like "goodman," "esquire." "sir,"
"lord" (and "lord bi.hop) And whal realily lies behind these nama
,,'e are not to lalk aboul.
But though lite struggle lor lecognition is alwa)'S comt",ined by s0-
cial prejudgmeTIt.., il isn'l "'hotly determined by Ihem People: althe
marg;rn of a rank, nervous about snubs, are doubly insistent on lheir
tille; for them Ihe title has an independent ''3lne, ,,'hich Ihey defend
as if the) had earned it. Alld within each ",nk, specific conceptiom
01 honor are WOIked Otll. These will often look a,bit",ry and ",-en fan.
ta.tic toOtlts;cttn, but they lhe lIandards by which men and women
who be.r Ihe ",me t;tle distingui.h th"",!'Cf....,. from one a"",he. The
di.tioctioru .re all the more hitlerly disputed Ihe less .u!>slanCC' lhey
seem to ha,"C. Hobbes look the disputa of contemporary aristocrau,
.nd more p;lrticularly lhe duel, 35 one of lhe archetypal fo.-ms of the
wa, of atl againsl all, M.... staked lheir li\'es for lheir honor, though
Ihe iullCS O\'el which lhe)- fought ""ere obittti,"Cly of lillie impo.--
as WOld, a smile diA<:r<:nt opinion, .nd .ny other
sign of undervalue. "'I
Such battles 're fuught only among equals, wilhin ,anb, r>oI be
"''C<:Il them. When lhe \a.o.-er ranks challenge lhe highe., we don't nil
il a duel; il'I' rc...oIutioo. It is pollible to imagine many different sorts
of ,<:\'()lulion, but I thatl OOIlsKkt- hae only the democratic revolutions
of the modern pCIiod, which represent an attack on lhe whole system
of lOXial prejudgmenls ...d eulminate ill the substitution of single
tille 101 lhe hie""chy of tilles, The title tltat "'"eTltually "'ins 001,
lhough not the lillt th.t is chosen, deri,u flOm Ihe \oo.r.-est rank of .ris
'5'
SPHERES OF JUSTICE
100000ey or g"ntility. In thl: English 1'lIIgUOlg". the commOlltitle;s "mas
Ie.... dilkd tQ .. Mr... "'hieh beam" inlhc ""nlury "the
euslmrulry """'''moniow p.efix to the of any beklw Ih" k.d
of md some humble hut uOOdincd bel of social status.
.. . As wilh other litk!< of courtesy. lhe inferior limit fm i\lapplic;ltion
has bem conlinUOllly k1we.ed."' In Ihe United though not }'el
in 8ritain, there i. 00 upper limit for ib: applicatioo E"en in B.ilain,
the un;'....""ltitlc has been adopted by po","",fulmen: Pill. like
Mr. Prm'" WYoie Emersoo. "thought the tille 01 Misttl good 3i'IIllsi
any king in Enrope."6 During the fi..t Congr"", proposal'S "'""'e made
to gie the Amcncan President some high", tille de.;ved from
tocratic past, but it was decided lhal the name of his offi"" ""'s sulli
eienl;;n di,,",,1 address, he is "Mr. Pr<::lirlcnt.'"' AerO$! Europe the out
come ".11 the ""mc: mOMitur, Htrr. signOT. "'rior. all correspond to
II><: English "master/Mr." In "'cry calC, a title 01 hOllOl". Ihough not
of the highesl honor, ""'s made the sw",allitk The reV()/utiooary
alternati"es-"brothc,," "citizen." "comr:llde"-represenl the refu",,1
of Ihis genc.ali>:atioo; I shall come to them laler.
It is of real imporlance Ihat there is no title fa.- women
compa",h\e 10 "M. " for mCll. E.cn afler the democralie 'evnIUlion.
women ront;nue<! to be called by namn (Iik" "Miss" aoo "Mrs.") that
descri/>W Iheir pia"" in the family, not in socicly at t..ge. WQmell ...CIC
"placed" by the place of thei. kin and "'-ere not expeete<! to thei,
""'n ""'y, The im'Clllioo of .. M.... i, a despe.ate remedy: an
li<ln lor ,,'hieh thele is no COf'cspon.ding word. In part. the argument
I am about 10 applies to women much a, to men, but only
in p;lrt 1be of a uni"enal tille mggeIl5 the conlmucd exclu-
sion of women, or of many ...'Omen,lrom the social univt=rlC, Ihe sphe,e
m,ecognition a, it is eunenlly constituted.
In a society mmisters, cartml are open 10 lalents. 'CCOflnitions to
whoc,e. can win lhem. To p;lraphralC Hobbes. the eq""lity mtilles
eq""lity of hope and Ihen a competition. The strug-
gle for bof>01' I....' "'ged among arislOC1<lu, a"d th,t pla)"d such a
part in carly modern lile.ature, is now ente.ed by c''''ryman. It is 1101.
however, arislOC1<llic bono! that ""eryman i, ,II",. slruggle;s
broadened. so the social good at issue is in6nitely di'crsified. and ib:
names are multiplied. Honor, e.turn, pm;se. pre5/;gt. statu$,
reputat;Oll. dignity. mnk, <tdmimlioll. l>'Orth, diSfindicll. deftr.
homas,. <tfJPrtci4tion. glory. fame. celebrity the ...'O.ds repr<"5ffit
an acr:umulation O\'er and.....etC originally used in differenl social
...d fOf diffe!enl PU'JIOlCS. 8ul ...." can readily i:"'SP theil com
'5'
Recognition
mOll ekmenl. They lire the namcs of fa\'Orablc u:oognitions, largely
de\'Oid now of any cbS! IpKificity. Theil opposites arc eithel unfa,'OI"
abk rogr1iliom (dishonor) 01 non'lecoglliticms (disregard). TOC<jue-
vilk thousht !lOIlrecognitions impossibk under the ok! r..gime--llnd
allO unnecnsary: snubbed a man by ktling him lulOW (Ihat you
his place. Under the neW regime. no one has a p];lce: one
snubs a man by <knying that he is thtrr, thai he has any place at an.
OM refuses to recognize his personality OJ his moral or political ellis-
Icncc. It is not difficult to sec that this mighl u'ell be U'Ol'1<: than to
be '"pbccd'" in the Iovoul possibk rank. To be untouchabk is; (pt:.hai)
not 10 auiul as to be in".ibk. In lOme partl of India, not man)' years
ago. "an untouchable had 10 shout a ...... ming ",hen entering a street
10 that all the holier folk could get out of the uoay of his contaminating
shadow."'! 1 can barely imagine what it ,,'OU1d be like to shout that
...... ming. but at lea.t the pelion who shoots is a fonnidabk plcscncc,
and he may gdlOme ..tisf:Ktion out of the fenful fleeing of tbe othen.
The invisibk man doesn't get this sort 01 satisf:Ktion. On the othel
hand, as soon al be sheds his alien 01 paliah status, he e!lten IOciety
not at this or that low rank but as an equal compclitOl fof hOIlOT and
leputation, And he annOutlCCS his enllance by saying: "Can mC
mistcr"
Hc claims the gelleral title ar>d entels the gencr.ll struggle. SillCC he
has no rank. SillCC no One knows whelc he belongs, he must estab-
lish his ""',. worth. and he can do that only by "inning the rognition
of his felloo..,. E;och 01 his fdb",., is trying to do the ..m" tbing. Hence
the competition has no social boundaries short of the nation;rl frontier;
nor docs it any tempt>r.ll limit It jUlt goes on and on, and the
participanlJ quickly !cam thai )"CStelday's Moot is of litlle usc on
todaY'1 market They ",n't rela. 01 Jell on theil laurels; they must be
aJt..t to Ilight. "E\"ery man looI:.eth Ihat his companion should
'1lI\IC him alth" same nle he 5eIJ upon himscll:' wrote Hobbes, "and
upon aU si&;ns of contempt. or under...!uing, naluTally endca"oll, a, far
as he dares ... 10 exlOlt a glcatef '1lluc lrom his contemnclS."9 To
speak only of extortion, hou-e-.'ff, is 100 stark. As tlte fOlml of recogni-
lioo ale "Uioul, 1IO ale tile methods by which it ""m be won. The com
petitOlJ 'pKulat., on the market, inhiguc agoi",t ncar li,""ls. and NI.
pin for s'natl pins: I'll admire)'OU if )'OlI'" admire me. They exercise
pou'er, spend money, display goods, gi"e giflJ, splcad gossip, .Itage per-
fOTmanccs-atl fOT the sake of rl"COgllition. And having done allthil,
they do it all again. reading their wily pins and losses in the eyes 01
their felloo.." like a .ItodbrolCT with his moming paper,
'53
SPHERES JUSTICE
But hclwe..er oomplex tk struggk., Hobbe's does op-
ill cmtral featurcs Rt:CO@:nitions woo from propk.
,"'00, thinki1li of their own claims, Iclllctllnt I lUSpttt, in-
deed, that most of want, and era. need, to give as as to
Iec::<l(l:nition; neffi kroes, "",n aoo women whom we nn admin:
without negotiation and without constraint.
'O
But '"-e au wary about
finding such people among our and neighbon. Soch
au difficult be<:ause they chalknge OUf OWn 1'<111111: and fortt un,"'dcome
romparisorn: upon us. In a dcm'xntic society, l<:cOgnitions arc easicst
at a distantt. Sudden and temporary rccocnitions arc easy, too: thus
tk cclcbritics-fora-day crc:atcd by tk mall media Our
at tk rise of such ligula is Cflhanccd by tk anticipation of theil fan,
Who are they, after all, but mCfl and "",,,,,,n like)Oll ar>d me, a little
lu.c\:.in They hal"C: no place, ar>d it is an oper1 ques--
tion "'k!JH.r willumember who they are tomorro"'. media
make it look as if IttOgnition is a good in plentiful supply; allocations
unstable but in principle unlimited. In plattice, ho..:(\'er, Ik rood
is lCalce, QIlI cvel}-day comparisollJ hal"C: the effect of t.ansforming
one J)C11OIl'S gam into another's loss, CI"CTl ,",hen !Iothing has been lost
but rdative .landing, In the of recognition, n:lati"c standing
is very important.
The'e must be tima ...hen OM longs for the comlort of a fixed place.
A society of misters is a ,"'Ork! of hope, e/fort, and Cfldlw anxil'ty. l1te
image of a r-acc, first WOfked out by Hobbes in the ","cntC'Cnth CCTltury,
has been a eentr-allature of OUI sociall."OnS<l:iou,nell CI'cr since. This
is a dclOOCr.ltic r;tee, a participatory race; there an: no spcctaton; CI"C:r)'-
body has to IUn. And an 001 lC'Clings, about OIlIsel...:s. about 0100',
are a function of how ....,n '""C: an: IUnning:
To c""sider them behind, ill g\ory
To conside, the:m bel",., is humiti1r
To be in b'.'lh, l>opc:
To be ....,al}',
To enda_ to O',crtak. the n",t, emulalion
To "'"" ground br little hindct1lnccs,
pusilbnirnity
To folllll' the lUdden, is dispOlition In """P
To .... aMt.... foll, is di,poo;tiol> 10 bugh
Continually to be oulp>e, is milCT)'
Continually to oulgO lhe: IInI bd(lr(:,
is fdicitr
And 10 f.ors.h the: COOlSC. is k> die."
\Vj'r do '"'' ru"r 'lhc:re is no otl>o:l goal, nor other ga,land," ..rotc
'54
Recognition
Hobbe$, "bul king foremml"ll Bulthis claim dralO1l00 h<:a,ily upon
the experirntt of old aliatOCl1ley. PaSC<i1 ,,<IS more prescient in oue
of his feus",: "Such is 001 presumption tlut "'e should like to be
kllOWTl b)' the whole: "wid, and C'\'en by people: who "'i11 k born ,,'hen
we are r>o more: md we are IQ ""in that the good opinion of he or
six penonl around IIJ ddighb and contents us."
n
We run to be $C'ell,
admin:<! by IQme lubset of the othen:. If Ioe>I 'iclories .."C.e
not possible. IO'e ,,'OU1d all be in oop;ai. long before we were done. On
the other hand, Ihe conlentmenl that Pa$C:l.1 describes doan'tlaliloug.
0\11 presumption is snothed.ep.esscd, reborn.11>ere are "ery lew pe0-
ple: ..no hope in any 5c:riou. """y for e1emJl glory, but 'irtU:llly l:\-eryooe
...... nl. a little: mo.-e .ecognition than he gell, Discontent il not penna
nenl, but it is recurrent. And OIl' anxieties are led as much by 00
..rnin-.:ments as by oor failures
Though we are all elIlled by the same tille:, we are not g;,en Ihe same
deg.ee of recognilion, The Hobbesi.:m is mo.-e lIuid alld ur>ttTt"in
than the hierarchy; but at any gi,..,., moment, the runners them
""h'es in an order, flOm last, "inning or bing wilhin the l:ng'"
society 0100 thei. O\\Tllubsel. No< is there any ealy appeal a&ainlllosses.
e"en if they seem un;mt or Wealth md comrooditia elIn
al"'<I)'s k ledi!lributed, collected by the Itate and gi,..,., out apin in
wilh some abslracl principk. But recognition is an in6-
nitely more oomplex good. In deep sense, it depends entirely
upon indiYidU:ll acts of l>onOI'ing and dilhonoring, regarding and disre
g:nding There iI, of oour5e, such a thing as public recognition and pub-
lic disgrace: 1 Ihall h:I,-.: son",thing to say aboul both of IhQe late.
''1be king," acoording to an old legal l11uim, "is the fountain of
honor" We might think of the good name of the king, or the kgiti_
macy of the state, as a pool of recognition frl)m IO'h;"h portions a", dis
tributed to in<li,idU:lll. But Ihilsort of Ihing makes a 111",11 mark unlcu
il il IlItifin! and ",iteraled by ordinary men alld women. Whereas
11101'<')' need only be accepled, recognition mUJt be repeated if it illo
hne any \<llue. Hentt, the king <loa "-.:11 if he 1I0OI1"'1 onl) those: people
who are widely lhought to be honoTabk.
No limpk eqU:l!ity of I'Q@:nition is pouibk:; the idea is a bad joke,
In the of the future, Andy Warhol once liIid, "l:\"(1)'01le "i]]
be world-lamous for 6ftcet1 minutes." In fact, of course. in Ihe fulure
as in the pall. some people will be more famous than olhe.., and SOII,e
people """'t k famoul al all. We COIn gU:llllntee "'-':<)"1)1'1'" vilibility
(10 gO\-.:mment oflicials, lilY), bUI ""C ean't guarantee hil equal ,'ilibilily
(10 hi. fellow citir.ensl We ean illlisl as a matter of principle thai .,..-e.)'-
SPHERES OF JUSTICE
one, hom Adam Ofl, is gentleman; bul ,,'e can'l p"",ide ev
eryom ,,'ilh the same for genlle--that is, "unrntrained yet
dc:licale"-marmen. Relati,"C standing win slill depend upon the re
lOUlca Ihal individuab can in the ongoing stnlggle fOl' reoogni_
tioll. As ....1' can't redistribute bme itself, 50 "'t' can't redistribute thole
resomen; lor thcy are nothing but the qualitin, skill.l, aoo
talenl.J '<lhlt.'d in iiVCfl time platt, with ",'hieh p.nticular men
....-omen a,e to commaoo the of their fellows But
there i. rll,l way to determirn: in adv,nlCC what qualitin, skills, and tal
enl.J ....,ill be ''alued Of ...00 ....iIl polSel.S them. And ",en if we couk!
5Omchow identify md collect such things then give them oot in
equal pam, they woukl imtant!)' C<':a.., (ball$C of the equality) to
command
But if in the struggle lor reoognitioo there cannot be equality of out-
comes, there can bc-[ h:we been writing a. il there il---equality of
opportunity, This ill the promiK of the lOCiety of misten. Has it, how-
e,'er, been achieved in any actual socidy? A contcmporary sociolollilt
..<lmSllS conflUing the of iooi,iduah with their "re!>"ta
qualitin." Frank Parkin UgllCS, is a functioll of plaC<':,
proFasion, office. not of particular rc<:o&nition. of p':lftinJlar
The abolition of titles i. not the abolition of cWses,
CorlCCptiom 01 honor more controvcn;ialthan they were un.dcr the
old Tcgime, but distributions stil! patterned, dominated III,IW by 0<:.
nJpation ratheT than by bbxl or rank. Hence, On the one the
inwlcnc:e of office on the other, the degradation of the mCfl and
women who do society's dirty ,,'Ork, [n the Hobbesian race,
many of the runnen running in platt, unable to break through the
constraints of the larger patlcrn, Nor can that pattern uKlully be de
lCtibcd as the product of their own ,,,hutions, a kind of lOCial short
fo! the rclgTlition 01 individuals, TIlere i! indeed sueh a short
hand, but it dc:ri,u from the dominant ideology, itself a Function of
an-d that office holders command respect in the same
way that they high salaries. without "'wing to pro.'e their
worth to their lellow workers or their dienh
But this dominant ideology is nothin& other the
r.lce, conc:ei,"Cd now as fOf jobs and income rath.... than al
a strlTggk for pTeltige and honOf, 0., r.lther, the claim is t..'O
struules rany one general competition lor lOCial &oods in which
merit, ambition,lud, whatever, win out in the end. We honor JlC'OPle
in accordance with their because the qualities needed to ,,'in
the general competition are rough!)' the same as the qualitin ...., are
Rec<lf;:nition
likely to admire in an)' caiie. "'00 if Ihne arc admirabk qualities that
don't ro",e into play in 11K seneral CO<npctilioo, then we ate free to
them on the side, as it "'ere, incidentally. locally, within this
or Ih:lt subsel So we an ro:sp<:ct lhe kindness of a neighbor "";111001
letting tlut respect interfere with OUt nlOfe I"'""ise ca1culatioos of social
status.
Status (standing in the nn:) dominates rQgnilioo, Thai is '-err dif
fnent from the dominance of himtt:hical "mk. bul it ;s not )"d
free appr.li131 of each peuon by each oIhn pmon. Free appr.li131 \IIIOU1d
dil3ggregation of social goods, the relative autonomy of
honor. Exaetly whal autonomy might rncan in this calC' is not easy to
say, for honor is $0 closely lied to other sorts of goods, It wmes along
with the "'inning of an office, for "",,,,pie, or the arnieH:mellt d a
high W)fe 00 the medical boards, or the sllCCC$$ful atabli5hment of
a new bllJiness Thne sorts of achiC\'emcnt will probably always rom
mand raped BUI lhey will not alW3)'J rommar>d the ptiK: <kgree
of respect that they do today, when each 01 them is seen as a crucial
step 00 the road to ,,'ea1th and power. What respect would they imk
pendently rommand' We don't know, in fact, wlut the social world
,,'OU1d look like if each person's hrnlOl' depended entilely 00 the fTecly
given or freely withheld rw::.gnitions of each other person.' No doubt,
th.,.e would "'ide cultural \;Iliatioos. But C\'en in OIlr own IOl.'icty,
it isn't difficult to im.1gine ';Ilmtions '"CIf different from those that CUI
I",dry prC\'ail-a new respcct lor 50ciaUy u::;e/ul WOIk, say, or for ph}"si-
cal effort, or fa, helpfulness in offiee r.Ilher tlun mere office hoIding,l6
Flee appr:oil31 would abo gener:ote, I think, a much ",Ofe decentralized
system of rerogn;tions, 10 that Ihe genClaI ordeTing tlut Hobbes as
sumed "wid l:lde in impo.tanceol even uase to be discernible. Rt'C3U
John Stuart Min's complaint, '"They like in cro><-ds" (Jee page 7), So
they do. but one "3nstill make OIlt the shopcs of dillerent crowds, ,,;th
different or at lent incip;ently dillCl'entstandards for liking and dislik-
ing. These dif[ermcu are suppt'ClSCd fOl the uked the general compe.
or.. ,II< ........, (ood "" ,he , !I .. n-.. s
...... fn>m ,not "",""",",..-.d. JI "",..-;,_,_
'0< ....... in "",",1.-",,"" Iloo< , , _;0", ..... of ,"""'. <I;"""".not
......__tool "" ooqIIir'" '" ....pie but _ '" -"'r n.o.m;,..'OmOfI1 01 pooIft.
....... .." -.tr 100. , .-. .. , ..-- to _ dq..., ol "'moo ond ..... to_
-"" .1 11>0 01 _ --.... to lUI ,lid , ,.not (kod;," ''lr ..
.......Mtr) ... "" "" mod<mt. Iloo< I<> be .... 1<>><"-""" __ , ...
ol oLII ulooooI poj''''_'ho", _ .... prioo "'.;" ,he <Me 01 ,"' ;pta! .........
, II iI oMy 'he;a,po 0" , olpoo/,
,hot to ..... _-ond >hen ,t.. l"'"""",,, ol _." , _cd-. oIl
..,.. ion. ,lid .. en; ,lid ,.... .;ll ...........Mrc IIIIiIImI>Ir loo.I , ;c in-
.. ..,.;,I _ ....:.
'57
SPHERES OF' JUSTICE
tition, BUI if 1111: competition WC'" broken lip, il wc>.hh did
!>Ot office, power_then rcoognitiom, 100, "'tluld he
h..c.
This would he complex eqlL:llity in the .phcle of .ecognition,
il woold result in distribution of 11000r dishonor '"Cry
different from the pr""'";Iiling one. But indi"dual men md women
would .til1 he diffe.enl"Uy honored,..,d I am r>Ol "lie that the rompe.
litioo would he las l..cn Ih.n in the W'OrId HOObc:s described, 1/ lhere
we.e more winnl''' (and a greatel ,,,riery of possible vielorics), there
would still, inevitably, he IOrnl' losers. Nor docs romplex equalily glL:lr-
ani"", tMI "':cognitions would he distributed to individuals who were
in lOme: ob;ttti,"C sense: worthy of roxciving them. Of course:, there e
objeccli\'e standards, at last lor some of the Iorm. of recognition, TI-.ere
arc n<)\'dists, uy, wlto deserve eritical attention and r>O\'elists ...,Ito
don't. And crilia freed lrom the of lhe soc..l hierarchy.nd
the m.rket ...-ould be mOre likely to altend to the right no',dists, l\lore
genmilly, hov'<e'o"CI, recognitions would go to indi,'idlL:lls thoughl to be
WOIthy b)' 10m<' numbe, of their fellows, and thooghts would be 1,,
We would honor, respect, estttrn, value freely those: me:n and women
who seemed to UI desen'ing-and sornl'times we would ,,,Iuec ""'" ond
women exactly ........ loI'e them, wilhout ,egard 10 obj.ttti'"C dc:scrt .t
.1L So the deserving p<lOI "'"Quid still be with us. To p.ar:aphr:ase Marx:
if a pcrson is r>OI able, by the manifestation of himself as ....tlrthy "",r.
!OlI, to moke himself a valued penon, then his worth is iOlpolent arid
a mi,lortune. StICh misfOftul\CS would no longer be 1111: monopoly of
a p,nticubr d... Of Of OtttIpational groop. But againSI their gen-
=1 incidel><.'C, I can imagine r>O plau,ible Iorm of social insurance.
But perhaps ....""" minimal respect is in lact common !"operty in
the society of misters We might usefully distinguish what I will call
limpl, rerognition From the mou oompkx lorms of rOjnilion a, this
or that. Simple rerognilion i. today a moral '<."Iu;rement: we have 10
acloowlcdge thai ""'"ery pelSOn we mt is at least a potent"l <ipierlt
of honor and oldmir:ation, a oompetilOf, "",'en a threat. The phr:ase, "Coli
me miste,," stakes a claim, not 10 any p.articular degree of honor, but
to the possibility of honor. Here is sonlCOOe we don't know and IO.'ho
appears klme us without the markcls of birth ond .ank Still, \\"C can't
rule him out of lhe game. He is worthy at Ie.1st 01 our appraisal, a"d
"'"C are \'\Ilnerabk 10 his. These facls 01 OUr soc"lli!e add 10 contempo-
rary forms of politen.ess a certain .....rir>elS, which is not without its cx
citemenl. The eagerness of American. 10 drop lhe "mister" and lISe'
first namcs deri,"es From a desire to reduce thc !e-d of e.citement, to
'58
Recognition
find IOllIe way 10 rein a bit. We think the elIgcrnns dilhonat ....hen
eo.-c. "-C know that neithn rcally intends to rdn. This negati,-c
intention r-cprcsmll a minimal and balic respect ''TIIC)' ro:lgnize
themsch'cs," Hegel "'rote, "al mutually ro:lgnizing elIeh other. "17 But
thil an be a ''l:ry tense bUliness.
Public HOllor and Individual Desert
I ha.'e been writing abolJl the sphere of re<:'08nitiool as if it Were a f.ee
enterprise s)"Stem. HonollllTe like commodities; they cirJ;ubte among
individuall through e.change. extortion. and gilt; supply is only clum-
lily and inadequately rcspomh'e to demand The.e is no "-clfan: itate,
no redilhibution of ,",'callh, no guarantenl rninimurn (bc)"OIld the bare
acknowledgment that C'oTJY individual is a rompetiIOl). And this ap"
pears 10 be the besl possible nrangement. oftCll, the flow of m:.
ot;nition is diltorted b).' the dominanct' of othn goodl arid the monop
oly pov.-cr ol old families, callcs, and elalSCS. [f we bruk het: olthese
distOitions, we find oulsch'cs in a loosened version of the Hobbesian
l;let'. At best, "-C ,""ill be entrepn:neulS in the spOOe of ,ecogni.
of UI Awh, othen destitute_
AU this is true. but it i. only a part of the truth, Fur alonglide the
individual diltliootions, thcn: a,e a nricty nf collttti"e diltribution.:
ll:W<lrm, prizes, medall, citations, "'tath. of laurel. Public honon, al
I ha.'e said, arc likely 10 be inefl"cctiw unless thC)' conform to the .tan
dards of printe indi"duall. But it i. inlpottant to note "","' that iooi
,-iduals set uthn mOle exacting ltandards fot recognitions granted On
their beh.1lf than Fa.- those they grantthemseh'cs, n.e crucial.tandard
for public honor i. <lexrl, Not desert ca.ually or parochially COf\ct'ived,
not thedcs.ert of personal and enemies: public honor i. cn<iotwd
and reiterated by printe individuals only if it is thought to conform
to an objccti,-c measure_ Henct' it is distributed by iuries. ,",'hose mem
bers dehcr not an opinion but a ""rdict_ "true about the
qualities 01 the rotipiCllb, And on iuries thought is not free; it is bound
by C'o'iclence and min. What i. called for i. an a}"olute
WhCll the church dcsignates its saints or the .tate its heroes, questions
are a.ked that ha,." to be answ<:.ed witb a Ycs 0. a No. n.c miracle
did 01" did not occur; the courageous actiool ",al or "'OIl not performed.
'59
SPHERES OF' JUSTICE
The purpose of public IIOT>OJ is to 5O'arch out not the dC:\Cfving poor
but ,imply the dae,ving, wbetber tbey are poor or not Butlhe Kareh
will certainly turn up men and WOmen hnoic action, ,i,,&ul.r
achie\'ement,OI public $ol't\itt has,lor whatn"Cr re3$01l, been negk<:ted
by their Idk>ws, Heoce it i, in lQ'lle 5O'nse a remedial di,tribution-not
becoI...., it eve", up the of ho'lOI' but becoIuse it gellthe utte\Tn-
neu right It, agents (ide.:Illy) are 1TIO<e tightly tied to the standa,ds
they espouse than priVltte persons a,e, Public hortor is indttd distrib-
uted f<Jf public realOnS; but the public re3SOO" unlike tho: pri''3te ones,
come into play ottly lI'hen we tho: qu.alilies that are worthy of
honor, not when ....e d>OOSe the people:. If ,tate officials l)'ltematiC3lly
..,Iected men and women whom it w;u politically to bonor,
tbey WOIlld devaille the hooon tbey distributed. Hence the phcnome-
non of the mixed distribution, where a lew dese"'ing individllals arc:
3dded to the bonors list in ordel' to CO\"CI those who aTC honored for
political reasoos; mostly, the CO\'C! doesnt"""k.
It is not only state officials who distribute public hollOI', bul also pri-
\';Itcly organized $OCietics, foundation. and committees All 5OI't5 of
achievements are Of C3n be honol-ed; those that are ....,fulto the S1ale,
those tbat are JOCially uselul, ...d those that ale simply memo,able, ,u-
perior, distinguished, or Clci!ing. So long as the choice ronforms to
$OffiC ob;ecti,'e measure, SO long .. il i,n't a matter of individu.al will
or whim, "'e C3n properly think of it as a lorm of public honoring The
.tand;"d is d=rt, and what is ""ing rCWolrded i, mClit, this or that
perfonnaoce. accomplishment, good deed, job ,,'ell done, piece of
wmk attributed to an individlT.1! or a gTOUp of individuals,
In thc distribution of most _i.1 goods, d=rt pla)"lilllc part, Even
in the C31C1 of office and edUC3tion, it only minimally and indi-
rectly. With mem""rship, ..-ellarc, wealth, h.rd ""ork, leisure, familial
la'c,.nd political p(\"o"eI, it doesn't figurc at .11 (and with di\'ine gr.K:'e
we don't know how it figural. O=rl isn't ho".n'cr, he-
cause tm, adjective rltufl'irrg canool or does not accur:I!ely charactcrize
indi\idual men and women; it C3n and does. Advocates of equality ha"c
often felt compelled 10 deny the reality of dcscrt.
18
people "l: C311
deocrving, they argue, are simply lucky. Bom with certain
.""' d.on.. ,t.< __ ,.... <011'< ol __ ..1Uo:wmm, bo.l bta...
ol __ <Jf rto It.<......... ol. b<.uty.- "--d' Thc..pn;m,<Jf <OIIt<mpo.-"'l'
_". ""' to '-<. dim.Dd <mbon-"..,j ,"', ,t.< orin"", """ld .... b< "'-<d
......... 'Iom.....-ly ko h<t "....01 ko 'Io<r ""'" nri<lrol "ulm,"
wtn" 1_.. rko ..I .... _ 01 .. I<tion. -' __, pt.,,,,,>1 b<>o". ...
too ,......... ,.... bo.lh....t blood ..... "'" ....Wy.... ""_,. tM_
....... 11 .. -....... to _ '. _-..... ""'" ..Iord...,.. Bur k', or,,'owoIJ
_ to i""".. "",,'oa Iooo>oIo<l ... oMrn.d __01 hoM<
Recognition
r:ai5td by Jo.,ing Of e.<;lcting OT parents, the)' thell tlltm-
selve:lliving, quite by in a time and place ,,'hne thei, partieu],1l
capacities, 50 carefully fostclC:d, ''3lued. FOf IIOne of this em
the)' an)' aedil; in the deoepest lCIlse, they not respomible
for tlltir own E'"eII the effort they expend, the p;linful
lr.Jining they undergo, is 110 e-.idence of personalltlCf"it; lor the ap;teit)'
to make an eIIort Of 10 endure pain iI, like all their other capacitia,
only the arbitrary gift of nature 01 But this: is an odd argument,
lor ",hile its purpose is to 1e:1'"t': us with penons of equal elliitlement,
it is hard to see it Iea"es w with !"'mml at all, Iiow are ""t': to
roneei,,, of these men women once ""t': ha'" come to view their
capacitin achie'o"t':mcnb accidental accessories, like and
coats they iust happen to he wearing? How, indeed, are they to con-
cc;"e of themKkes? The reRe.ive forms of recocnition, sell-nleem
Klfresped, our moll imporlant PQ5>CSSions, "'hich I shall rome to onl)
at the end 01 this chapter, must seem meaningless to individuals all
01 ",hose qualities are nothing but the Iud 01 the draw,
The impulse at "'Of\( here is closcly related to the impube that le:Hls
contempor:ary phikaophers to igl10fe the ron(1"t':te me:lning of social
goods. PerlOns abstr:actcd from their qu;slilies and goods
froo, their meauinllS lend themselvQ, of COUll'e, to distributions that
att'Ol'd ,,'ith abstract p1iocipla. But it seems doubtful that such dis:tri
butions C<ln jlOSSibly do iust;':" 10 they are, in ",arch 01 goods
they CQI>cei'-e them We don't ellrotmtn other people as rOOfal and
psycholocical blanks, neutral bearers of acddental qualilia. II isn't as
if lhere is Xarnlthcn there are X', qu;slilies, '" tlLat I em react.sepa.
ratdy to the one and Ihe other. The problem thai iustice po5('$;s pre-
cisely to distribute goods to a host of Xs in .....ys that respons;,oe
to their concrete. integrated ",hes. Ju,lice, lhal ;1, begins with persons.
More than this, it begins ",ith penonl-in-the-social-world, with goods
in their minds as "1:11 as in lheir hands. Public honor il one such good,
and "oe don't ha,'c to think about it long Of deeply to rcalize that it
C<lnnot e.ist as a good unless therc are deserving men anod
WOmCfl, This is lhe unique pbce where deserl has 10 count illhere
is to be any distribulion al all 01 any value in what gets distributed.
Wc could, of course, g;"c out public honors for utilitarian rea...,ns,
'" as 10 encourage politically or socially useful Soch rea-
!IOtl1 will ah<'3YS playa part in the practicf: of ho;mo.-ing, but I don't sec
how they an stand alone How will we know whom 10 honor unless
we are rornmiUed to to peroonal desert? ....nyonc will do, '" long
allhe n,couragernenlluml oullo he effttti,oe. Indeed, lhe authorities
'6,
SPHERES OF' JUSTICE
mighl well Ihink it best 10 im-ent perlormarltt and 10 "fran>e" an
""r1om>e' 10 u to make sure IJut they ale enoouraging n-
adly lhey wanllo mcourage. This possIbility (,,hieh mirrou an
old againsl the ulilibrian ac<."O\Inl of punilhment) suggests
lhat there good rc:lSOOS for slieking 10 Ihe COmmon underslanding
of desert. Otherwise, honor is simply nailabk for tyranninl
u,..,. Bec:.11'" I p<>WCr, J shall honor 10 3Ild 10. It doesn't matter
whom J ehoose, bttall5C no one rally deserves 10 be hooorro. ,4,00 it
doesn't IruIUer whal the oo::cuioo is, lor I dont rerognize any inlrimie
(social) cxlnnedion belwn honor some p;lrtieul:Jr set of ""rfor_
manea, This sort of thing "''On't "''(lfk unless I"" tyrant sta)'l in power
long enough 10 transform the commoll undeulanding of an honorable
l"'r1ormanC"C, But that is prcci,..,ly his purpose:.
Stilfin's Stillmano';lts
Siakhanov wa, not an though he might well have been.
He ......, a roal miner of unusual ,tl'Cl"lgth and energy who produced
more coal than Ihe official quota Surely, in a socialist society,
a proletarian state, this was an honorable performance, lust u lurely,
Stakhanov's strength and energy ....,re, in Ihe contemporary phrase, "ar
bitrary f",m a moral point of view_r>o ra50ll to singk him out from
other workers, less enoo...-ed, who abo worL:d hard. (Nor wouk!
there be any reason, givt'n this view of 10 single oul those
....1>0 ...'Orkro hard from lhose who merely "''Orked.) But in ehoosing
Slakhanov, r>ot iusl 10 bc honored, but to ",ne as the hing
of socialist honor, Stalin wa.s praumably endorsing Ihe idea of dcsc:,l.
dcsc:n'ed to be honored bt:call5C he had drro-e what he did,
and what he did waJ hono<able. In fact, him,..,lf almost certainly
did not belie;.", I"" fiut of thcsc: propositions, and fellow
work.-n did not believe the JCCOnd.
The idea of desert implies some conception of hun",n autO"oOmy.
Before an indi,idual can perform honorably, he must be responsible
fof his performar.tts; he must bea mood agent; lhe pcrforn",ncn mwt
be his OWn. 1lJCre were $oo..jd philosophers and psychologists in the
'9)0$ who hek/such a ,.jew of human agency; but when Slalin finally
announced his own position 00 thcsc: n",ttelS, in the period immedi-
ately after the Second Work! War, he toof; vt'ry differenlstand. He
adopted tben a Pa,Jo.,irniJm, accofding to whieh "man iJ a re-
acli'e mechanism whose behavior, iocluding all the hisher mental pro-
be cshausti,-e!y understood through a knowlcdgcof the bws
,6,
Recognition
of conditioning ... controlled throogh of this knO"'I-
edge."'19 This is only one of the psychologiCOlI theories pl:lUsibly
underpins Ih.c denial of indi\idual daert, btll it has to be uid thai it
underpins it \cry well Stalin prob;ably heklllOmCloch \'ic:w in the 191011l
"'hen the Stakhanovile "pcriment WOlS bunched. But if
(l'Ulea''C now hi. physiOlI strength) is the prod-
uct 01 his corKIitioning, then in what semc doe! he deser\'e to be hon
ored for itl Stalin singled him out only for rCOlSOn., the pili-
pose of Stakhaoo\'ism "'IS to condition other "murs to pcrForm in
similar that CO<Jkl be nised, assembly Jines
spded up, and iiIO Oil, The "-as not rerognition
btlt illCnlti,'e. pd, one of those oRelS that turns \'ery rasily into
'J1ut's an OIn be, I think, in the absence of a thcory
01 desert.
the "'her workClS obited. The utilities that Stalin had
in mind .. ere not their 0"11 utilities. But their Objedioll "'CIlt dccpcr
tlu" For they thought of him,.,lf, they
cleuly did Ilotthillk his the Stakhar"lO\'ites of mid-
dle 111)05, tkse,,"'ed to be honored The winners had (let's as-
h3ld. but they had abo \'wted the norms of their dass,
broken its 5OIidarity. By ac>lJ11ts. Ih..,.. ....,.., 10 be opportunisll
renegades, the equi\'alents of UI\CIe Toms; tl>q were
SllUhtd, ostrxized, hanssed on the job.
lO
Stalin's honoring ",IS the
OCC'Uioll "" ii>di\'idual and dishonoring, No doubt, the dis-
honoring ..-:IS intended in part u a disincent;\'C, btlt I suspect that the
worurs WQUId also hase ",id thalthL,. were responding 10 the dishonor_
able performances of the performen.
They ..ook! ha\'e uid, that is, that they helin-cd in gi\'ing people what
they (Ically) dcse,,ed.
But it is a hard question ..hdhe, that ;s possible, E\'C1l il ,",'e refus.e
Hamlet', "Who would 'scape whippingl" assume that there
><>me people who public hOllO<, it to be oem whether
tllere is way of finding tile right people, Can juries really tkher
\'C,dicts that are not merely opinions? Won't still be
n'cn "'e agree aehie>'efM11tJ a,e not? 11 i. imporiont herr
not to sct our star>dards too high. We not gods, ..'C nn"'" know
enough to with perfect truth the qualities pcrfor-
JrulnttS 01 oIha human beings. What counts, 1\o-.o.'C\'Cr, is the UpiFol-
tioll. We aim at \-eTdicts, not opinions, and ,",'e design certaill arFolnge-
ments for the uke 01 that aim. Thus the Jury, a company of
",ell and ""men S"'",n to seek the huth. Somdimes the huth lies be
SPHERES OF JUSTICE
rood toor reach. and they find tltem5O!h'elI choosing among compding
Somdirl>eS they mistakell; indi"idual
corrupt parti",n Somdimes disagreements arC too
deep alld flO '"CTdict is polSible; IIOmetimes members merely .trike
a bargain. But thc criticisms that "-e conHTlO<lly make of jurie...."..,
in cffect to ratify tlteir Purpo$C. For wbat wc say is that they shook!
ha,.., done: better, Of that ""C rouk! oo.le bettel, flOt that thcrc
is ooIhing to be rk>nc. In JlfiRCiplc, at least, true speech is pos:sible.
The Nobel Priu in Litenllun
Co<TsKkr now ORC of the most respected and conlrm'enial of public
Ilooon. Alfred Nobel's will established in ,8q6 a priu: for literary
achievemcnt, but its slipulations ,,"'elC brief and by rIO means entirely
clear. Thc priu: "'';IS to go "to Ihe p"rson wOO shalll>a'-c produced in
the field of literatme the most oolstanding WOIk of an Kkalilltenden-
cy. "II slKttSSi,.., juries hav" had to dtti<k how to collstitute "the
fid<! of literatulC" for lho: purJlClilC of tl", prize and how 10 undentand
"id..ali.sm"' with reference to that field, And then they ha,'e had to
choooe among the ,,,,ridy of candidates, wriling in differ-
ent genra, in different 1;l11guagcs, within diffClcnt litcrary traditions.
How rould the juria "''''n con", ckJse to a "11 is absolutely
impossible:' wrote Ca,l Da"id al \Virs6T, tlte \c;K!ins m"",bcr of the
fint iury, "10 dtti<k whdl>er a dran>atilt, an "pic 01 a I)-ric poet
, . a ball;K! writer or man of itka., ronks the highellt. It;l like dttiding
011 tl", relative "",rits of the elm, the linden, the oak. the ,ose, Ihe lily,
or the vioIct.'l1 And yet the rCCOlds of the jury meetings indicate that
\Virsen had very strong about who should get tl", pOu. Nor ha"e
critics of the sllCt'elSi,.., jurics--and there ha'''' been many elit-
tbe idea of impossibility. If,OIl tho: OIle hand, it seems
foolish to attempt a rank ord..ring of all tho: world's it
sec",S, 011 the other hand, almost natmal to TOgnize a '"Cry smallllum
ber of prc-cminenl ""liters. And then critics and ,..aden Sttm to fall
readily mlo arguments about who is thc '"Cry best.
I suppooc there llC\"CT is a lingle ans""er to that qlJCStion. Q."CT a span
of tim". htno-evCl, there might _11 be a 5O!ries of arTS"'Cn that nlOfe
or less field. And it was the purpose of the jllliell
to pro"i& loch a scries. The fact that Tolstoy, Ibsen, Strindberg,
Hardy, Valery, Rilk Joy received tloc priu mggeslJ that
they were not entirely .l>ttt:SSful But Clitia don't > lreal tkal
of difficulty naming the ornissionsthat constitute the iuries' failure We
,6,
Rt'COgnition
hav'l:, of course, the ad\Olnlage of hioolight; and it il impurlanllo re-
member thallhe prir-c is, and should be, an immediate rec<.l(l:nilion of
a writer thought by his COIltempor.uia to be not an eliort
10 rerord lhe judgment! of hillory. Still, Tolstoy, Ibsen, Strindberg,
Hardy, Valery, Rilke, and lora were thought by manyof lheireontem
polOlries to be , .. Perhaps the membel1 of the jury some-
times roIlstrained by political faclors; perhaps Ihey think Ihal the
priZe! h.... to leBect a eertain geographical diJtlibutioll. So they slide
into the rok of a search looking fOf candidatalo lilillotS.
'md Ihen the llandard eriticilm i. that Ihey lhould behave more like
a jury, In allY ease. it is poJJible 10 beha\'e like a jury; and the histOf}'
of the Nobel Prize, and of lhe 0lI1trO\'ersiCl that hne allended partieu
Iar a"Ollm, po....erFully that "'I: all belie\'C there a,e ",riters ....ho
dese".., t(l be honored.
[t il not nec-essary, 110\0",,,, (excq>t for Allred NooeTI will), Ihat
we aim ollly al the "moot outJlanding" achie-.-ement!; w.e can aim sim
ply al all achievementl that stand oot. This il the moot common form
of public iloIlO! in modern socielia, where the honors list il al..Oly:l pub-
lished, the honor roll always ailed, "'ith implicit apolocies to anYOlle
inad"ertentJ)'lcft ofI, who deserves to be On, Tn= il perhaps a certain
temion between lhe eJlended lill and Ihe grand prize, In his
mtnl of Po/<lnd, Rousseau exploited thillenJo, to make a
point. He described a Bo.1rd of Ce"$O\"1 that "would dlOlw up accurate
and complete liStl of perSOIl! of all ,anks ,,'1>0 had so cooducted lhem-
sel,"l' al to merit 50ITle di,lin<:tion or rCVoOlrd"_00 ....ent on to say that
Ihe Board
,bould lo:x>. muel, more to the avnu than to the nolat<:<l dcedI. The truly
ll""c! deed is that dooe wilh Hnle diopby. SlIObined day-to-day beha,-ior,
lhe yj.tl>eS nun praetiC'(S in his pri",te aDd dnmestie life, the faithful
diocharee of the duties that atbeh to Ihill n.tion ... theoe are tbe thi,,&,
lor whieh. man descr.a to be hono.-cd. rarher llun the .pcrtaeular featl
he p."fOlm, ""ty on "",,",io<>--...hich for lhe rat, ,,m aheady ha", too,
'e'<'Olrds in public admiration, SmJation,n",,>p"i philc.oph"" h..", a
I,e>! foodndS fo. docds that mau ""''''.''
Th.t lnt poinl i, p.obably true, though I can Ott flO reason 10 go 001
of olle', "Oly 10 avoid endo"ing the general public's ..d",i.alion for Ihil
or that "spectaeular leat." But Rousoeau is right 10 I",,'e (misted on
the irnportana: of rCW(l:nizing Ihe "irl""" of ordinary people, eapeci:lll
ill a demoo:r.l!M: regime. Stali"'1 Sta1:hanovite awards are a vicious par
ody of "'hat rlttds to be dotll:, but a parody in which lhe need rcmaim
,'isible. It il most commonly 61led in conlemporary armies, whe.e the
SPHERES OF JUSTICE
a.....a,d o/Ih.. highesl honor for iIOme heroic doesn't pIe
dud.- m. honors for J.-ss.-, perlorman<:a. On Ih.. other hmd. the
nd ;sn't al in OIXUpalions .... soda! prestige i.low, "the
so;m>etimes incredible h"mi.m dispbyd by miners and li.herm..n; a,
Simon<: \V..il ,,ml "bardy ."",ker" an among mi""'1 orod li,k,
m..n th..m.d,'a He,.. public honor is ,emedia\__;md edu-
calional, 100: il invil... OIdinary citium to look be)..,nd their prejudg.
melll. and 10 recogniu deserl whe,e""r il is found. ""en .mong
them.d,CI.
Rom'ln itnd Other Triumphs
Thi. SOfI of dislribution is not politically n<"lllra1. If democracy se.-m.
10 .. it. othel regimes ..ndm.. it only al so"", 'i,k. In mo""rchiM
and oligarchi.... desert is a .. prine;p!.-, and this i. tlUl' ",'..n
wh..n it is only ".pectarub, feah" that "I i",ue This i, old argu
11letlt in polilicallhe<ll)', but it i. WOI"th rehearsing becallSoC il helps us
underst....d why the aulonomy of ...pkr... is alw:oys r..bli"",
Th.. standard rd..renee i. 10 Ihe Roman triumph, "110.. highesl point
01 honor," ' ..an Bodin hQ written. "th"l. Rom.n ciliun could aspi,.,
unlo.. , . H.. Ihat Iriumphed made hi, ..ntry more hollOlabk: th"n a
king could do in his ,aIm," Cloth.-d in PU'1'k and gold, crowned wilh
b,;,y ..., riding in a chariot.t 110.. head of h;, h;, capli,'es in
chains b.-for.. him, the "ictOliow commander p:""ded to I.... C.pitol.
"ravi,hing lhe h..arts of men, pa,tly wilh incredible joy.nd partly
IO.'ilh amazem..nl and admiTation" 1lle Iriumph iuil.hle only in
popubr st.te (wilh a slrong $Cnse of eiliunly virtllC). A king, by COll'
t.asl, has 10 be ie;llolu of honor; he i." miserly founla;n, a monopoli,l
of glory. H.. can permit no 00.. hut himself 10 I";lvi,h the he:uu of his
people.And thefelor..;' Bodin "-ent 011, """er see monarch and
much leu Iyl";lnt$. 10 gTanl I.iumph. and honorabk etlhies unlo his
subjects, what victory 1Oe\"eT Ih.-y b",'" gotten of the en..my .. the
hono< of Ihe ,-ictOT)" i. al"",ys d.... unto Ih.. plince, although he be a\>.
senllk day ollhe battk")l F'rane;, Baron mad.. lhe same point in
his "Bul that honor [ollhe triumph) pe,haps "'ere not iii for
monarchies, except ;1 be in the per.... of the mo""rch himself 01 his
son" ")6
As Bod", suggated, till: argum..nl holds even roo,., .Irongly fo. ly
nls. Th.f. why rukrs like Slalin ....d Mao .Iways ebimed for them
hOllor of gleat aehi...-enll:ul. I>Ot only in ....1 bUI also in sci.
ence, !ingui,tics. medici".., poetry, aglicullUf". and so on lind Ihat's
,66
Recognitioo
why poor Stakhanov couldn't be for anything that his fellow
workers th""iht hoOOlllhle, lest "the SlOtt! enticing of horlOl'''
should draw him to..-ek a representative or a leadership role. Tyrants
dispcn.., honon for or whimsic-al ,t'aSOOS, 10 as to undn-
cut the ,':dlle of the gift. But they themilef..l:S demand to be hooored
for their putati,.., dcseru. In an earlie' time, of COtlrse, kings ....etc: ]J()rl.
Ofed for their birth and blood or for their kingship: things honorable
in them..,I,'a. Neithn Bodin 1lOf Bacon made the claim in those terms;
thci, argument.. are appeals to political prudence. F'or them as for m,
honor belongs todeJerving people. The king's honor is the,efore a poli-
tic lie 'Though Bodin and Bacon ',""uld nC'o'er ha\'e said 50, evel}' king
is a usurper and a tyrant. "For ... honoI- which i5 the only reward 01
virtue: is taken aW2)', or at least much ,atrained, hom them that de
..,....1: it")7 tc:rot:nition of desc:"'ing men and women, am! of all
de..,....,illfl men alld women, i. possible only in a democr;lC)'.
And recognition, so ".., a,e told, wOlls wonders. Democr.lCies ha,..,
more heroes, more enterprising citilCns, more citium willing to sacri
fice thern..,h"" lor the common good, than any other rqime-all of
them enticed, as Bodin said, by the $V.. of honor. At the Amc
time, OOv.'C'..,r, honor must fIC\..,r be distributed 10 widely that it is de-
valued. Eialitari:rn philosophers commonly hold that in a democratic
community the citiulIlI arc entitled to ..qual resp1. Ja I shan tl}' late.
10 lind lOme scrne in which that claim is iustilicd; but in tcrms of In)'
argument thus far, it would nuke more "'n'" to deny il. The law is
no .""peete, of penQIlI. When citium petition thei. govcrnmmt, they
are entitled to ..qual attention; when offices arc avaibble, to equal con
sidefatioo; ",'hen "..,lfa,e is dist,ibuted, to equal concern. But when re-
.pt i. at muc:, "dcfetc:ntial ""teem," special 'cga,d, ritual eminence,
they arc entitled to none at all until they ha,.., been found to dcx,,'e
il.
That linding is, to be sure, different from the "findings" of the mar-
ket and the Hobbeoian Dtt, sin-ce it is in principle IICC lJOm e'-cry tori
of bargaining and ntortion. Public honor i. not a gift or a bribe but
a true speech about distinction and .....1...,. Bul the .....luCl asserted in
tlte 5pccch must be to the ordinal}' participant.. in tlte
market and the race, an<! the distinction. it upholds musl be one! thai
they arc prone to nuke. Public honor cannot be egalitarian, then, any
more than pri'llte honor can be-not, atlcast, in allY 5implc 1IC1l.., of
th3t E,"CfI when mm and wQmcn OJdinarily ore .ecog-
nilcd an<! honoI-cd....-b}- a R(lU.UC;:;Iuian board of cenlOfI, .<:Iy_it is for
some achievement or record of otehiC\..,ment that, if widely known,
SPHERES OF' JUSTICE
would in any case ha'l' brought them the of theil fellow
citizens. The adoowled&ement honor can be do:se,,-.:d by those
"'ho nol honcxable is crucial Featull' of complex
equality, but it doesn't reduce or annul the singulality of honor.
Punishmellt
The case is the same ",ith punishment, the most important exomple
of public dishonor. All citizens innocent unti! proven guilty, but
this maxim does not call for universal respect but the uni"CTS;I1 absence
of disrcspttt. la'" is no disrespccter of penON. It docs nol (or it
should noti prejudge individuals because they arc wellOOn' beoIr
a noble title or ha,l' a lot of money Of hold this or that set of political
opinions. Punishment requires a specific judgnlCnt, a jury's 'l'rdict; and
that suggests that we punish people only whCfl they desc"l' to be pun-
ished. Punishment, like honor, is singling oot. Indeed, puni.hment
is lI\Ofe like a grand prize than hooors Jist, in that ..'e puni.h indi"id--
uals lor single acts (and especially se'lCTely for "spectacular feats"), nol
for a bod life. [t might be possible to work out an analog..., to
ROusse:luian honor, some IO!'t of public for
viciousness, but nothing like this plays p;art-or, SO fa' as I know, has
e"er pla)'cd a p;art-in the institution of p<lnishmCflI.
PuniJhment is a JXII'-'erful stigma; it dishoOOTS its vietim. Acr-ording
to the Biblical aCCOl.lnt, Cod put a mark on Cain in OTOO to protect
him; but the mark branded him a murderer, and so it ...... punish
ment; and though all of us would be grateful fOf divine protection, no
one ..... nts to bc..r the of Cain, TI,ell';s no way 01 punishing
doesn't mark st;glT\iltize tho$e who are punished, This is as tlue
for utilitarian punishments as it is lor Idributio<l. Whaten', tbe aim
01 the punishment, hoWC'l'1 it is justified, the distributi"e dlect is the
same, IF our aim in puoishing is to dekr other people lrom crime, "l'
ClInoot do that without singling oot p;articular criminal; deterrcnce
requires an e...mpk, and namples must be specific, If our aim is to
condemn certain _It of action, we canr>Ol do that without amdemn-
ing all aclOf; the expression mllst be COllell'te if it is 10 be unde'llood.
If our is 10 Idorm the man or the WOlT\iln "'ho has broken the
bw, "'l' cannot do that ",ithout this p;artieular mall Or ..-oman
,68
Recognition
as IOmrooc in need of ,donnation. In fint h',o of these' cues
(though not in third), we oould pick IOml:QflC at rarKlom, forge the
an<! "frame" him of whatC'\"Cr crime "'"C wished to dctl'T 01'
individuals are 001 lot lheir and
oon<!oct, it wouldn't matte. whom we c""",". 1bcre ",'OO1d be 110 ques-
lion of a i....t dist.ibulion,llOl"C\"Cr, for pcrson, "';Ihout ,espomihililies
a'e not the appropriate .ub;er;b of Nor would punishment of
Ihis IOrt, if "'"C all understood it lot what it "'as, be in any ICll5C dishon
or.lblc. But if pllnishmenl is dishonorablc, as it is, then it must be the
all: that individual men and women 01 do not dcsc""C to be
dishonored. An<! then it is critically importanl tbat we find the righl
people, that "'"C I'UI the mark of Cain on CAin Once again, "'"C are
not gods an<! C'iln nC\'e' really k sure, but "'"C musl design dill.i!>utive
instilulions 10 as 10 hring us a. dose to surety as l'OSliblc.
l1tere is a kind of moral that lhe I'racti of I'unish-
menl and probably has as mIlCh 10 do with the dishotlOf all wilh the
c:oereion and pain lhat pUllishment im"()hcs. Coercion and pain ne
allO a feature of military where thC)' don't generate the same
anxiety or set us looI<.ing lor deserving men and womet!. Bul milibry
ser,-i is not dishonorable, and it is not or should not be a I'I'nishment.
We Iry tn it fairly; but ..,e do that, and ""e nn do it, ""Ihoul
WOtf)'ifll about desert at aU. Conscril'tion not rest upon a series
of ,"Crdicll. Simila.Iy.l'unishment 'IOt .est upon the gene.al daig
nation of an age rollorl; "'"C do not choose p,isoners by lottery or exempt
individuals with asthma Or varioose ,'eins, We comeript the
able-bodied, men and WOmen deemed capable of bearing the rigorl of
war, But "'.., puni,h only the dcse"'ing: r>Oithosc people ITlO5t able 10
beal the stigma of punishment OI!OlI1e random IC1tion olthem, but
those ....ho ought to bear it. We aim at an Clltrnordinary and difficult
p,eclllOl1.
And "'.., decide who the ,ight people arc thlOugh the mechanism
of the triol, a public inquiry into the lrulh of a particula, action. Differ,
ently organized in diffClent CUltUICS, the trial is a ,'cry old mstilulion;
Olle finds it almost C\"Crywhc.e, alw:l)'S marked off as a
whose aim il not a oommon opinion 01 a l'OIitic::ll <lccision bUI a judf;.
mellt, a proof, a ,"eldict. Excepl in Alice's Wo",k.1and, the puni,h.
ment folkl"'.. the ,'erdiet and is imlXlSSible withoul it. We might ",,'en
say that the "erdict is the I'u"ishment, fOl it atlaclln the Itigma, which
lhe and pain symbolize an<! Withoulthe
,..,rdict,the and pain arc nothing and, alSum
ing 11.., lIIalemknce is known, c::Ilry no stigma at all. Simibrly, if the
'50
SPHERES OF JUSTICE
tr;'1 is a baud, its victims more libly to be 1101>O-"lIlhal> dishol>Ored
by thcir "punishmel>I."
If "'-e distributed ptmi.hment differel>tly, it "'"OUk! oot be punish-
"",nl al.1I We e:lll see this best if we coosider t",'o different distribu
ti'-e rnoxhanisms, ....hieh I ""ilI call the "election" .nd the "seafch."
We might ,-ote for the pcq>1e we punish, thc .!\Citnt Athen;'n.
did ....hen they chose citizens for o:rtr.lcism; or ....e lIIight look W. the
mo:rt qU.illificd candidates, as contemponry advocates of pr",-enti"e de-
tention ",'OUk! ha"e us do, Both of thex are eminently prxtinl ...
.. ngemenlS; but imofar as dislJibute dishonor, do 110, I think,
tyrannically
Ortr<lCism in Athen.
Exile ".,. a form of punish'nellt in the ancient ....Ofld, md it .....s
oftcn used fur the nlO5t se,ious crimcs, It nrricd ""ith it the loss of
political md civil righl., and IOOe .....' no Crl:ek or
ROID;;ln wriler ....ho took Hobbes's ,'i.,.,.. thai "a mCre change of .ir is
no punishmcnl.'19 Thatsellliment belongs to anothcl age, when the
scrue of place and communily had 10:01 ilo keenness. But cxile. in Ath.
ens atle3st, was a punishment (lilly ....hen it followed upon a trial and
'crdiet. Q.tracism ....a. something ,'ery different, and it "'''' diffncnl
proxiscly because the exiled cilittn "'''I 1101 iudsed but doxled by his
pttrs. The procedure ....as daignn:l in the vcry erllly dars of the demo-
e,atic regime to permit the citizens to gel rid of pov...,rful or ambitious
individU.ills, woo might ainl al t)"f1Inny or whose ri",bies threalened
the peace 01 the city, Hence OIIlracism was a kind of poIiticlil defeat,
one of the risks of democ'alic poIilin. There "'''. no implinlioo th.t
the individuals choscn dacr.'Cd theil exik; only, it .....s besl for the city,
;n the opinion 01 the citizens, that they should be "iled Thefe "".
no accusalion and nO defense. The Ia........ent 50 lar 35 to mle otltno"'i-
nation. aoo debale-perhaps ....ilh the cooscious intcnl of avoiding all)"-
thing that looked like a tri.L n.c citizens simply "'-role the name of
anyol\C they wanted to osllaci1-c on a potshnd or lile (thous:;mw of
thac have been found by COIrlemporal')' archaeologists}, and the pe'soo
retti"ing a plu..lity of tlteir ,"01... ""s ban;shed, without app.:al, for
Icn )-ears. It follo->'ed from thi3 ",oudule, as finlc).' sa)'s,th.t ostmcum
was an "hooor.Jry exile .. , ....ithoutloss of pwpcrty and ....ithoutsocial
disgrace,"1Q
Bul ....hen tlte practice of OSlrac;sm "'2.l dropped m lhe \'Cl')' latc
century, fink)' goes on, "OfdinaI')' e.ile on 'cr;minal charg... remained
'7'
Recognition
a possibility.")' It was possible, that is, 10 use the iury 10 infliel
Ihe unle sorl of political defeal upon an opponent Of a ri''al fa< lhe
Athenian jUly "'';IS a lillie assembly, with tllC jurorJ numbering in lhe
Ihoounds; and the criminal procas was readily poliliciO'-ed. Bul ...-hen
opponenlJ alld rivals ralher than criminals were COIlviettd and sent inlo
what could nO longer be called an "hono"")' eKi1c," Ihe rollvidion "''3'
plainly an ad of tyranny. Because I ha"e polilical po":er and COIn oorn
mand cnou&h Voles, I will punish)'Oll. 1be distinction oslra
cism and punishmenl drew a nice lir>e between pop<Jlar opinion and
a jury', verdict, belween poliliCOlI defeal and criminal dese,l; alld it
teaches a nice Iesl101l. Social diSflI<lCC, if it is to be justly distribuled,
musl follow upon a verdict, must be a function of desert.
Pr"'"f!ltt,,'fI !Xtclt/iolt
As the At1lCnians ostracize<! d.mgcrous citizens, SO we are somctimes
invited to imprison Ihem. If Iloerc were a fOfm of "hOnOfary imprison.
ment," this might be an attr.ldive a,rangemenl. Bul no such form
CUlftnlly tKists, and the ;wl\"0C3.tcs of prC'"C1lti,.., delention ha,.., not
managed to dcsc.ibe anything that is as different f",m OIdinal')' impris-
onment as ostracism ...-as f",m Ofdinal')' exile. Nor are the pmspects
promising, for what they ha,.., in mind is a criminaL not a political,
danger; and it isn't asy to ICC how ...'e mijj:ht honorabl)' detain men
and ","Omen ""hom ",'C ha"t designaled as potential criminals.
ll
1be idea behind pre..enti,.., detention is that _ ,hould OUI pris
ons Ihrough a 5<'uch for calldidata-men and "'OTTlCrl likely
to act badl)--jllsl as we fin our o/Iiccs Ih,ough a search for men and
WOmcll likely III act w"]], Whal is called fo1 is not a jud,:menl but.
prediction; hence nOi a jury 001. search COIllmiticc. Perhaps thc rom
mittee must make some claim to aperl knowledge (a jllfY "",kes no
such claim); at least. it mllSt consult wilh eKJlC'ls. If its predictions a,e
:K1;Ufate. then it should be possible to detain people b"'Ofe it becomes
neccsury to aHest them, and SO tht securil)' of C"CT)-day lile wwld be
greatly enhanced. or OOlJTSe, a pl'ediCtitnl is not the ""me'thing as
v,",did; though one might a'g...., gi'"C1l the vagaries of juries and the
putative competence of search oommillca, that the OIl\" is as likely to
be. "Ir.... specch" as the other, But this misses tile crucial dift'c'ence
between the t"'"O. Onee om: acts on p.ediction, it is imposllible ever
10 know wllet!>e. il was tr.... specch. 1be incidcllC'C 01 crime may
w..]] drop .ha'plj' once a program of prC'..,ntj\.., detention has been in
stituted; indeed, it is tettain to drop if ell(JOl{:h people afe detailled.
'7'
SPHERES OF' JUSTICE
But will nn". krt(lW whclher this p;lrticubr penon, !lOW locked up,
would or would no! ha\"e committed a crime.
We tolerate this sort of uJ1Cl.'Ttainty in the case of officd because
we hn'e no c!mitt. TIlcre is no way of knowing whether that failed
candidate lO.oold ha,'e performed than this sucCC$Sful 0flC. The
performances that oI!i<:es ""1uire, unlike those that punishment presup-
poses, ooly corne after the distribution has been made. Some
of honor no doubt comes with the office, in ad.anee of any perfor-
mantt. but I ha''e tried to luggest tbat uOOer conditions of complell
e<jll3lity, the highcst honors will eo only to olficc: holders who perform
10.,,11. Now, punishment i. a negative 110001'. not a negati>" ollice It
foIk>ws upon actions, not qll3lilieatiolls; 1O.'e punish indi\"idll31s who have
al.eady performed badly. One might defend this "iew of punishment
by reference to the wluc of Ir....-dom: e>'Crl men and WOmen of whom
it call be said that they probably will cornmit crimes ba,-e a right to
chQO$.e for themscl,-cs whether they will aet1l311y do so.n But I think
it makes more sense to put the argument somewhat diffcrc-ntly. If we
valued freedom less, we would ba,,, deo,-iJed a form of honorary deten-
tiOll, like the of people with contagious dise;ucs, fo. which
individu:lls milht qualify (though we assume th.t they would prefer
IlOl to qualify). It i, becaUJoe h..='t done th.t_hnen't choocn
to, h"'en't hem able Io-Ibat Jlfcventivedetenlion is un;mt De-t-ained
men and women are punisl>ed lor leasons that don't ronnt ",-ith Our
ordiwlry undel$tanding of wbal puni,hme-nt is .nd hJ;,w it OUiht 10 be
distributed. The detention, then, is all act of tpanny.
SeU-E$teem and Self-Respect
Honor and dishonor are especially because they so readily
t.ke the relk>;i,,, form. Indeed. it is an old argument Ihat coocc:ptiom
of the :self are nothing but intemalized 50Ciai judgments. There i, 00
:sell-knowledge without the help of the othen. We ltt oursel'eJ in a
mirror lormed by their eyes, WeadmireO\lnd"eJ ""hen ",'e are .dmir""
by tlIC prople around ""'. Yes. but it hal to be added, not only theil,
.nd 001 al"'-a}'s e>'en then The circle of 'C'COgnition is problem.tic.
Consider somcorJe who il coneeited or puffed up he admires him",11
mOTe than rest of u, do. Con.ider IIO<llOOr>C with. a deep inferiority
'7'
Recognilion
compleJO he thinks himself infc'io" the rest 01 US don't Pe.haps
someone else ooce the fint person or humiliated the scrond.
Still, these are b,eak) in the CiTCIe, aoo they alert us to tile diffi
cultin of the relkJi\'e form_ Whal we dislribute 10 one ar>otllC" i. n-
teem, not self-etecm; reop<"Ct, not self-respcd; defeat, not the sense
of delca\; ar>d tho: ,elalion 01 thc first to the seClmd lerm in each of
these pairs is iOOirccl and uncertain
Self-eteem may ,,'cn be greatat in hie'archical in
the \oIo'est rank of the hie.archy. The members ol all thc othC! ranu,
looking, ill RouMcau sa)'1, "rathC! bel"", than abovc:' r<:1id, the deFC!
cnce they recei,-e !"OOr<: than th.cy diolike Ihe dcfcren lhey yield, III
this sense, hiwlTchical societies Tcitcr.rtc apin and ag;Tin, 101' each.llC-
cesoive rank ex"CPt the last, the joy that TC!lullian claimed Ihe saint.
W(ltT1d Feel wnen lhey watched Ille suffering.! oltlle damned, AOO Ihis
i. not macly a sensual but abo a mcntal joy, a heightenl:d sell-flteem
that has 10 do wilh the social (or spiritual) heights thc saintlthink they
ha,.., attained. They "oold cease to be ham. 3$ Roul$C:lu sa)'1 mthe
rich and the I'O"-crful, the moo,cul the people below thcm "cased
to be wrctch-ed"
H
BUI tile wrelchedness olthosc below- isl>O! always
or rlCttUlIrily rcllccted in a diminished sense 01 self-esteem lbe kr,.-e.
ranu in,ilale the higher ar>d fQ' .<Orne comparative ad'OIntage.
Thus Indian .....'cepe.., aCCOfding wa conlemporary anlhropologist, ac
k""""ledgc thei, place in the hierarchical system, but allO "auociate
tho:ir "'ark .. , "'ith a toughness lhat they admirc in both IlK'n ar>d
wo,""n, ....ith drinking and eating 'hot' sulrstanccs. meat and shoog Ii
quor. Linked with this is tlleir heticlthat they aTe hotblooded and
highlysexed."ll We can call thio compensation, if "" like, as if 10 say
Ihal it has only subjeeli\'e \.. but that is \0I1ue nonethelm. From
lheir own heighll, the s"-ccpen look down upon the panid abstemious-
ness oflhe "highC!" cast...,
[ don't " ..nt tQ pretend that the sweepen WO\Ildn't have g,ealer
....IF....tcem if the hier.lr<:hy we.e abolished. [ auume Ihal Ihey would
It mighl be Irue, hOlO'C\..,r, that the m"rall quantity of s.elF-fltcem,
could it be mealUred, would be IcsI (Ihis is not an argument in favor
of hicl3fthy) In tho: society of misle.s, IO'e should exped to find a nxxe
uniform kind of s.elf-e.steem, ll1OI'e widely but abo more r,er..-ously held,
10 that nleu and _men would gralp at C\-eryopportunity lodillinguish
themselves From the othen. "It io im{lOlllible in our condition of soci
ely:' Thackel"'-Y wrote in the "not wbe sometimes a snOO."'6
Snobbery n the pride of lhose who are no b'ga SUle illSt "'here they
stand, and 10 il io a peculiarly dcmOtr:olit vice, We say 01 a snob Ihal
SPHERES OF' JUSTICE
he "rides a high hone" an<! "gi,-es himsell ain." He acu al if he ".,re
an aristOCr.lt; ht, claims a title he ooem't have. It is .... rd to Itt hOI"
thillOft of thing can ht, a,"Oided, '""tTl ii, as the memory of aristocr:lCy
lades, it begins to l<Ike w.ms rather dille,ent (though surprisingly, oot
yet "CT)' dillCTCt\t) from those t....t 1backcray dcsc'ib<od, If "., eliminate
r.lnk a' the basi, of .nobbery, then people will be snobs On the balis
of wealth, or or schooling and cultivation. II it's not On<' thing,
it "'ill be else, for n1CfI and womell ,,,lue themscl\fCS------just
a' they >re valued-in comparison with Othell. "The sight of contlast,"'
"'rites Norbert Elias, "heightens joy in li\'ing."l7 Scll-eltccm il a lela
tional oonttpt. Under conditions of complex t<J1U1i1y, tht, patlnn of
relationships will be Ioo:sclled and heed fTOOl Ihe oominan of rallk
and wealth; the spial joys of aristocr.lCY will be abolished; snobbery
011 one basis or another will be univnsally a.-ailable. BUI selfeslccm
Will still be a relational concept.
11le case is dillerent. hO"''eVcr, wilh regard to ,dfresped, This is
a diflereOtt clearly marked in 001 language but not often allelldcd to
in the workof contemJlOfary phibophen, According to the dictionary,
sclf.estccm is "a fawrable appre<;iation Or opinion of QIlcstll:' while
1C1I-respcct is "a pr<lpCr rcprd for the dignity of ooe's penon Or one's
poIIil;on,")8 The of these is, and the 6rsl is not, a oormati.'e
coocept, dependent upon our rnonl undentanding of persons and poIIi
tions. The same does not.how up in the nonrellexi\'e fomu,
esteem and respect .imply.1bo:sc IaUn lerms both belong to thc "mld
of inlelpCnonaJ compariso"s, but self-,cspect belongs to a world apart.
The concept of honor, like lhal of a "good name,"' lttms to belong
to both "mlds, I respect myself not wilh rdereoce loolh." people but
with ,de.ence to a standard;.1 the same time, other pcof'le can iudgc,
by the same standard, whether I ha'., a right to rC'lp1 myself
Coosi<kr an elfamplc from my disc'Ullion of schooling, 'To ser\'e ed
ucational "caIs," wrote R. H. Tawney. "without 10 the .'ulgo,
irrele>'ancies of class and income, is a pa'i of leacher'l honor" (see
page 1(1). The appeal hne is to ",me undent.nding of what
a tcocher is, to an (implicit) professional rode, The individu.llcocher
is supposd 10 think of his hollOf in term. of that rode; he ought oot
to rcspt himseJl unless his conduct conlorms to its tnm. And il it
docs, he should. The nleOning is the SOme in &entcnttS like these:
No sclfrtspeo:ting doctor """Id 1"'01 I"'licnl like Ihol.
No selfrespecting I",de unionid """,Id.,,-ee 10 .urh a ronlr.lC1
Whal is .1 ,bilke i. Ihe dignity of polSition and the inlcg,ily of the
'74
Recognition
penoll who holds il. He ought oot to lower himself for some penonal
ad'-anlage; he ought oot to sell himself shoct; he OIJght not to endure
such-and-such an affront. ArxI what counts as lowering, selling, and
enduring depends upon the social meaning of the rok and of the wOIk.
No subst.anti,'e accoont of ""Ifrespect will also k a uni'-nsal acwunt.
But it is entirdy possible that every teacher, doctor, and trade union-
ist ..,ill refuse to lower himselF, sell himself shoct, and so on, expr=ing
in his e\"ery act a ploper rcg:ud Fo. his perwn and position, TIle norm
of pmper reg;lId may come into disputl', of C'Ourse, and the dispute may
gen=te C'Ompelili"e bcha'-ior. But the practice of respecting orlC$Clf
isn't a comprliti'1: practice. Once Wf' know what the norm is, Wf' mea-
sure ourselves against that; and my 5COSC (or other people's scnse) that
I havc measured up_ while it may prick iiOfficone elsc's conscience and
make him uncomfortable, i, no b;" to his SUCC'CSS, and hi. success i'
00 diminution of my own. One can, I suppose, k too scruptJlous in
these measurements. Sclf-respect nukes for prigs as scll"C'lteem makes
lor ,nobs. But the ,-alues the prig C1CIggerates, unlike those thc snob
eugg=tes, can be shared. Self-respect is a good we can all havc-llnd
it i. It ill very much wmth having,
III a hierarchi....1KlCicty, there are different nmms and difFe'ent mea-
SUlemelltl lor each rank. A gentleman may '-alue himsell because of
his ,-ast lands or his ncar relation to a great lord: this is s",utitcem,
and it is instantly diminished il someone "'00 owns It ill more land, 0r-
is rdated to a g,cater kmI., """'('$ into the neighbOlhood. Or he nuy
,-alue hi!llsell because he l i ~ up to some standard of gentility: this
is sell-rapect; and though it can be bt,l don't think it can be dimin-
ished. Both these ,e/lexive forms are hicky, but selF-esteem slicks more
closcly to hierarchical rank (e\'en wheo the ~ ranks rultivate in sc'
crct a coonterhicrarchYl Aristocrats and gentlemen enjoy greater
selF-esteem than do artisans, serfs, or scrvants. So "1: commonly as-
sume. at aoy ratl'. But the case i, differeot again with sell-respect,
which can be grasped as firmly by the ]o..1:r as by the higher rank"
though the stmdards by which they mea.sure themsch'CS are different.
Nor are the standards r.c:ssarily different TIle philosopher slave Epic-
ttlus meOllured himself by his conception of humanity and sustained
his sdF-respect. Rcligiolll universalism p<ovidcs for similar meUUM:-
menls, "'hich ha\'e greatcl appeal, 00 doubt, to sla"a than to malleTS
but apply equally 10 both. [am rTl(Me inte.ested he.e, howc.'cr, in the
...oay hierarchia gerle,ate distinct models of scll-rapect appropriate to
~ e h rank: the proud aristocrat, the honest artisan, the loyal scm",I,
and III On. These: arC co,wcntional types, and they sc....e to uphold the
SPHERES OF' JUSTICE
hier:archy. StiU, we shoukln't be too quick to dcnigr:ate liuch
sellamccptiom, t\"<:n if we hope to leplace: them. F'or they pl:lyed
a l:Irge part in the ITIOI'aI life of man\.ind--a largel palt, thlOugh much
of human hillory, than their philosophical 01 religiou,
So self'lespect is available to pos.sa.sed of some undcl'l'tand
ing of his "proper" dignity arld some capacity to act it out. litan
d..rd. are difle.ent lor difleltflt lIOCial pooitiom, v;;nying among r:;mks
in a hitr:arch
y
just as they v;;ny among oeropati<)m: m the society of
miltel'l' But in the bUer lIOCidy, there il abo a common iIOCial pooition.
named (for men) by the titk "militer." What ltandarcl is appropriate
there? Tocquevi!\c roggated that this questioll il equivalent to the
question, What docs it mean to be a self'lcspecting (or an hooor:ablc)
""-,
The ",cscriptions of honor ...jIJ ... be .... numerow among. people
not dividrd into alta than ."""" .ny other. If ...."'. thoere rome to be
n:otMJrn in ...h.,h it is hard 10 dit<Q\-n 1,_of cb.. distinct;"'", bono<
wiN tllm be limited to. few prq>t".nd thex ,,m dr..... contin...
l1y ck.er to the moral!..... ottq>tcd by hun"nity in gcr>cr:ll
l9
But this suggestion n"""'. too quick1)-, I think, from cia.. and ""tion
to "humanity in general." We ha,"<' inrkd somc idea of what it might
mean to be a sclfrespttting pc.son--a "man:' a Mensch, human
being. But the ootion lacks :lncrctcn= and By itsclf, it
is too "'gut, like morality in gene.al whell it is abstracted from rala
and rel.:llionlhipl and social pr.clica, It is fOl thil reason that the title
"mi,te. is aY3ilable for oompt:liti'"<: definition and ha, rome to repre
scnt little mOle than a minimal standing in the general competition.
The leyolutiona'ies ,,'ho chalknged the old order did not call them
u+..es "mister," Nor was equal humanity their most immediate de-
mand, hut rather equal membeflhip was, l1lcy would haye undefltood
Simooe Weir. claim that "honOl has looowith a hur""n being ronlio:!-
ered not limply as .uch, but from the point of viC'" of his social sur-
roundings."40 Their prefefled titles ""<:'" "h<other:' "citizen," "rom
rade." Th_ worm ,,'ere used, of OOUflC, to describe
persons, hut they ga\'e at the san'" time a more specific meaning to
II>c desctiptioll.
Now imagine-to take the calial ofthcsr------;, society of citizens, a
political community The ,elf-Iespect of citiuns is incompalrble, I
think, ,,'ith the kinm 01 selfrcspect a''lIibbk in a hierarchy of ranks.
The sclf.rcspecti"i 5'CIv:lnt, who knows his place and measurcs up to
its norms (alld stands on his diinity ",hen hi> maslel behavcs bad1)-),
'7
RelgnitiOll
may well bf' an aHncti"e figure, hut he is not likely 10 make a good
citizen. The t,,"O bf'long to different social "mlds. In the ...mld of mas-
ters and K1'\,;mts, citizenship is unimaginable; in the "",Jd of
peT5011al scrvitt Udemeaning. The dcmocntic 1'C\oIution doesn't $0
mIlCh redistribute a, rw:>ncq>tua1iT.c ""If.respect, tying it, a, Tocque--
"ille ,uggests, to a single set of nOrl11l. It ,e,""ins possible, 01 course.
to be a Sl'lf,espccting tcache', doclor, trade unionilt-imd also a
Sl'lfrapcctin.g SCI"CIlgcr, dishwasher, hospital ordedy; nd thc:sc: occu
roles pto\'ide, proNbly. the most immediate CJlpcriencc of
Sl'lfrespttt. But the e.perience is connected now to a sen.w: of OfK"'S
ability 10 shape and control the work (and the life) one shares with
othen. Hence
No sclf.CIpcc!ini: citizen woold endure such treatnlent .t tn.. bonds oi
date officiob (or COfpOnte ofliciJl. 01 bosses, ."pc....;,,,,,.rod foremen),
Democratic ciliT.o:mhip is a ,t.h" ndic:ally disconnected from every
kind of hierarchy. Th<:re is ooe IlOlm 01 proper regard for the elltirc
populotion of citizem, Men and women who aim at a mo<e st,etllJOUS
,..,,,ion of citize-nship-tclling u, that "'e should abandon every
pri''llte ple'"u'e and, in Rousseau', ",,,,ds, "Ay to the public assem
more like prigs than snobs 11>cy arc trying to tighten
the ,tandard. by ....hieh cilitm, mea,ure IhcmSl'f..-cs and ot>C another,
But it is the minimal slanda,d. intrinsic to the practice 01 democracy
thai Sl't the norms of self-respect. And as these standards spread
throughout civil .xiety, they make possible a kind of sell-respect that
isn't depmdcnl 011 any p;ltticula, social positiou, that has to do wilh
one's general stlln'lling in the community an'll with ooe's ICnle of ooe-
""If, r>oI a, a person ,imply oot a, a person effecti,.., in sllCh and such
a ""lting, a full and equal member, an acth'e participant.
41
The operiellcc of 'equires the prior acknowledgment
that is a citizen-a public lorm of simple rCJgnitiou. Thi.s
is proWbly what i, meant by the phnse "equal respect." One <'an ,ive
this phnSl' some positi,'e contCllt, every citizen has lhe ..me Icgaland
political rights, ",'cryone's vote is counted in the lame ""'y, my word
in a coorl of law has the ..me "....ight as yours. Nooe of thi, ron.titut",
a condilion of ""If.resped, f>ow.,\'ct, lor !umlanti"e inequali_
ties in tl.., courts at>d in the political persist in most democracies,
....ho5c ciliz.cnsare nonctheless capable 01 respecting them""h"cs. What
is nett:lSOT)' is Ihatthc idea of citizenship be shared among lOI11C group
of ['!COllie ",110 re<:'Oflniz.c one another's tille and provide lOme toei:ll
lpace within which the title can be ;octed OIl!. Similarly, the idea of
SPHERES OF JUSTICE
doctoring al l"ofQ$ion of unionilm a mUlt
be by group of people before there can be sdfrcspedillg doc-
tors 01 trade unionist!, Or, more for"'/ully, "for Ih... need of hollOl' to
be Siltisfied in profQ$ioIul1i1e, every profession! mu"l have $Ome
eiation really capable of keeping the memory of nobility,
heroism, probity, generosity, genius lpent in the exercise of that
pro{ession.'d $elf-respt can nol be idiosync.:uy; it is not matte,
of will. In Jubllanti"" ..,n.." it il a function of membership, though
always a OOnlpleJ: function, and depends upon eqlL:ll ,espt among the
On agoil', though now with intimations of coopcrati"e
ratbe' than competitive activity: "they rerognize th... ms.eh...-s as mutu-
ally recognizing e<;)eh otbe.,"
Self-respect requires, then, SOme !\lb.tantial connection to the group
of members, to the lTlO\'ement that champions the;,x,a of p'ok'$Sional
honor, class solidarity, or citittll right., or to the larger community
within which these 001 are lIlOfe Of Iesl_ll eslablished, Tha!"1
upulsion from the movement or exi].e from the COfI'munity can be SO
serious a It bolh tl>e esl.".lIal and the ",Rexi"e
Iorml of honor. Prolonged unemployment and po"e,ty are similarly
th,eateni"g: they 'epresent a kind of ecollomic exile, a puni.hment that
"'C are bithe to say that anyone dese",'o.11.... welfale .tole i. an effOit
to avoid thil punishment, to gather in the ff<)lIomic exiles, 10 glL:lrantee
effedi"e membership.4. But C"CIl when it does this ii, the besl possible
way. meelina: needs without degrading pcnon.s, it doem't gua,antee
sell.respect; it only helps 10 make it possible, This is, perhaps, the deep-
est purpose of distributive iustice. Whell all social goods, from member
ship to political po""e,, are distnbuh:d fOf the ,ight 'eaSOllS, then the
ronditioru of ..,If-respect will ha"" been established as best they can
be, But the,e wilistiU be men and women who mffer from a lack of
..,lI-respect.
rn Older to enioY self-esleem, "." probolbly ha,." to COfIvincc ourseh-es
(even if this deivinll our..,l,-e,) that wc dc$er.c it, md "'e can'I
do that without a little help from 0\11 frirnds, But "." are iudges in our
OWn case; we p;lck the jury all best ....e can, and wc fake the ,'c,dicl
whe"",'''' we can. About this sort of thing, no one fnl. guilty; such
trials are all-too-human But self'cspect bring! us eber 10 II>e 1",,1
thina:; il more nearly resembles thelystem 01 public honor alld dis!)(mor
than the Hobbesian race. Now COfIsciencc is the COUlt, and COTUCiCTlCl:
is a shaled knowledge, an internalized :>cUptonec of C'C)mmulI3l sIan
dard., The standards are not all that high; we are requi,e.J to be
blethren and eitiuns, oot saints and heroes. But we can't ignore the
,,8
Recognitioo
md ....'(' e:m't juggle ,'('rdiet. We do rrlc.lSUI'<' up, or we
don't. MUlming up is not rruatler of SUCttSII in thil or th.1t entcTprise,
not of rclati"c soccess or the rcpuLation of SIKX.UlI. It is r:stJ>e.r
My of being in tk community, holding head high is
''('I)' different from riding high horse),
In order 10 cnjoy we rtlwt belic>"I: apable of
measuring up, md .....e must accept responlibility lor the acts that con
stitutc measuring up or r>OI meuuring up. Hence, sellraped: depends
upon deeper ''3luc th.1t I will ol! "selfpossessioll," the owr>enhip
not of one'l body bllt of o"",'s qualities, iIClio"s. Citizen-
ship il one mode of selfpossession. We hokl oursekes responsiblc, and
""I: al'<' held lesponsible by our fellow citizens. From this mulwl hokl-
i"i, the possibility of selfrespect and also of public honor follows.
These Iwo do not, oo.."C\'cr, al,,'3YS go together, If I belic>'e myself
..... rongly dishonored. I can ,etain my self-respect. And I Colll
my sellrespect by accepling dishouOl honorably, by "owning up" 10
my OWn xtio,,", What is dishollOUble, aoo..'(' is thc elaim of irre-
sponsibility, the <kni.;al 01 sellpossession, It's not thc self-
citizen 1lC\l:1" bill 10 the oblig:llions of citizenship, but
ralher that hc acknowledges his failures, knows himself capable 01
his obl'lations, rerrualllS oommilled 10 do so. Self-esteem is
a rruatter 01 ....'hal PalCa) .".l1ed "borro.....ed" qualilies; we he in Ihe opin-
ion 01 othcrs," Self-respect is a matlcr of 001 own qualities: heocc of
knowledge, not opinion, ...d of identity, nOll'<'lative This is
the mosl profound meaning of Antony's line
. . If I IoIe mine honoo-
1 IoIe 0.)v1l.-6
n.c self"Clpecting citizen is aulonorTl<)\1' J'C"O" I don't mean
in the world; I dou't know whal that ....,ou1d ,",-oI,e. He
is autonomous in his community, a frceand responsible agent, partici
pal;na rncmber I think of him 31 the ideal IUbject of the theory of
justice. He is at homc hve, hc klKlVo'S his pbce; he "reign' in his
own [company]. !lot clsewhcl'<'" ar>d he doesn't "desire po,:r..-n O\"r the
whole world." He is the \l:Tyopposile of the tyrant, who uses hi!: noble
birth, or hil "ulth Of office, or C\'Cn hi!: celebrity, to elaim otOO goods
that hc h.1, not to ....hich he hn no right. Plato ch.1.-xt.,rizrd
the tyrant, in p'ychologial tcrms, as a pclson ruled by a master pa.!'
lion." In t.,rms of the moral tt'OI1OIny that I h:I'"I: b" describing,
th., tyrant ;, a pcrll)n ....,ho exploits a muler good to maSlCT thc men
"'Ome" him. H., is not content wilh vlfpossession; but
'79
SPHERES OF JUSTICE
lalheT, thf1:TUgh the, mediation of money or pow..... J'OS'eS= him""U
of oth.eT sd,'n. '" am ugly, but I can buy most beautiful \\'Ol"en
lor myxlf. Cooscqutotly, I am not ugly, fo.r efl""t of uglincM
is annulled by money.... I am a detestable, di.honorable, unICrupu-
lolli, ami stupid man. but Il'IOllcy is honored and so abo is its posses-
ilOf,"48 I don't want to suggest that a ""Irapcchog dctatable man
...wld seek sueh honor_though a ,;mib, idea may lie behind
a ceJt.Jin IOrt of proud misanthropy. Mor., gerlelOllly. sdf-respecting
citizen ",'ill 001 seek what h., cannot hooorably have.
But h., will certainly seck lecognition from th., other mnrlCn of the
Hobbesian ratt (he isn't a dropout) and JIIlblic honor from his fellow
citizens. Thne are good things to hne. JOCiaI eoods, and ""If-rapcct
is 001 a replaCf:mcnt fOT them. One ClIn nO mo.-e abolish th., rdativity
of value than the rclativityof motion I sh.c:>uldthink. hO'A'C"cr, that
self-respect WOIJId Icad on., to ...-ant 0TI1y the frcdy g;,..,o rrcotl:nitions
and the honat \'erdicu of ooc', pcml. In thi, sen"". it is a way of ac--
k""""lcdging the moral meaning of complcl equality. Arid we might
assume in turn that th., e.pericncc of oomp1cx equality will breed.
though it can l1ever ""If-fapcct.
,
Political Power
So,-ereignty and Limited Government
I I,qin wilh ro)1Ie,eignty, polil;C;I] aulho,ilali,'c &:ci-
sion making-the roncept\l31 found..lion of the J1'KJdern st:lle. $0\'1:,-
eignly br 110 lIlC'ans the lield of power, but it <k>es !I)CUI QUI
attention 00 the most significant and dangcrow form thai 1'0""<" C<l1l
lake. For this is not simply OM among the goods that men and WOmen
pursue; ... $/<:1" pi;"''''. it is aL.o lhe means by which all the different
pursuits. including that of power itself, are regulated. It il the crucial
agcllC)' of distrihuti\'c fushee; il 1\I3'ds the boundaries within which
e'o"ff)' S1Xial cood il distributed and Hence the simultaneous
.equiremenb that pov."a' be lustained md Ihal it be inhibited: mobi
li1.ed, di_ide<!, checked and PoIitiClIpll""ff protects III from
t)"r3rmy , , , .nd i,..,lf becomes tyranniaL And it is for both these rca-
lOllS lhat pov.-er is SO mIlCh desiml md so endlessly fought 0'0l'f.
/o,I"d, oi the lighti"8 i. ur>Official, the guerrill.. skirmishes of
lifc lhrough which we: (ordinary citiuns) defcnd or struggk to rcvise
thc bourn:brics of lhc ",,,iou. distributi\'c ",her.,.. Wc lry to pro:>-.:nt
iJk:gilim.olc efOl.Si"gl; ""C tnakc attus.iItiOIll, org."i", protests, IIOItOC'
Ii",," 0:>-.:<1 wh.:lt a" alkd, ill ..,uled de""",,,,,!;.,
a "citiun's ..rral." But Our appcill on .11 the... oee..ions, short
of ,C\'Olution, is to lk power of lhc st.. Our poliliclll .uklS,
agents of IIO'-.:reignly, h.,c a creal 001 of work 10 do (and undo), I"
official capacity, they .. .nd they h.:I,." to .. O:>"'Y"'here,
They abolish he,edilary litla, rtt'O&niu: heroes, pay !of thc p.OSC'Cu
,8.
SPHERES OF JUSTICE
lior>----bul also for th.. del..nse---of criminals, 1l>ey guard the 'to;Ill be-
t....een chureh and n...,. regulate the .uthority of p;lrents, provide
civil marri.:lges, alimony 11>cy define the jurisdiction of
lhe tchool and require lhe .ttemuncc of ehildren. 1lle)' declare and
<'3111 public hoIKbj1. They decide how the army is to be recruited.
They gU3r;lIltee the birnC$S of ei,jl ...,vice and pnKC$Sional CX"lmim-
lions block illegitimale exchanges, redistribute .... faei!it.t..
union OI'g:mizalion, the iiCOpe.nd char.letc. 01 communal pr0-
vision. They accept and reject .pplicants IOf membcrmip. And finally,
in all IOOr activilies, Ihey restrain Iheir own power; they sub;c:ct them-
srl-'a 10 COrlslilulionallimits,
Or to lhey mould. Ostensibly, Ihey .ct 00 our behalf ar>d .....'Cn in
our names (wilh 00' consenl). Bul in most coontries rnQ51 01 the time,
political rulen function, in f.Ict:, as agenls of husbands and falhen, is-
toclOItic f.milia, degree holden, or capitalists. St.te JIO"''Cl is colonized
by ......,alth or talent or blood or gender; .nd once it is colonized, it i5
r.lrt;ly limited. Altcrn.li,'dy, stale po",er is itself imperi.list; ils agenls
are tylOlnts in thei. own right. They don'l police lhe spheres of distribu-
tioo but break into them; the)' don't defend soci.1 mc<Inings but o er-
ride th<'m. This i. the ID(l!t ,-i.iblc form of tyranny, and the first ith
which I sh.ll deal. The immediat.. conrKlt.lions ollhe word tr"ml arc
political; its pe;or;l\iv.., lenSl' da-i,-cs from C<:lltUlies of opprC$Sioo by
chiefs .nd kings_nd, more recently, by generals and dictators,
Throughout 1TIOIIt ofhuman hi5tol)', the sphere of politics has COn-
structed 00 the ab-tolutisl model, where pov.'Cr is monopolized by.
gle pelson, all of whOllC energies .re deYOted to making il domimnt
not: merely at the boundaries but across them. within ......ery distributive
sphere.
Blodtd of f'o"''tt
Precisely for reason, great deal 01 political and mtellectual en-
ergy has gone inlo lhe effort to limit the corl\'erlibilily of power .nd
:shain its uses, 10 define the blocked ....changes of thO' political sphere,
As there are, in principle .t leasl, things that money can'I buy, to therc
are things thai Ihe reprClClltatives of -IO\'Creignty, Ihe officials of the
slate, can'l do. Or bettel, ;n doing them, they elcrciSl' not political
power prope<ly spe;aking but mere fOlcc; lhey.ct nakedly, without .u-
lho<ity. FOlce ;s pov.'el used in of its oociaJ meaning. That
il is commonly to used Jhould nCV'Cr blind \1$ 10 ils tyrannical charact.... ,
Thomas Hobbes, the philosophical defender of lO\'Creign JIO""er,
,',
Political Power
that ty.anny is nothing but JO\,<:reignty mi,liked. lnat'l not
inaccurate 110 long a, ,,'<: rognize that the "misliking" i, not idiory,,
cr.liic but is common 10 tile men and women who create ami inhabit
a p;l.licular p:)Iitiol eutture; it lIed.'n from a undel'ltanding
of what JO\'ereignty is and what it i, for. This undmtanding i,
complex, at m,my points contrQ\ie"ial. But it eoln be pra-
entrd in th., lorm of a li'l, like th., list of blodrd exch.anges. In the
United Slatn today, thai list has something lik., this form:
, 'e.eignty don not atend 10 e",la"ement; .tate official, eolnnot
"';u Ih., person. of thei' subjects (who are also their fellow citizens),
rompel lheir services, impri!OTl or kill them--excq>t in
wilh procrdura agreed 10 by the sub;ects thenlSel.,es Of b)' lheir .ep.e
sentativa and for .ea-.s from the sharrd underslandings of
e,imi"al justitt. milila!)' seT\"ice, and so on.
1"hc feudal .ights of wardship.nd maTTiage, brieRy taxen <)\,<:r by
.bsolutist xings, lieoubidc the legal and moral compdencc of Ihe .tat.,.
lis offiei.b eolnnot control the m'lTTiage. of 1IICi, subjt.s or interfere
in thei' penonal or familial relations or 'egulat., the domestic upb'ing-
ing ollhcir childr.",;l nor eoln lhac ollieials Ka.ch and seiu their ,UI>-
jects' penonal dJedl or quart.,r ITOOJlI in Ihei' hon->el--C'xcept in accor
dance with p.ocedures, and so 011.
). Stale officials eolnnot violate th., sha,ed understandings of guill
and inn!Xen, corrupt tI", 'ystem of crimi ....l ju,tice, tum puni,hmenl
into a mea", of political rq",::ssion, or employ crud and unusual pun
ishments, (Similarly, they ar., bound by the .hared urnkrstatldings of
.."ity and insanity .r>d required to .npect th., meaning and purpose
of ps)"Chialric therapy.)
4. Slate officials eolnnot sdl poliliol\)(l."e, or auction oR p;lrticular
decision,; liar eoln they use tllei. pawcl 10 .d.ancc tbe interests of th";l
familia o. distribute gll\'''rnmcnt officcIlo ,clati.-a Or "cronies."'
5 A!I,uh;ttts/citilClls are equal belore the law, and 110 state officials
cannot act in "'...y' that discriminalc ag.>inst 'acial, ethnic, Of religious
groups, nor.,.,..". in "''''rs that degr.tde or humiliate individuals (e.ccpt
.. a result of criminal tri.l); nor can they cui anyone off fTOm what.,.,.."
goods are commun.lly provided.
6. Pri,.,.te pTOpnty is sale against a,bilr.lTy t..ation and confiscation,
.nd stale ofI>cUls cannot inlerfer., ",(th Ircc exchange and gift giving
within the sphe,e of mooey and commodities, once Ih.t sphe.e ha,
'-n p.ope,ly marxed of(.
7. State official, cannot rontrolthe religious lif., of thei, IUb;erts or
attempt in any way to regulate the di,tributions of divine
SPHERES or JUSTICE
fOl' that maller, of ettlesiasticoll or bm.. md
ment.
8."I1J.ou&h they C:m kgislate acurriculum, state officials cannot inter
f..re in tl", adualtcaching of that curriculum Or oomtlain the academic
of the tcachen,
9. Stat.. officials C'annot regulate or the argum.... tstlut goon.
001 only in the politic:llsphere but in all the spheres, about the'
oI-..:ial goods and the appropriat.. distributive boundaries. Hen,,", they
must guar-.ntee free specch, free preu, free usual d,a
libnties.
These limits 6x boundaria 01 ami of all the othe..
sph....es lO\'ercign powcT. W.. COD1It1<)llly think ofth.. limib
In t..rmsof freedom, and rIOt hut they abo hav.. pow..rful egali
tarian ..ffects For th.. O\..rbC'aringness of officials is not only a thr..al
to liberty, it is abo an affront to equality, it challenges the standin.g
...d o....rrKles the dec:isionl of church m..mbo:n; lach..rs and
siOOcnIs; workers, prolessionals, and offie<' bu}''''s and $C'lkrs;
cilium g..nerally. It make:. for thc subordination of allihe companies
of m..n and "'Omen to th.. oo.. company that pOllSa5es or ex..rcises stal ..
"",,'..r, Limited pernment, then, like blocked ...chang<:, i. one of the
crucial mComS to oompk. equality.
Knowledge/Power
But limited pemment us nothing aboul who gll"..rns. It docs
not sdtk Ihc di.. tribution of pooo....r within Ihe sphere of politics. In
priocipk. at bst, the limits might bo: respected by a he..editary king.
a bo:ncvolcnt despot, a landed arist(lCTllCY, a C'apitlliist execuli,... COm
miUee, a r.. of hureallCTats, or a revolutionary vanguard. is,
indeed, a pl"udenlial argun.....t for democracy: that the different
nia of men and "'Omen wi!l1TlOltljk..1y bo: rapected if all the membo:rs
of allth.. shar.. political power. This is a slroug argum..nt;
at itl subslanti.,.. ba..e it ronnectl closely with our shared underslanding
of what powcl" is and what it illor. But it isn't the only argument that
makes or pretends 10 make Ihat rom>eetion. In the Ion.g history of poIit
icallhooght, the most rommon claim.. about the meaning of powe..
have bec:n anli-<lemocratic in character. I want to exam;n.. those claims
,8,
Political Poyoer
a1refully. 1'01' thc.c i$ no other social good "'hose possnsion and
is mOle important than this one. is not the sort of thing that
one can hU8 to onaelf Of in pri.;!te, like a with his nlOrK)'
o. ordinary men and ,,'Omen with tloei. favorite possessioos. has
to be eu.ciscd to be enjoye.:!; and ",hen it is exercised, relit of lI'l
are di.ected, policed, manipulated, helped, and hurt. Now, who should
possess and state po'Io'elJ
There are only t...'O anSwer1to this qlleltion that a.e intri!llic to the
poIiticalsphcre, fint, that powchouk! be posses"'" by those who best
know how to use ii, md lOIld, that it should Or at lead
controlled, by those who immedgtely expe<ien<:c it. clfectJ. The
"'ellborn and the "ieallhy mak.. what a.e properly c:llled atrilllic
claims, which don't link up with the JOCiallllC<lning of I"J"'..... That',
..my both theoc grwps are likely to reach, if tlteyc:ln, another
form of from koowkdg.---pret..nding to poue$J, fOl u,
ample, a special understanding of the fixe.:! and long-term inte.esu of
the political community, an undelstanding unavailable to upstart fam;
lies Of to men and "",mlen "'ithout a "stake'" in the country. The claim
of di.'ine in,tallatiOIl is also an extrinsic argumcnt. cxcept, perhaps, in
thOllt communities of believers whc.e all authority is ooo<:ci>'ed to be
a gift from Cod. E,.,n in such places, it is commonly said that when
Cod d>OClla His ea.thly deputies, He also inspires them with the
knowledge r>e<:tlUry to gm-c", their fellow" 50 kings pre-
tended to a unique into th.. "mysteries of stat.. ," and Puritan
saints systematically confUiCd in",,"r light ,,'ith poIitic;Jl und.-fStanding.
All arguments for elelusi".. !U1e, all antimocratic arguments, if they
are se.ious, a.., argumenulrom special knowledge.
The Ship of Stale
is assimilated, th..n, to office; and ...., are in\'it<"d to look !of
qualified people. to coo.- political rulers through nth....
than ..1ection, .elying 011 lCarch committee ami not 00 parties, cam
paign., ami public d.-bates. But there is an earli.... auimibtion that
n>Ore perfeetly c:lf'lurcs the esoence of the from speci;ll
knowledge: Plato's account of polities as a techno!, an a.t or a craft simi.
lar to, though infinitely more difficult than, the ordinary Specialil.atioos
of !lOCiallif
l
lust as ,..... buy OUf sho.-s from a craftsman .killed in shoe-
making, SO 'e .t1OUk! retti.. OUf laW> from a cnfbman skilled in rul
ing. He.e, 100, t.....r "myste.ies of llatr"--w""'" myrtrry ref..rs
to the wcre! (or at Ie,..t not readily available) kno....ledge that unoolie
SPHERES OF' JUSTICE
a profession 01' trade, as in Ihe phr.l'" "a'i aM m)'$Il"ry," a common
formula in in<knlures of app,<'f]licahip. BullllC:Se mY51eries kllOl"n
by Ir.linin& /)I nthe, by in5pir.ltioo. In politics., n in
shoemak.in&, medicine, na,igation, and 110 on, "ie UI&ed to look 10
the few who know the rn)'$leries r>Ot 10 lite ignoranl
Consider the C3.., of the pilot 0' na"i&dOl who the helm
of ship and &uKks iu coone (ou, "'Ol"d sowmor &,i,'e lrom Latin
of lhe Creek. for "hellTlJman"), Whom 5hould .,.'e chl!OS<:'
to play p;lrt? Pblo imag:ines 5hip:
The ..iloo "..mdi,. O\"tI" 11M: conlrol of tIM: helm; och Ihink> M ""ihl
to be slcrrillllM \'(UtI, though Mhas na't1 \eT.,nffi "",iplion .,><1 ",nnot
poinl 10.1l)' IOCM' uoder ..hom M "". sn--ro his 'pPlmticcllip; .,.-hot
is mort, rhoy ...."t thol no\'ig>lioo i. a thing Ihat ",,,,101 M uU&hl.1 .n,
.nd arc ,udy 10 tea, in pin .nyone ..ho s;lj1 it can
.... dangeroo.l$ 5hip to be on, and or t",-o ,c,I$Om, beau"" of the phl,ic<l1
sl,uggle or conlrol, ....hich 11:15 110 Ob-iool or ce:llain end; beallSC
of lhe likel)' inrompetence: of neh (Icmporary) victor the "'ilon
don'I un&lsl".lrnl is "tll:lt the &enuine can only him""lf
fil 10 con"....n.d a Ihip by .Iudyin& the _""'I of the Y"", Iky, IlaTS,
and wind5, all thai !xlongs to hil cr.lft" The ca:;c: il Ihe lame
with the Ihip of slale. Democralic eitizml 0''''''' cont.ol of the
go'"emrnent, 110 put them""l.es in danger, whe,eas they ought 10
yicld the goo...:rnmcnt to that pe'lIOn who posses""" the 5pccial kl\()Yl"I-
edge tll:lt "!xlongl to" Ihe exercise of power. Once: ....e unde.stand
helm is, and whal il il fOl', "'e an IIIO\'C ea5ily to description
of the ideal pilot; and once: "'-e understand what poIilialllO"'el is, and
il il lor, we can Il1O\": t;l$ily ('1 in lhe Rrpublic) to a dr.scriplion
of the ideal TUItr.
In bet, howe-...:'. the more dcqIly we OJnIider the meaning of po...'CI,
lhe more likely"'..: ate 10 rcjf:c-t Pbto'unOlIogy_ For we rnt,ml ou.""!.-",,
10 the nl\'igalor only ",'e ha,..: decided ....he.e ......: w:lnt to go; and
Irnat, lalhn Ihan Ihe ""tting of p;l,ticula. COU''''', is the decilion Ihat
best ilIumin:ltes Ihe exe,cise of power, ''Thc trlle anaJoey:' Renford
&mbrough hl$ writtrn i.. a "'..:11-\"'0'..... an:ll),il of PLalo's "&urnenl,
"is between Iil<: choice: of a policy by poIilicia.. the choice: of
by Iil<: (lWfH" 01 paSlCnllers of ship,'" TIle pilot doesn'l
chooK the port; his il simply irreleva..1 to Ihe decilion thallhe
paSlCngcn ha'e to make, which Iw to do ....ith their i..dividUlI or coI-
lecti,..: purposes and not ",-ith "the seasons oflhe Iky, and
winds." I.. eme.ge..cy, of COUI"", lhey will be gu;&d by lhe m:lXim,
,86
Political Power
"any port in a arid then by 01 pilot about
n)Oit aCtt$iljh\t platt. But C"'ell in loch a il the is hard
and the risks diffi<-ult to measure, the dision misht wen be left to
the passengers. And the storm has su1ided, they ....ill .mel)- WlInt
10 be from their nt=Iry ,efuge to their eh05en destination,
Destinations and r"l:> are what politics is about, alK! JlO""r is.imply
the ability to scttll' these mallen, not only 101 onesell but foo otlten
Kno-okdge i. obviously cmcial to the seulerTlent, but it is not and
nnoot be determining. TIoe hi.tOl}" of philosophy, the Platonie thnt.
il a histOl}' of arguments about desir.rb1e destinations and Il>ornlly and
materially ....-pIahie .i.b, 11>eJe are a,gulllent, ca.ri.,.j on, as it we,e,
in front of the citizells; and only the cilium Clll settle them with any
authority. So br as JIOliey is roncemed, "'hat poliliciam alld pilot, need
to knowis ,,'hal the peopleOl the paUl:nge.. w;ml. And what emJlO"'ers
them 10 ad 011 that knowJe.dge is the authorization of the people or
the passengers thenuel,'cs (The ...., is the Ame ,,'ith shoemakers: they
can't ,epai. my shOC$ beause th.ey koow' how to do so, without
my agro:o:n>ent. 1TI,e c.ocial qualification lOT exercising political JlO"'e.
is not some .pecial insight into human end, but SOme special.elation
to a plntieulat JC1 of hnrnan beings.
When Plato defended the distribution of JlO"'er 10 philosophers. he
claimed that he was expounding the meaning of pII""r--()f, better, of
the: uercise of power, ruling, 011 analogy with ,hoemaking, doctoring,
na"igating, and so On. But lIe denl)' W";lsn't expoundin& the common
meanirlJ, the political ur>dellunding of his fellow Athenians. F01 they.
00 the: great bulk of tllem, pr.rdicing members of a democf1ley, must
iu"e belie,ed ,,'hal Pericles asserted in his funeral oration and what
Protago.as argued m the Soc.atic dialogue that beaB his Il.ilme: thai
.uling the: choice of cnds, "joint deei,ion in the field of ci,'if:
and that the knowledge neauary for this W";IS ,,'idely
sha.ed.
6
"Our ordinary citizens. though OttUpied with the pulluits 01
ir><lwtry, arc .till fail iudgcs of puhlie mallell'" More strongly, there
are and can be 110 beller judges. beause the proper of po'.'e.
i, nothillg mOle than the diredioo of the city in aeronlanee w'ith lhe:
chic consciousness or puhlic spirit of the citiuns, Foo special lasl:>,
01 ooune. specially know].edgeable people musl be found. Thus,
Athenians elected generals and public ph>-sieianl----r.llher than ch<.!s.
ing them by lot-much as they might "shop a.ound" before settling
On a shoemaker or hi.inga na\igat",. But all ,och people are the agenl.
of the eilium, not theit ruleB,
SPliERES OF' JUSTICE
DucipJ.jlUJ1'f Irutill/Nolll
Pericla Protapas uticubte tnc oellloc!atic
of power, ..hich is commonly focused on .,.ml I ollcd-
maclllonistically now 'I\'hen tatbne of Inc
ltale power. chic: comnulld P""er in this
_ is constilultd br tnc dccitioo.nukirli: opacities of the ci!;-
llmS, br their conjoined",'h. II issues in b...1 ,nd poIiaa, ..t.ich ue
simply lhe art""blioNof power. Bullhe of these amcu.
101m .,nuins an open quaIion, and it is increuingly a.rued in thex
biter lbys thoot bJor.icdgc mna for a lind 01 po"..n thoot to\'CfCignty
canllOllXlrltrol This is 10 f'btO'1 artument in a new form (and
IIlllIIt oIten "";Ih a diluent animUl). f'blo cbinlCd thool pmmIlXlrlYft.
Ant in the aID and mysteries wuc entitled 10 pll'I'"eT; !alienal men and
\O'OIMn .,.ookl bow 10 lheit authority. Today it is Aid that terimial
knowlcdF itKlf constitutes pow.-er "''C'r and apirut ICWefrirnty, to
'I\'hich ""' an in fact bow, cYCn thou&h ""' ate onlloaatic and
supposedly mnc in the of the lIate. On ...hat
Michel rOl.ll;;l"lt calls "the undmidc: of the b..... p/'libophy has at
wt won OUI-<lf ICYntt and ..xi;llicience ha,'e wOn oul; and .,.'e a,e
ruled br npc.11 in military stlaleg)', medicine, Pl)'('hiillry. pabgogy,
criminolocr, 10 on.'
When they iu.tify thcmsd''a, Ihe ape,IJ usc !'bIonic
butlhey don't ebim 10 rule the stale (Ihey uc not in Fael !'bIO<lie
phiboplli:l1l; Ihey coolent to rule the army, Ihe the
lun., the school, al>d the prison. With regard 10 tl\e$e inltitUlions,
en<h-<w minimal set 01 encb--sc:cm 10 be So CVI>-
telnl'JOr1lry lik pilots ol5hipi ....ho&e dc:st;nation hal alre:ady
been dctmninal; pending emergencies thai miehl require iOnIC
cha.ngc 01 COUIIC', they ale in command. But UlnlCl, priJons,
and lOon Ihis 1pCCU1 feature: thaltheit mcnlbcn or inmateo a.e,
though !uf different reaJOr1J, barred from full particip;rtion in dfcis;on
malin&. C\'C'r\ (or partiallarly) in CfJlCfICllCics. DccislonJ halt: to be
made on their behalf br the citizms ccner.ally, who do IlOl rcxmblc:
pasx!lICfIlO much as pouible and ,,'ho at1: unlikly 10 de-
\Ole much time to the enre,pr' Ilcnrt the po'II"CI' of the apcrtJ is
peat, Yft}' mlJd,.1ik of f'blo's phibopl-.c,kinp, ..ho
stand 10 their subjccls like tcachcn 10 chikl.en Of, In allOlher of f'bIJ)'s
anaJocies, like Ihepbuds 10 shecp_
The dIStribution 01 po'II'U in armia. hospiuls, prilom.. and IChooIs
Political Power
(Foucault includes factories, but power cbiml in f;c1ories ;re ulti.
rruately b;sed not on knowledge but on owl.euhip, and I ",ill take them
up KPar.llely) is indeed different from that required in a democratk
sbte. K"""'ledge ....l a diltioctive role to pby; we require qualilicd p0o-
p'" and them Ihrough a ..,;rch rathel than an election. In the
oouue of the ,..,..rch, we attend to education and exp"rience, the illSli
tutional equivalents 01 the helmsrrua,,'l grasp of """S011l, lky, st;"" and
winds, And it;l undoubtedly true that edllated and experimced men
and women arc partially shielded from by criticilm. The more leoon-
dile and mysterious thcil knowledge, al I argued in chapter), the more
effecti,'e the .hield-,a poI"erful argumenl for democratic edllCOltion,
whose Jl"lpose i. not, however, 10 rruake all citium espelts but to mark
off the boundaries of expertise. If speWl knowledge nukes for JIO"'C',
it does not make fOl' HCIe, too, IM,!C are blocked uses
01 powel, whkh derive from the leaSOnl we h3\1: for esbbliJhing ar-
mies, pl"ilOlls, and sehools, ar>d from our common sense of
1M, ;ctivities appropriate to Iheir officials
The agreement on destinalion which leave! the helmsrruan in oom
mand of hil ship also setl limil.l 10 "'hat he aln do: he mUll
IKing 1M, Ihip to sllChandsuch a platt, Simibrly. our understanding
of the purpose of pl"ison (;nd the meaning of punishment and the
social roles of iudges, ""mlenl, and prison guardl) set! limit. to the excr
cise of powtt wilhi" il1 walls. I am lUre I.... t those limits are oflen vio-
lated. In the best of circum!lances, a Pli10fl il a brutal pbcc; 1M, wily
routine is cmel, and the W:;lIden and the guard. are often lempted to
intensify the cruelt)'. Sometimes when they do 10, they ""p.ess thcil
0"'" fear; 5Onoclimes-!O< the s;l1Tle walll that imprison the convictl
set walden and guaHIs free-they espress a particul:.1I1y ,'irulent form
of the of office The rest of us an, reoognize
the 'iobtiom. Ci'en a factual xcou"t of pfilO11 cooditions, ".., an
say whethel the walden hal acted beyond hi, J'D"1:rs. !md when the
prillOnen claim that he ha. do"", 50, they appeal to tM, SO\'e.eign and
the la,,' and, ultimately, to the civic consciou,ness of the citil<:nl, The
warden'"pecial knowledge of criminology il no argument apinstthat

The case il the same with hospitals schoob, Patients and chil-
dlen especially '1JlrlCrable to 1M, esercise of poI'"Cr by a competent
professional who claim., noot wrongly, 10 be acting on Ihcil behalf, in
their interests, for thcir own (future) eood, an<! 50 on, And thi. or that
medical doctrine 01' technique may well rrquire a halSh and
uncomfortable discipline. a seemingly biurre .egilnen, st.ict control
SPHERES OF' JUSTICE
01 the too, ho\<'C"el, limits are set byour COflviclion
that ther.lpy il the cllle of a peron (it's not, for eumpk, like liKing
a machine), and that education is the training of a citizen. thai
mjuire the con.sc:nt of p.alients, Or that make school r"ronk available
to ltudefJlJ, are SO many effort! 10 enfore-e lhe$e co.",ictioll'. Thcy bind
profeuional men and WOlnell to a close uJKkntanding of their canings.
So Kimce and toeial Kiene<: ... te a kind of pow"r, uldlll and "en
TlCttUary in particular inltitlltiooal settings; but thi' JlO""Cr is alwa)'S
limited by $O\"t'reignty, itself gencr.llcd arK! informed by the large<
knowledge of social meanings. Doctors and teae"""'" (and wa,delll and
even generab) are submilled to Ihe "discipline" of .
Or so (agoi,,) ther ought 10 be. A decent ,late, whotc citizenl and
officiab arc committed to tonlplcx equality, will act to maintain the
integrity of its va,iout inditutiorlal scttillp: to make SUfI' Ihat its p,i,
om placa for c'iminal i"lermnenl and nQ\ for pr....entil"t' detention
or scientific experiment; lhat it! 5ChooIs arc <101 like prisons; that it.
asyhrm' house (and ca,e for) Ihe mentally ill an-d not the politically
delianl. A tyr.lnnical .Iate, by cont...st, will rcp,oollCC t)... nny in all
its institutiom. Perhap$ it dist,iootn plJWCr to the "TOng people; more
likely, it pe'mit! 00' actually forters the use of 1"""'" out.s;dc iu limi"
At one time or another in our lila, Wi: all experience robicclion to
knowledgeable profeuionals; we a,l' all laymen to JOIlIeOlll' else's expcr--
lioe. This i. not only Of ptimarily because of polilical
"althy citi....,nl in a capitalist society arc $\udents, p.aticntl, soIdicrl,
madmen, and (tl\oogh leu often lhan other people) prisoolers; nor don
it necewrily iSlUC in a pelma<lClll Joss of power. M06lly, the experier>cc
hal a fixed duration and a kno\,,'n endpoint: graduation, rCCO\"t'ry, and
so on ArK! we ale protecled by the aulonomy of the various instilu
tiolul letting. in which it OCCU<l. Imitation aCIOOI seltingl, al in Fou-
caulfs "carcer.ll rontinuum" where all disciplinary imlitutions look like
prisons, blurs the lines that make fOf freedom arod equalily. So don
top-dolm COOfdinatioll by oflicials. Both imitation ami coordina
lion bring tyrannic;ll ",Ie 10 bear on ....cryday life in a J>CCIlliarly intense
way.9 But special knowledge i, oot itself lyTanni<'al.
'90
,.
Political Powe.
Properly/Power
is propnly unOcntood u a .!:Iin oort 01 !lO'""CI O'TI" thini'
Like political pOWe!, it ron,isls in the capacity to dl't...mine ootina-
lions and r;,h---thal is, 10 gi'"e thing, aw:l.l or 10 achange them
(wilhin limits) and also to keep them and use or abuse lhem, freely
deciding on the COlt! in ,"'e:lr and lear But oWI>e"hip can aloo bring
,"'ilh it various sorls and do:gr= of !lO'"'"Cf o'''e. peopk. The exlTeme
case is which lar ncm;b the u'lUl fUlm, of political rule, I am
CQnamed h...e, hlno'C\"Cf, not with the adual polSCSSion. bul only wilh
the control. of by tlte polSCSSion of this is
a kind of po:.w..... closely analogous to Ihal which the ,tate eJ;e.eiscs O\'e.
ils subicct, and in,liluliom O\'er Ihci. inmatcs o...TlCrShip
also has efieds ..ell d'ort of People engage ,"'ilh one anoth.-
e" and wilh institutiomloo, in all K1rt! of W:l)" lhat rclll"Ctlhe momen-
tary infllwlity oftl>(eir ttOllomic posilioUl. I own book.
for example, and you ..'OU1d like to hne it; I am free todccidc ,"'hether
10 sell or lend or gi"e il to)"Oll or keep it lor my$ClI, We a
factory commune and conclude that skills do not ,,,il him
fUl mcmbc"hip. Y.... galllC1' your supporlers and defeat me ;n the com-
petition for a hospital dilcctorship. TI,cil company squccl,CS ....1 oor,
in inln.se bidding for a eily contrad. 1bc$c are examplcs of brief en-
CO\Jnters. I SCI: no way 10 a'"OiI! tl>(em throngh a political aflange'
mcnt lhal s)'llemalically rcp1aco the eocoonte" of men and ....omen
with what Engels once called "the adminutration of thini'''---'" harsh
Icsponse 10 ....hal are, aftel all, normal even" ill lhe !plICICS 01 money
and office. Bul ..'hal lO"creig"ty entails, and what owr",rUtip WITlC-
lime! achie>'cs (OIJlside its ,phere), i, ,ustair,."j conlrol m"er the dcstina-
liom and ruk, of other people; and lhal is a morc seriOU$ mailer.
It's not easy 10 make OIJI ;u'l when Ihe free use of properly (;Ol1\'CIIs
into the n ...cise of powel, There arc difficult i..."", ],.,'C, and much
political and academic conlrovenylO Two Imlher cumples, "ery
much of ki,ld that ligUle in I],., lile.-atmc...111 illuminale some of
tlte problems.
I, Besel by lIlarket lailures, ..'e dide 10 close dOI'm QI relocate our
coopcrati,"ely o....ned fador)', thClcby cawing harm to
001 merchants Arc '""(; Cllercil;ng !lO'"''CI m"C1' tl", mcrchanb' Not in
any sustained w:l.y, I think, though 01.11 decision may w<:ll ha'"e se.ious
elfcctlon thei. hu. We cerlainly don'l COIllroltheif .aponse to thc
'9'
SPHERES OF' 'USTICE
nll.'W OJ<lditions ..." c.atn! (nor arc the 1lC'" COIlditions entirely
our creation: ..." didn't <kcidc: to fail on the malkcl). Still, our
oommitmentto delllOCfatic politics, it be thot we should
hne included the merchonts in ou. dttision making. [nclusion is sug
gested by the medieval maxim. much faVOfed by modern democrats,
wn<lt touchu <lllsh""ld areiard by <Ill. But once om begins includ-
ing.1I the:: pc:ople ....ho arc touched or affected by a gi,."n dcci>ion, and
not just t!>ole wOOsc daily activities are directed by it, it i. ha.d to know
when to stop. Surely the merchanlJ in the 'Olrious towns ....he.e the
factory might relocate must be included as ...,,11. And all the pc:ople
affected by tlK: well-being of all the merchants, and 110 00. So pllWCl
is drained away from local usociatiom and communities and romes
more and more to reside in the om association thot iocluda .11 the
affected peopJe-..--namely, tlK: slate (.nd ultimately, if ..." pIllSUC the
logic of "touching," the g1ob.al state). But this a.-gurMnt only mggeslll
that affecting othen cannot be a sufficient basislOf distributing ind....
sion right. It docsn't amount to ele.ciling P<l""ef in tl.e
political scnsc,
By rontr.llt, the slate's decision 10 relocate the district ofIicr:s of one
of ib bureaue,a6ef must, if challenged, be fought through the political
process. These: are public offices, paid for out of ptlblic funds, ploviding
ptlblic services. Her>ee the decilion il dearly an elncise of power ",'n
the men and WO\'1IeT1 who a'e taled to make up the funds and who
depend upon the scn"ica. A private 6nn, whethe, individ""lIy or 001-
Itttively O'WIled, is different. [tl rebtionl with its cudome'S arc "lOIe
like mC(KmtCTS. If we tried to rontrol thne relations, insisting,
foe example, lhat C\"U)' dttision 10 locate Of relocate had to be fought
out poIitinlly, the Iphere of money and commodities would
be with its allmdant freedoms. All such allemptl
lie beyond the rightful range of (limited) But ....hat if OUI
factOl"}' il the only one, or by far the largest one, in town? Then OUr
decision to cbe <k>wn or relocale might....,,11 have deva,tati"i eflects;
and in any democracy, the political aUlhorities would be
pressed 10 slep in. They might seck to aIle. market ronditionJ (by lUbsi
dizing lite factory, 10.- WImple), 01 they might buy us out, or lhey
might look lor somc way to attract new ind",try to the 1....'n.
ll
These
choicu, h""""'CI, arc a mailer lIIOfe of polilical prudence: than of dil
Iributi,'c jul!ie<:.
1. Wc run ourlactory in such a way as to pollute tlte air ()Ve. moch
of the town in which ..." a,c located and 00 to en<langn
01 its inhabitanll. Day altcl day. we: impll$C .ish On om citium,
'9'
Political Power
3lld ""C dilk, for lcr:hnic:ll and ,easollS, wh.l of
risk to impoK. But to impose lish, Of.t leur risks of this sort, iJ prr-
risel)' to in the political senSC of the phr..e. Now the
authorities will h,( to st.-p in, defending 11K health of lheil coostitu-
ents 01 insisting On the right 10 determine, 011 ho:h.lf of coostitu-
ents. the deg.., of risk they will .ceept.
11
EI'ell here, oow-e\cr, th.t au-
thOfilia "'1)11', in''Q!"c themsckes in any sust.lincd way ;n lactOfY
dision making. They will .imply set 01 lad the limits ,,-jlhill which
o:kciSK>m are made. Jrwe (the members of the factory commune) "eft
abk IQ stop them from doing thllt-by thlealening to ,elocate, foI' ClI
ampk-and 10 maintain an unlimited ability to pollute, Ihnl it ...oold
"",ke SCnSC 10 call US tyrants. We would be exercising pow". in ,-io!alion
of the commo" (dcmoc... lic) urnkrstanding of what power i$ arid how
il is to be distributed. Would it difference if ""e ""nen't aiming
10 our PI'O/it but iu.t ,Imggling to kcc:p the faciO!)'
I am not sure; probably "''e would be bound, eithe! "","y, to in-
fo<m the Ioc:Ilauthmilir:s of Om rondition to
view of rish.ll
Thoe ha.d the stroud more SO Ihan the first; 1.hall
not detailed resolution of them here. In dernoc",tic llOCi-
ety. the boundary of the .phele of money rom11loditir:s is likely
to be .I",,,,,", roughly, betvm:n the I""". to include the fi"l hut
not the SttOlld. r ha"e, hov.'C\'el, radically .implilicd my accounts of
the co," by a C(lQpe1<Iti"ely (wmed F:oclO!)'; and I r>eed nOW
to con.ide!', Tather .... length. the 11l0<e common example of pri-
vateo... Now the work"" in lhe faciO!)' no longer e<vnDmic
agents, licensed to set of decisions; ooly the ll"'ner, ue
of that soli; the WOlken. like the townspeople, are thlcateoo:! by
the and by ii, pollution. But they II1CI'eIy
"touched," more or less seriously. Unlike tile townspeople, they are par-
ticipants in the ent",prise COlUsa the efFects; they bound by
iii lOb, Owne..hip """,Iilules "pri",le goo;crnmcnt:' the ","O<k
elS are it. 5Ubittts. So 1mu.t up as in my a,lie, discussion
of "''agc the of economic agency.
The cla"ie !Citing fOl prr.-ate g<l'-eTnmcnt "'-a. lhe feudal 5)"tem,
.",.,. ;, .....,........ lio...._ OIl I"i"I< _ ...... _h01 ri ,II< -' 01 """""""'....
pobri<aI om,""", fO<I!"'I loichllrl b iddo ,. Bot I "..,. ,10< ckcioM-.10 ......;,....
bl''' H. T.....,. ""'" , ....., "' _;, ..... ,..., ,t.. mon .
'" ,t.. oI,t.. .,1 -.. IIr .... jutidd"" ..... , IIr ,
;, ""'"" llr _ ..... 01 p;, """ p/Ioo-o 110' 01 " and ohort ,
f..- b<Ii<o ood"""" tdo<o, _h..,.j ",. __.1>0 looo , 1"""<', 1Jo<o-;, t..
quolifwd to _", _do<o ,t.. ...1< """sol _';os .. ,.... ",t.. _"" _h ..oIIf
_u.,. '" ,10< pbon n.... I..t.r""
'93
SPHERES OF' JUSTICE
where property in Land was cooceival to entitle the OWllCr to exefcise
direct disciplinary (iudicial and police) po","e'$ o>'e, lhe men and
women who lived on the Laml-and who "'e,e, n\O(oo,'el, Nm:d flOm
leaying, Thde people were not ,Ia,-u, but neithe. werc they tenants.
TIle)' are best calk<! "subjects"; thei. Landlord was also thei, lord, wloo
tned them and even CQnoc,ipted them for his p.i'Olte army. 11 too4:
many )"ea'l of local 'Clistantt, royal ,,"... and .C\"Olutionary
acliyit)" before a clea' hour>dary was drawn bet"'"ttrI the Cltate and the
realm, between prope,t)" and polity, Not until 1789 W;II the formal
shuelUfe of feudal righlJ abolis1H:d and the disciplinary power of the
lords effectively lOCialittd. Taution, ;K!judication. arK! OOIlsniption:
all these dropped out of OUr conceptiorT of what property meanS. The
state was emancipated, as Man wrote. from the CCOllOmy.l', The en
tailments of ll'I'ne'lhip ",""CTe 1C:dc6m:d so as to exclude certain lOfts
of decision making lhat, it wa.s thought, <.'O<lkl only be authorized by
the political community as a wholc:. This redefinition establish"" one
of the crllC'ial divisions along which social life is organized today. On
one side arc activities calk<! "political,' in,"OIving the control of deiti
nations and .ish; on the other side aTe activities called "economic,"
in"",lv;ng the "",,change of money and cmnmodilic<. Bill though Ihis
diviJion shapes our understanding of the t...'o sphc,es, it does not itself
determine ....hat goes on wilhin them. Indeed, plivate gI)\'emmentslir'
vi,"Cl in the poslfeudal economy. Capitalist o.,.. nership still gCr><'ratcs
political (lO"'"CT, if not in the ","'hel"C blocked exchani:es ""tlimil.
al least on the legitimate uses 01 properly. then in Ihe faclOf)' itself,
wlle.e work to require a CCTtain discipline. Who diociplincs
whom? It is a centT;flfealure of a capitalist economy that owne'l di$Ci-
plir>e non-<lWllCrS,
Whal juslifiellhiJ arrangement, we arc commonly told, is the Tisk
taking that O""ne15h;p requi.es, and lhe entrq>rer>eurial zeal, the in'"CfI'
tivenC$S. and Ihe capital ;n..-estrnent through which economic firms a.e
fournlcd. sustained, and expanded. Whereas feudal property WlIS
founded Oil amJed force and sustain"" and cxpanded through the
(lO"'"Cr of the sword (though it W:lS also traded and inherited), capitalist
property rests UpOIl forms of ;lCti"ity that arc intrinsically non<ocrcive
and oonpoliticaL The rn<.w3cm lactOT)" is distinguished from the feudal
manor because men and women corr>e willingly to work in the factory.
dm'in by the WlIges, ...olling coooitions, prospects f!1l the future, and
so On that the owner offers. wh ile lhe worken On the maoor are serfs,
priSOners ofthei. noble lords, All this is t,,,,, erx>tJgh. at least sometimes,
but it doesn'l sati,lactOlily mark off property rights from polilical
'94
Political Po....'Cr
J'O"'..... , FOf e''ff),thing 11... 1I ha,e just said of fin"nd factories might
also be: laid of cities.nd lowns. if not alw:I}'S of st.tes. They. too, are
created by entrepreneurial energy. enlelpl'ise. and risk laking:.r>d lhey.
100, l'ttIuil 3IId hold Iheir cilizen wOO are frcor 10 come .Il<! go, by
oFFering thcm an .tllacli,'e place 10 he, Yet we .hoold be uneasy about
any claim tOOWtl. city 01 a t(M'n; lIor is (M'flCrship an occeplabk ba.is
101 poIitjc;,II'O""'" within cities and lowns, If we ooll.idc. <kepIy why
Ihi. is 50, "iC sh.1l ha,.., toroncllKk. I think, lhal il shouldn't be 1rl.'Cl:pt-
.bk in firms 01 facto.ies either, What we need i. a stOl)' aboul a capilal-
ist ent'C'p.e""ur who iIso. poIiticalloornkr .r>d who trielto build
his po'I"cr on his property,
nre OJ" 0/ Pullman. lIIirrois
George Pullma" was one of the mOlt IUcreuFul entlC'plenC'Urs of late
nineteenlh tt11lmy Amnica, Hileeping, dining. .nd pa.1ot cars made:
tr.>in tr.>vel a g.eal deal r"Of<' OOlfllo.tabk than it h;K\ been. and only
5OnICY.'I"'l rtlore npC'llIh'e; .nd on Ihis differentt of dC'grcor, Pullm.n
est.blished a roml"lny and. forlune, When he decided to build a new
",t of laclories and a t""'11 alOuoo lhem, he in.isled tl,.tlhis Woll only
another bu.itlnl 'enluf\", But he clea.!}, had IalgeT hopes: he dreamed
of a community wilhoul political QI oconomic unrest-happy ",'O.kers
and a st.ike-fret' I'Lanl,I7 He ck:ally belong then, 10 the grcat tr.>ditioo
of the polilicallouode., e\'en though. unlil:e Solon of Athens. he didn't
enael his planl and then gooFF to Eg}']lt. butlta)-cd on to ,un Ihe Itno'n
he h.dde-igned, Wh.t cl",could he do. gi'en ....md the town'
Pullman, Illinois. was built 011 a little ()\'e. lour thousand acres of
land along Lake Calumet soulh of Chicago. pmehasOO (in ",,'en
tyhe individual trailladions) at a COlt of eight bundred thooland dol
lars, The t(M11 "':IS founded in ISBa and substantially oompk:ted. ae
oordin& to a .ing"" unified desi,.n, wilhin lWO I""''' Pullm:1ll (the
owner) didn't ju,1 put up faclo.ieIand <!o.miIOli.... as I...d been done
in 1,.(M'ell, Massachusetts, filty years earlier, He built pli'''le
homcs, 'ow houses, and tenen1eTlls IOf lOme loCVt:n to eicht lhoul:lnd
poople"OOps.nd offitt:s (in an elabor:r.le atca-dc). schools. ,tables, pia)',
glOOnds. a market. a hotel. a library, a theater. e\'en a church: in shOlt,
a mood town, a planned COI11munity, And e\'a)' bit of it belonged to
him,
A .Ir.ngcr .rn,';ng.1 Pullman (KIlO "I' ,1' hotel ma""Sod by one nf Mr,
p"lI'""n', ellIpluyees. "lil. 1 the,l h e ,lIlhe in M"
Pullman', ",rl'ice, drinks '01111... 100 bu ps ...hich M., Pullm.n'. '01111...
'95
SPHERES OF' JUSTICE
.ll<! p, *",u hi..,. on" of his wtfits from the m.no.gtf 01 M,. Pull-
",.hle, ,i.il IChooI in "'hich ehiM'ell of """ !'I,lIINII"
emp\n}"CeI Ofe by 0100 cmploy.,es. geb a bill ehaTgcd al Mr PuA.
m.II, bolll, ;, to mole. purcha'" of.llY kind .. '''' from onmc lononl
01 Mr, Pullmoll',oo.1 lIighl he i, guorded by. fire <lcp;.rtment ""CT}'
membt< 01 ",hich flQm chKi down ;, ill 1.1. PullIN,,', I<'f\'i."
This .ceount i. from an arlick in the New York Slm (the modd
town .ttracted. lot of .ttention), and it iJ :KC\Jrate except Fo,
the line about the school In f..ct.the schools of Pullman Wele at I..,t
oominally IUn by the elected school board of P..k Towlllhip.
The t()',<'n wos.bo ,ubject to lhe political jurisdiction of Cook County
and the St.te 01 llIiooi,. But there was 00 municipol gO\"CTnmcnl.
Asked by ....i,iting journ.li,t how he "go"eTneQ" the people of Pull.
man. Pullm.n replied. "We p'ern them in Ihe .. me way a man gov.
emS his hoose. his .100e, or his "'Oruhop, It i. an .imple CTlOUgh."J9
Co>"eTnmcnt ......, in hi! concq>Iion, plO\l<'rly 'ight; and despile Ihe
editorial .....'e: thi :as a right .ingly held and .ingly exercised. In hi,
town. Pullman n aut(lCr.ll. He had a firm IC1lse of how ill inhabi
tanto .hould li...e, and he ne"C' doubted his Tight to gi,.., th.t ICnse pr...,..
t;cal fnrce. Hi, OOl>CCrn, r .hould ,tr.." "01. with the app.."'1lC'C .nd
the beh..ior 01 the people. r>OI with their beliefs. "No one wo, rC(juired
to subscribe to 'IlY sci of idc.k before lOO\'ing 10 lFullm.n]."
there, hov,C\'el. they were required to Ii"'e in. "OIy, N....."WIIJcrs
might be seen "lounging On their doorsteps, the husband in his shilt
.leC\-a.moking a pipe. hi, untidy wife darning. and h.lf-<!rascd
dren playing about them."11>cy were sooo made '''OIre that this SOft
of thing " .. un.ettpt.ble, And il they did not mend thcir ......Y', 'oom
pony inspectors ,'i.ited to thrcatCl' fines."'o
Pul1m.n relused to sell cither land or as to mai"lai" "the
h..mOlW 01 the town'l design" alld also, presumably, his control OI-'er
the inh.bit.nu. EvcrywtC who hcd in Pullm.." (l1linois) ".,.,. tenanl
of Pullm." (George). Homc IClIO,.,.lion ,,'ill strictly controlled;
"'-erc terminable 011 tc" notice. Pullm.n C\'CIl rcfu.scd to allow
Catholia and 5...""i,h Luther.ns to build ehurches 01 IIlCir own, not
bcc:Juse he their worship (thC)' "'cre permitted to rent roo"',),
but bcc:Juse hi, conccption 01 thc tCl"'n ..lied fo. OOe ,.. thcr .plcndid
church, whose rcnt only tlte Prcsb)'tcli.". could .fFord. For ,"m.,whot
different '''''1011. though will. imila, zeal foI or<lel, liquor ,,011 .....il-
.ble only in the town', orlC hotel,.t ",ther .plendid bar, where o.-di
n.I')' workers werc unlil:ely to f",,1 comfortable.
I ha,'c .trCllCd Pul1man'l I could.bo .tr... his bc"...-o-
Political Power
housing provided w,os better than that
erally a,,,,ilabk to American "'l)/ken in the 18b; not umca
(liis profit margins in fact quite low); buildings
kq>t in ..-p;Iir; and so OIl. But the crucial point is that all decisions,
bemvoknt Of 110I. re<ted with a man, gl)'l-er1lOr as ",-.,II as OI"na, who
....d not been chosen by the people goverr>td. Ric.... rd Ely, "'00 vis-
ited the town in ,88S and an arlicle about it foe HaT!>"T'$ Month.
ly, calkd it "unAmerican ... bene\'Oknt. ,,'e1Iwishing feudalism,"'l
But that description ""':Isn't ;tCCUnte, fof the IllCf\ and Wl}lll(TI
of Pullman entirely IT to rome and go also free to
live outside the 10Wll and commute to wo.l in its factories, though in
l.:..d times Pullman's tCflants "'ere apparently the last to be laid off
These tmantl are best regarded as subjects of a capitalist Cflterpoise
that has simply extended itself from manufacturing to ,cal estate and
duplicated in the lo",n discipline of the shop What', w.ong "'ith
thai?
I mcan the que<tion 10 be rhetorical, but it is pe.haps worth""hile
'p"lling out the am"'e. The inhabibnlll of Pullman "-ere guest "'Ork
en, and I....t iJ nol a status compatible with democr:ltic poIiticl. Grorge
Pullman hired himself a mriic population in a political community
""here ,e1f.espect ,,"'s eloscly tied to citizenship md ""here decisions
abool destinations and .ish:. e\'Cn j..... espeeially) \OC:;01 destinations and
risb, IlJppoocd to be shaled, He WllS, then, Jt10fe like a didatOl"
t.... n a Joo-d; he ru[cd by force. The badgering of the tOWllspcoplc
by his inspectOtJ """ intrusive and tyr.Jnnical and can .... rdly .... ,'C been
eXpc1i<:r>ced in any other ""':If
El)' algued that Pullman's ownenhip of the town made its inhab-
itants into something less than American citiuns: "One f.,.,ls that one
is mingling "';th a dependent, "".vik pmpk" APp.1fCntly, Ely caught
no intimations of the iteat strike of 1 or of the cour.lge and disci-
pline of the strikerl,21 He "'rotc his article cally on in the hiltOfY of
the t"""n; perh.ps the pcoflk needed time to ""uk in and to hust
another before the)' dared oppose thenJ,.,I\-es to Pullman's JIO"-er.
But when they did stlib, it ","I .. much ogaimt nis f;lctory power as
apinst hil town powcr. Indeed, Pullman', llIore
ty.anni.,.l than hiJ agCfltl .00 illlpectors. It """Ill' odd to study the
duplicated discipline of the model town md condemn only ant ....11
of it. Yclthi, ""'S the CO!l\'Clltion.lundcrsbnding of the time. When
Ihe Illinoil Supleme Cou.t in 1S9S ordered the Pullman Company
(c...orge Pullman had died a yea. earlier) 10 di,tit itscll of all properly
not uscd. fof manufacturing purposes, it that the ..hip of
'97
SPHERES JUSTICE
town, bul not of a CQmp,lIly, "W<I. inCQmp:ltibk wilh It.ro.y and
Ipirit of our i",litulioos."ll town h;t<,lto <:kTTl(l(rali
cally-not 10 much bec:lus.e mad.: the i"luIbitanlJ sC"r\'ik,
but bttaus.e it lhem to fighl foT rights they already possessed
as citi:eem.
11 is true Ihat struggle for righlJ in faclory "';IS a m:wer strug
gle, if only becaus.e factories ""e,e ne".-er irutituliolll lhan cilies and
tow".. I ""ml to argue, tlult wilh rrgard to poIilical pov...:r
democratic dislribution, c,m'l slop at bctory gales. The deep prin.
cipks are the same for both SOfts of irlStitulioo. This identity is the
mOfal b;.sis of lab:x mov<:mcnt-not of "business ''''ionilm:' which
has another basis, but of t;\'ery demand fa.- progress to'\'l"d ioousl!ial
delfll)Cr.lcy [t doesn't follow from these <:kmands that factOfics can't
owned; no. did opponents of feudalism say Ihal !alid couldn't
O'\ned. It"s e"'-en cooceivable that all the inhabitanlS of a (Srn:lJlJ lown
might pay ,enl, bul nol oorn:lge, to the same landlord. The i..ue in
all these ca>es is not Ihe but of property.
\Vhat Iklfll)Cr.ley requires is tlult property should luI"e no political ("ur
reney, that it shouldn't ("(In,..:rt into anything like ...,,'ereignly, authori
Iali"e CQ.mnand, sustained ("ontral men and Alte' ,SQ..,
at least, most obse"'ers Ittm to ha"e agreed that Pullrn:ln',
of the to\>'11 "'as undemocratic. But WllS his owlICfShip of the company
any different? unu,ual juxtapositioo of the two "oakes for a nicc
comp'lIl-lOn.
They are rlO! different bccaus.e of the entrepreneurial vi,ilm, ene'g)",
in"enti,"CI\CSs, aud soon that went of Pullrn:lnslecpcr1,
dinen, arid p'lIlor cars. rOl" these same qualities ..=1 into the making
of the town. This, indeed, W<I' Pullrn:ln's boasl' that his" 'S}'stem'
which had ,un:eedcd in ...as now being applied to the
problems of labor and hOllling"14 And if the application does not gi"1:
rLie 10 political JlUYl'e, in tl>e one case, why 5hould it do -10 rrI the other'
Nor are the 'wo different becau"" of the ;n,'estment of p,i"ate capital
in the company, Pullman in"ested in the town, 100, "itl>out thereby
OlC<juiring Ihe right 10 its inhabitants. The ease is the same "'ith
nleo and women who buy munieip;ll bornls: the,. don'l come to 0Yl'"
'lIo< """'1" ".... '>'db,,",,', ......._ "" ........ '-<0-, ..... '" "', l!III ,&:d ......
"'..'" , .... ,..,..,.. f",,,,",, """"" be t! '" '1.<<>1<Pr 01 <bo<''*''''r "u,""" ....
NO br O<icrI'ofO< IN_ BOll ,1.< -'".....' be ..... lor too.. ',>doo;l.
........ >I, 01.......... br _ .. _ ,hoy OIl """"',. how<> 't> 'ho ........."r 01 rho
d.d..! -.roc""" ,. ' oil ""ho ,,,,Mo.rol
_ ... And .. ,I>< ......"" .....-. ""hr""""" ..r"," ,r..n _, lot ,,,,", <lo<kd .......
......''''''')1
,gB
,
Political Power
lite municip.llity. Unkss they live 'ute in lhe to"'n, they CIUllO!
even in dccisioUl about how Iheir morn:y is to be spent. They
have no political rights; wltereils residents do ha'"!: rights, whdher they
ale im-.:st",s '" not. There seems 110 reaoon rIOllo make the $:Ime dis-
linction in economic assoc:iations, ma,killg of( imntors From p.lrtici
""nl., a iUJt relum From J-}litic:l11lO""!:1.
Firully, the and the 10"'11 ne not differenl because n>en ar>d
women rome willingly to "'Ofk in the fOlelo')' "ilh full I:oowledge of
its rules and regubtionl. They also COllIe ,,'iJlingly to Ii,"!: in the to"11,
and in neithel case: do they full knowledge of tlte rules unlilthey
hal"!: IOIlte expclience of lItem. Any.....)', residence does not constitutc
all ag,centenlto dapotic rules C\"l:JI if Ihe rula a'e hown in ad,,,nce;
nor is prompt dep.Jrlure Ille only ""y of crpressing opposition. The.e
are, in fJct, lOme as!OC;aliollS fOf which theso: prOflOlitions might
pbUlibly be rCl"!:rsc:d. Aman who joins a monastic OfdCl rC<Juiring strict
and unquestioning ob<:dience, lor example, seems 10 be choosillg a way
of life rather than a place 10 Ii,"!: (or a 10 wo.l). We ,,'OUki not
p;ly him prope. lespeet if we refused 10 rerognizc the efficacy of his
choice. III purpose and its moral effect are preciJcly to authorirr hi.
Jnperior's decisions, and he can'I withdraw that aulhOfily ,,'ithout him
self withdrawing hom the common life it makes possible. But ttoe same
thing cau't be said of a man or a woman who join. a romp;lny Of COllIes
to lOork in a lactory. Hcre the common life is not so all-erlCOlllp;lssing
and it does not rC<Jui.c the unquestioning accrptance of authon\}'. We
respect the new worker only if ""!: assume that he h.... oot JOUght out
politicalsubicetion 01 course, he erlOOUnlers Foremen aoo company
police, as he kn"", he ""OIIld; and it may be Ihal the wro::ss of the cnleT
prise: rC<Juire his obedience, jmt as the SUl"CCSS of a city Of lown re-
quires 1....1citireUl obey public officials. BUI in neither case: WOIJId ".,
....,lnt to say ,,c mighl say to the J1O\'icc monk): if you don"llike
these official. aoo lhe ",delS they gi"e, }'OIl can always lea,"!:. I1'. impor-
tant that lhere be optionl lhort of lea,"ing, oonrlCded with tlte appoi"t
menl 01 the offieiab md the making of the Tulel they enIOfC"!:.
Otlter lOfts of Ofganizatiooaise: JTKKe difficult qllC:ltionl. Conside.
tlul Marx utoed in the Ihird ,"OIume of Capi,,,llo illustrate
Ihe nalure 01 authority in a communisl fOletory. Coopc.--.ti,., labor re--
quires. he wrole, "one commaooillg will:' aoo he comp"red Ihis ",ill
10 thot of an orchestra cooollctOl'.l1 The conductOl pn::sides (WU a
lIIollYof sounds aoo Marx seems 10 have thought, O\'er a ha.nlOlly
of musicians It is a duturbing comparison, lor conduct",s ha"e oflell
been despots. Should lheir ...ill be commalldingr PCfhop! it should,
'99
SPHERES OF' JUSTICE
lin: nHlIt npreu .il\ile of the music it
pQl". But p;ltte"'s of work in a factory are ITIOfC readily negolialed.
No< ;, it Ihe C,,,e 1"'1 the members of an OKhellra mu.t )'idd to the
oondllctOf with regard toC"ery aspect of the life they .... re. They mill:hl
claim a considerable voice in the J affairs. C"en illhey :lttept
when they pQy Ihe conductor. comm.;mdil\i will.
BUlthe mcmbel1 of an OKhestra, like the workC'rs in a factOf)' ...hile
lhey spend a Il:,cat deal of lime with one another, don'tli,'e wilh one
another. Pe,"'ps lhe line bet""fff\ poIilics and economics has 10 do
with the difference belween ...d ",-or1:. Pullman brought Ihe
two together, .ubmitted 'elidenu workC'rs 10 the ..me rule. I. il
enough if rcsidenls IUIe lhernseh-es ""hile only wOfkers arc Jubmilled
10 the power of property, if the residents citi7.cns and the worken
Certainl)' lhe selfrule of rcsidenls is conHflOOIy thought to be
a mallcr of the firsl importaoce. That'. why a Iandlotd hal so much
less IlO"'cr O\'CI his tenanls t"'n a factory owner his ",'orken. 1',len
and women must collectively euntrollhc pbce where they Ii"" in order
10 be ..f., in thci, ovm homes. II man', hom" i, hi, ",.:.1"- [will :>$Sume
I"'t this malim npresK'S a genuine lt101"al impcrati,"t:. But
what the ntalim r""luireo is not politiclll selfrule so much a. the kpl
protection of the domeslic sphere-,and not only hom economic but
also from politiclll iute,,ention. We need a.pau For ",'ilhdrawal, 'ell,
intim<lC)'. and (SOfJlclimes) solitude. As a feoo.l halOIl ,eh,rd 10 his
ca.t Ie to brood ",'er I'\Iblic .JighlJ. 110 I reti,e 10 my home, But Ihe politi
cal COllllu\mity is not a coIleclion of broodillg pbtts. or oot Ollly lhal.
II is also a coml1lOfl cnterp,ise, a public pbce whe,e we arlP'" Iog:cthe,
o,-e-r lhe public inlelcsl, where we decide 011 goals and debate accept
able risb. Alilhis Will missing in Pullman's model 10000'n. uulil lhe
Americlln Union pfO\lidcd a foI'um foI' worken and r(Sidents
alike
From thi. penpccli"e. an ecooornic enle'l'rise Sttm. much like
a 10000'n, even lhough--<x, in p.art, bec:;mse-il il so unlike a home. It
i. a place not of rest and intimacy but of coopcrali"e Ktion II is a
plate' not of withdraW31 but of decision. If landlords possessing poIilical
JlO""'er arc likely to be on families, SO O.....r>c" pas.elling polili
cal are li1<cly 10 be oow:i"e of illdi,iduall. Cor>ttivably the Ii"t
of these is ",-orse than lhe 1oCCOn<!. but this comp.arison docsn'l dislin
guish lhe two in any fundamental W3y; il merely grades them. Intm
,ivena. and coo:rcion a'e ali1<c made JXISIible by a d.,.,pcr rcality-----the
Ulutp;ltion of acommon cnterp,ise, the dilplOlCemcnt of coIlecti"e deci
sion making, by the JlO""'cr of property. "lid for this, nOlle of Ihe stan
3
00
Politic;ll Power
cUrd jultifi.... tiofls seems Pullman exposed thcir ,,-eakrICSSCS
by cL1iming to rule the town he owned enctly al he ruled the factories
he owned. Indeed, the 1 '0 5OIt5 of rule are simibr to one another, and
both of them hal ...'e oommonly authoritarian
polilics. 'The right to impose fines 00es Ihe "''OIk oflaution; the right
to evict tenant! or discharge "'OIken 00es (some of) the work of punish-
ment. Rules are iuu.ed enforced without public deb:lte by ap-
pointed rathe1lhan by elected officiab, Tnere are rIO judi-
cial pl"ocelIures, rIO legitin);lte fonns of opposition. rIO channels for
participation or e-.m fot protest. If thillOft of thing is Wro<lg for towns,
then it is wrong for oompania factories, too
lm;lgine now a decilion by Pullman Of hi. heirl to re\ocate thcir fac-
tory/town. Having paid oR the initial in''CStment, they _ richer
ground e1.ewhere; or, they ale takeR ",'ith new desiiJ!, a better model
for a model to"n, and w,ml tl) try it out. The deci.ion, they claim,
is thein alone since the factory/town is theili alone; neithel the
tantl nOf the workers an},thing to say. BUI how elm th;1 be right?
Surely to uproot a commuRity. to r""luire largescale migration, to
people of homes they Ii.,ed in for are polili-
....1:oct., of rathe. ellreme sort. The decision ;s an cxerc;se
oIl'o,'.. e.; ...d 'ere the lownSpeople simply to woold think
they "ere not llrespecting citizens, What about the ...'O.kelS?
Whal poIil;..",1 should the workers _k? Polil;..",1 rule
implies degr,"" 01 but if. not
is pouible in lingle factory or e'en in groop of The citizens
of a 1000n are also the consumers of the goods and services the town
prO\'ides; arid except for ottasional vi$ilOO, they the only consum-
eli. But "'OIkers;n a /actO<}' are p.odueen of and services; they
are only sometimes consumers, and they are ne....erthe only consumers.
Moreo'', Ihey are locked into elose economic "";Ih other
factories that they IUPPIy or on wOOse products they depend. Pri'"lIte
ow""," relate to one anathe. through the m;lrket. 1n theory, economic
disiofls are non-po1itial, and they are coordinated ....ithout the inter-
ventionl of Insofa. as thil theory iltrue, worur oooper:otivn
would simply \ocate themsel,'CS within the "",twork of m;I,ket .elation.
In fact. how",,er, the theory misses both the collusion! of (/WIlen
among themsekes their rollecti...e abilil)' to all upon the lupport
of lute oIIiciab, Now the replaC'Cment is an industrial de-
mocracy organized at national al "'ell as local levels. But how, precisely,
can JIOWeI' be diltribuled 10 ill to take inlo account both the RC<:US:Iry
autonomy and the practial linkage of rompanies and factoria? The
3"
SPHERES OF' JUSTICE
queslion il oIlo:n niscd ';lriously rcd III lilnal",e 011
"'Un' rontrot I shall not attrmpllo an if ;>pin. 001' do I mr:In
to deny ill dilliculties; I only ....nl 10 insm lhal lhe $Orb of
'l>C'Iltl lequlrcd in an Industri:ll dc'llOC,acy are not an lhat diftetenl
from lhole req",ra:I in a political denooc:,acy. Unlr$llhey are
cXnl Itales, ciliei and lowrn arc 1lC\..... fuDy aulonomoui; they ha,'c no
abJDlute authority ('\'CI\ "'..... eoociI: and .cMtu lhey produor for
mtmul consumption. In United Sl:::Il"" locbr, ..... o:nmah lhrm
'II a fedmll structwe and regulale ...hal they can do in the arc:ai 01
cduclItion, rominal jul;1ice, crnilUlllllClll:::lllUC, and to on. and
COIupanics -..10:1 ha,... to be limibrly mmeshcd and il"'WIIy rqubttd
(and lhey alto be wed). In a dc.-doptd "' ....iIlt. ai in a dc.-d.-
oped polity. diftetent dailiold 'AOUId be made by dilfetent rrouJl& 01
pcopic al diftetenl b-ds of org;anization. Thedi-ilion of plIIOer in both
these cua ir only partly a mattn of principle; it ir abo a matter of
mmnulanec and npcdimcy.
1M algl...ncnt ir limibr with lqard to the ronsl1tulional
ments wilhin 1:K'lorir:l: and comp;.nia. will be llIany difficulties
"lIfking these out; there will be false sbrts and biltd apclimcntJ CJl
:lCtly ar lhe,e been in the histOf)' of eitM:. and I.....Tl.. Not should
"'C aped to a single appropliate Direct dcrrwxlXy.
proporlional representation. linglc.member romlilueneies, rn:lnd.:lted
and independenl rcpfesenl:::lll>'U, bic<lmcnl and legisla
lures. city man:lgen. regulatory commillions. pulllic rorpor.l
tions-polilial dceilion making is org;mizcd and will ronli.,1IC to he
orpnizcd in lIIallY difterent ....)'S. What ;s imporlant il lhat wc kIlO\<'
illo be political, tile aercisc 01 POWCl, notlhe fr of property.
TOIby, lhe,e ale many men and WO<TI<:n .. ho.> preside: (n'cr enlerprises
in ..,hleh hundreds and lhousamk of Ihei, fellow cilittlll afe inmh'cd,
"'ho di,cd and ronholthe "lIfking 1Iv.,. 01 their fclJ(nr,'S, and ..ho CJl
plain themscl,.... eactly ar George Punman did. Ip'em these people,
they say, In the same ";ly a mao CO'"ttns the Ihinp he owns.. Pcaple
..'00 talk Ihir ....,. aTe "'fOlIC. They misundmtand the 01
o".-ncrship (and oIloundation. in'utmcnt, and ,dll tiline). They claim
a kind 01 plIIO'Cf to whOch they ha,... 00 richl.
To tay lhis it not to deny the ,mportallC\' 01 cnlrCplCrlClIrial act",it)".
In both companies and ltMTIS, one: Ioob for people lilt Pullman, Fun
01 CIX'llYand idaI, winiO& to inl1O\':lllc and take risb. cap;.bIr 01 org;m-
i.r.i"l brrc pn:tj-tJ. It -wei be foolish. to cralC a i)'Stcm that did not
bri.. thrm fono,ud. 1ltryaTe 01 00 lIIC 10 .. if lhey juot brood in lhcil
c:asl1a. But lha-c ir nothing lhey do tNot p'a lhem a richt to rule
Political Power
O\-er Ihe rest of us. u1Iless lhey tin ",in our agreement Al a ccrtaln
point in the dc-'elopllKllt of an Cllierprise, then, it must pus 0111 of
enlrq>rerlCUri31 conlrol; il must be Ofpnil.cd or reorganized in $Orne
politic;al W1lY, acrording 10 II><, plC\'ailing (delllocntie) amccption of
hO'" l'O"'e' oughl 10 be dishioolcd It is often said Ihat crorlOmic enle,-
prenctJlS won'I corne foI'ward if they c.nnot hope to O"'n the oomp"-
nics they found But Ihis is like ..ying that nO one would ...,k di"ine
gr.lce Of knoy.-Ied,ge who did lIOt hope to rome into he,editary posse$'
lion of a ehu'eh or "holy coUlmor",'eallh:' Of thai 00 one would found
nCVI' hospilals 01 cxpcTimClltal schools ""ho did not intend to p"SlO them
on to child,,''', Of lhat no OllC ...ould sponsor politial inlJO\-.tion
and 'clorm unless it were p<mibk to own the date But o"'-llCIShip is
not the goal of politieal 01 'eligions liIe, and thefe afe still atll3Cti\'e
and e"cr, compelling goals. Indeed, had Pullman fouOOed a kiter
town, I><, mighl ha"e earned fOf himself the lOrl of pIlblic hoIIOf that
men and women ha,.., lOmetimes taken as the highest end of human
action, 1/ I><, ".Ilted power 's well, he should ha,.., run fOf ma)'OI.
Dem()('rati(' Citizenship
On<:c we h..-., Iocaled QI'Inc"hip, cxpcTtisc, ,eligious .nd
all on in their P'opCT pbces and established their autooolllY, tllCre is
no to democracy in the poIitiealsphere. The only thing Ihat
c." iustify u",lemocnlie forms of ll""cmmenl is an undif(crClllialed
c.mception of lOC;al the lOfl, roughly, lhat thcocnb and
plutocrats might hold. E"ell a milil>lry regime, ...hieh seems to rest on
nothing mole than an aS$CTtio!, of force, musl make a dcepet claim:
Ihal mililary force and polilic;al po.....er ar<' ,,,,,tly same thi"g, thai
mCll and ,,'Omen an only be ru\cd by threats and ph)'Sial OX"feioo,
and hence that powe' Ihould be gi''Cll to (C\'CIl if it has,,'1 yet bern
seized by) the mOil efficient lOIdiers. This, lOll, is an 3JgulTlCI,t f.om
Jpecioll for it'. not iust any lO1din who lhould rule, but
"llhe' tM one soldier ....ho bc.t k""",s how to Ofgani>;e hil trO<Jp$ and
use his ....... pons. Bul if we of military loret: IOOIe narrowly,
as Plalo did ",hen he Illbmiltrd IJlI'Irdia.1lI10 philosophers, then ...'C an
abo sci limitl 00 military rule. n.e bc.1 ddier rules Ihe army, not lhe
sl.le, And $imiurly, if ....e c.mOO"" of phi\ooophy mOre narro.....ly than
SPHERES OF' JUSTICE
PUto did, we will oooclude the best philosophers, ....hile thC')' may
rule ()Ilr speculation., OInl>Ot li:O"em our penon.
The citizen. must eo>'em themselVe1. "Democracy" is the narM of
this government, but the word doesn't anything like simple
system; .- is ocmocT.lC')' the Ame thing simple lnd-d,
government CIIn be simply for at any gil'.:n momcnt,
IOnlOOne or lOme group must decide thi, or Irn.t iuue then
the decision, JOmeone else or lOme other group mmt ;tCl;epl the
Million and endure DemocuC)' i. a way of al10cating
power and its Use----<)r better, it;, the po/itica/1I1:lY of al\Q.
aling power. E,"eTY extrinsic raSOll is ruled out. counts is 3rgU-
ment the citi1A:l1I. Democr.lCY putl premium OU lpeft'h, pn-
suasiou, rhetorical .kill. Ideally, the citizCll ",'ho m3kes the most
pcrsuasi'-e a'gumc-nt-trn.t is, the argument thot aclually pcrsuaoo the
largest number of citiu"s----sels his way. But he an't lISl: fortt, or pull
unk, or distribute rr>()nC)'; he must t31k about the issues hand Ar>d
311 the otl..,r citizelll IIlU,t too, or Ie:o,t rn.le a chan to talk.
[t i, not 0fI1y ioclusi\"eness, however, makCl fo.- democratic
government. Equally impor13nt ill ..m..t "'.., might call the rule of .ea
JOnS. Cilizell' rome into the forum with nothi"g but their a.gume"lI.
An rlOupolitial goods rn.ve to be deposited outside: ","Capon. 3Ild
waUel1, titles and <kgrea.
Democracy, ac:rordi"g to 1l>o<nas Hobbes, "is 110 tllOre th3n ari...
1(lCr.IC)' of OI"3tOl1, i"terrupted somdimea with the tempor3ry monaro
chy of one or:otOl."16 Hobbes ..;IS thi"king of the Athenian
of Pericle.. Under modern oonditioru, one "''(lIJ1d ha,..., 10
to a much gratn VlI.idy of setlings---a>mmittcn, caucuses, parties,
;nternt groupo, and JO Ofl----,;Ind then to a grOlter ';lriely of rhetorical
styles. The: great orator has long si"ce lost his domillan, But Hobbes
_ certainly .ight to insilt trn.l indiridual citizens in deci
siou to a grater or a Icsstr <kgr..,. Some of them more
cffecti"e, rn.'-e more inAucrocr, trn.Il others. lr><;\..,d, il this were r>ot
tme. ilan citizens h:Ki litellllly the A""e amount of inRucnce, it is hard
10 see how decision, could ncr be reached. If the citizcm
3N: to gi'.., the .... to thenud\'CS, then theil a.guments somehow
issue in 1411', And though this Ia.... may ""I'll .eRect a multitude of
compromises, it will also in its form be closer to the wishes of some
citium trn.n to those of others. A pe.lectly democllltic dL'Ci,ion i, likely
to come closest to the wishes of tOOse citium ",'ho are politically most
ski11l111. Dcroocllltic politics is a monopoly of
3'4
Political Power
The Athenum Lottery
One ...-ay 10 a'"Oid Ihis monopoly is to choose offitt holden by lot.
This is simplt, equality in the sphere of office, ar>d I ha'-c already dis-
cussed some of it. "'OOern ,-cnioos. But il is ...'Orth focusing lor a lTI()-
ment on the Atocnian e... mplt" because it suggests '"eT)' deafly how
polilical power esc:Ipes this SOft of equality. This is not to deny lhe
impressi,., eplilalianilm of Athen;"n democracy. A ....ide r;mge 01 olli
Nt. ,,-ere chosen br lot andenhusled ...'ilh important ci\'ic responsibili
ties, TIley ....,'e, indeed, S\Ibmitted 10 a kind of n;lm;nation bdOfe
being al\ov.-ed to take up those responsibilities. But the questions poted
"'ere Ihe same lor all cili,.ens and lor all offices, intended only to eslab-
lish thai poIenlial office holdeTS "'e'e cilium in eood standing and Ihat
lhey had perfOfll><:<!lheir political and /amilial duties. The eaminali""
"did not in any sen$e t",,1 [the individual's) capacily to pe,ofm the
office of ....hich he had been br 101."17 This capacity, il ...-as
assumed, all citium possessed. And Ihat nsumption seems 10 h"'e
been juslified; at any r;Jte, lhe WOTk """ done, and elFecti,-cly done,
by one Tandomly selected citittn aller mother.
n.e mosl impo.-tant offices, hOWC\'er-those that requi,ed the wid-
est dise.etion--wne not distribuled in this ....y. \Vhal "'-as im-
porlant, bws and policies "'-cre not chosen in this ....y. No one C'.-er
suggested that C'.'ery eilizen should be al\ov.'ed 10 "nominate" a policy
Of draft a bw lor a general lottery. Thai would ha,., seemed an ;lTespon_
sible and a,1Mtrary proc-edure 101 determining the goals and rish oIlhe
communily. [nstead, the assembly debated the various J"'OPO$'lls; 01,
rathel, lhe arislocfa<:y of orators debated them, and the bulk 0I11le
citizens lislened and voted. 111e lot distlibuled administ<atiw: but not,
properly speaking, poIitic:alpCl"'CT.
Political pooo.'er in a de",ocral.")' is di.tribuled br arglling and ,'Oting.
But iso't the vole itself a kind of p:l"'er, distributed br the ruk 01 sim-
ple equality? A kind oIpCl"'er_ pe<haps, oollOmCthi"i "'ell .hort of
the cop;>city to determine destinations and fish. is another e.am-
pie of how the rule of simple equality devallleS Ihe good. it go-.'CTnI.
A .ingle ''Ote, as RooISCllU argued, represmll a lIn Jhare oI_ereign-
ty.18 In an oligarchy, that is a comiderablt, .hare, in a rkmoCTacr.and
espK;.,11y in a modem mat.. denlOCl:>C)', it i. a ''CT)' .",all .hale indeed.
The VOle is important nonetheless because it sen'a both to symboliu
membership and to gi,"C il concrete maning. "One citittn/one ,-ete"
i. the funelmal equi"s1ent, in the sphere of polilics, 01 the rule ag>in.t
3'5
SPHERES OF JUSTICE
exelusion and degradation in the sphe.e of welfale, of the principle of
equal considcr.ltion in the sphcK of office, and of the Kuar.lnt"" of a
JChool place fOJ "''''ry child in the sphere of education It is the founda
tion of an distributi"e activity and the iflC:5Capable hamework within
which choices ha,.., to be made. But choices still ha"e tt) made; and
thesC' dc!'C'IId not Oil single voles but OIl the acaJmuJation of
."Oto------kr>CC On inRumcc, p"rmasion, P'QSU...,. bargaini"K. organiza.
tion, and JO on. It is through their im"O!l'ement in adivitialike these
that politician., "'hethn they appc:.. ao leaders or as middlemen, eler-
cUe political po"..e"
Parties and Primarin
Pov...,r "belongs to" l'C"uasi.'encs:s, ana therelore po/iticia.... are nooI
long ao thciT reach is suitablr limited and theil!'C'rsuasi'"e-
ness is not constituted br "money talkinK" Of by deferer>CC to birth
and blood, N",'e,thelcss, democ,ats ha"e al,,'a)'S I>ccn .mpieious of poli_
ticians and havc long searched lor lOme WlIY to make simple equality
more dfcclivc in the sphere of politics, We miKht, lor example, handi-
cap the most pc:"uasive of our fellow citittnl, limiting Ihe numbe, of
times they can illtCrveTle in a diJCu"ion or requirillK that the)" spc:lk
at meeliugs, like Dcmosthwes pr.lcticing On the beach, "ith !'C'bhlc:s
in Iheir mo"lh.
19
Or, more plausIbly, ".., miKht eliminate mectings
altogether and ban th.c dubs md paTties that politicians 10
make their !'C'rsuasi,"cneJs effect;"'c. This is the mtcnt of Rousseau's
aTgumCllt that the citi,.ens would always reach a Koo:x1 <!ecisioll if,
"being furnished with adequate infOfmation. . [they) had no commu
nication ,.ith '-"'" allOlhe,." Then each iodi"idual would thmk "only
his own thoughts," There would be no room lor p",oua.ion ororganiza
tion, 00 premium on spchmaking and committee skills; instead of
an aristocracr of orators. a genuine democracy of citizen. "-ould take
sha!'C'.1O But wtlll would furnish the necessary illformalKIIl? And what
if disaKrccments arose (ll'er what illformation ...... "adequate"/
In fact, politics is unayoidable; and politicians are tlX!.
E,,,n if ...., don't talk ....ith aile another, IOmcofle mull talk to aU of
us, not onlr supplying fac:u and IiKUla but abo dc/ending positions.
J\lork", tcehr>ologr makes pouiblc iOffiething like Ihis, bringing indi-
"idua! citizen. into difccl contact, or ....hat ICCmS ao good as di,ccl con-
lad, ...ith policy decisions and candidatCi for office, Thus, w(: might
organize po.h-button rcfncnda on crucial il$ucs, the eiti"".... alone in
their livinK roo....., watching televi.ion, ",guing only with thci' IpDUlClI,
Political Power
hands h<)\'rring <)\'<:r their plh"tr voting machines, And ""r could orga
niu n.alionalnominatiorls md ekdiom in rxactly the umr ....... y: a le\e
"ision deOOte and an inslanl 001101. This is something like simple equal
ity in the sphere of politics (there arr, of course, those other prople
arguing 011 tebisioll), Bul is it lhe exelcise of powerr I am indinro
10 uy. instead, that it i$ only anotht-r aamp\e of Ihe rrosion 01 "alue--
a lalse and ultimately degrading ""y of lharing in Ihe making of
do:c:isiolll
Compale for a moment the p,imalY and thr party com'""tion, two
''rT)' diffelent melhooh of choosing presidential candidates, Dcmocrals
and qalitalialls ha"e presso:llor mOfe plimaria. IIIore open primaries
(in ",hich ,-men are frtt to se1ecl the party rontest in which they will
participate), and then for regional Of national .atht-r than state prima
ries. 'InC' again, the intellt is to minimiu the influence of party o,gani
>.:Itionl. n",ehina, ""trenched politicians. and so on. and to maximize
the illAlIer= of indi"idual eilizcns. The filSt effect il certainly
.chined Ontt primaries a,e establi1Iled, and especially Ollce open pri
maria ale alablilhed. state and local organiz.atiOflS lose thcir hold. 111e
alldidate maka his appeal r>oI th<OU&h an articulated strudure hul
through the mass "oedia, He does noInegoliate with Ioalleadeu. speak
10 auculC$, lorm alliances wilh established intcrest groups. Instead,
he solicits ''Ota. as il we.e, OI>C by one. among all the regi1tered vote's
without repru to their attachmcnt to the party, Io)..lty to ill ptOg.ams.
or willingness to work for ib 1\lCtt$S. [n tum, the votcn nKV\lnter the
candidote only Oil the tde\'ision scrCC'l1. without political mediation.
Voting is lifted "nt of the rontC'll! of partia aoo platrorms; it is mote
He impulse buying than [IOlilical decision making.
A primary ampaign In the United Stales today is likr a commando
raid. The candidatr and his prfsoual .",tourage, losdher with a few
attached professional., ad"ertilini: men, m:Ikeup artists foI the face
.nd mind, descend upon a statr, fight a brief bailie, and are quickly
of! agoill. NQ local ties arc n<:C<!SS.1ry; g'a....lXlIs orgalliz:ltioll and the
rlldorscm,ml 01 local notables are alike supetAuous. The whole busin-as
;s er.on"ously .henuou.lor a frw people, ..,ooa.e here and gorlC: while
the rr:lidents of the lIale are mere IpedatOfS and then. miTaCuklusly,
ciliun-lO\'ereignl. choosing theil la'mites, Party polities, by conh:nt,
is not a raid but a k.ni:1erm stnlggle. ll>ough puOClualed by election.,
it hal a more lteady pace than a prima'Y campaign Ius; it rrquira =11
mitrnent and endurance. II in\'ol\'a lIlOfe people fof more time; but
it i, <mI)' the people "'00 gel inYOlocd who make the key decisions.
choosing the party', carnlidateurnl designing it. platform through eau
SPHERES OF JUSTICE
cu:ses md ... People who tit OOIDt eJldOOed. peli-
tiel is a maller 04 mtttings and arguments. aIId going to the meetings
arnllistening to the arguments are crucial; passi,'e citizens enlCT tho:
prllCUS only later, 1>01 to oominate but to c!loose among the nominees.
C",cuses and (.'Ofl,-entions are commonly bken to be less egalitarian
primaries, but that view lalls shoo-t of the whole truth. The more
inten"" (lml.! of p;lrticipalion a<'t""ny reduee tho: between
Iea<kn follo.,..ers, they setve to tho: ecnll::llity of argu-
ment_without which poIilical equality quickly boma a mauingles.s
distribution ch09:-n in caucuses and cofWentioos ....ilI al.
most Ct'ftainly be better known 10 more palIlk than ....ill candidlta
chosen in primaries. For Ihe former, unlike the latter. will ha"e been
SIl close quarlers without their make-up; they ....ill h:",e Vl"l)rked
tho: ",",,,,;u precincts, .Iands, rommilled lhe""",l,'es in p;lrtic
ular ways to p;lrticular men and """men, Their victory ",ill be lhe p;lrty'.
victory. arnl they will eJlerci"" power in .omelhi"i mo.-e likea oollecti,-e
a,hioo, not SO) much OV!"r their supporters as togclher with them. uu
cuscs and COIlventioos all: the cruci:'] """ling for the negotiations that
shape this comrtlOll effort, bringing together Ihe divilkd forces of the
p;lrly-nolabks, ma<'hina. sect,. ginger groups---<nlo a larger union.
At worst, this is a politics of Ioc::Il bosses (rather than tho: national kb-
rities required and produced by the primary system); at best, it is a poli
tics of p;lrty organiurs, activists, and militants, going 10 meetings. de-
Nting issues, making dooals. Primaries arc like elcctioos: every citizen
is a \lQter, and wlter i. "'1",,110 e.'ery other. But an the voters
do is ... vote. Ducuses con"Cntio", are like p;lrlia generally: eiti
zcn. come",'ith the power theyean mUlter, Ik mll5teringof power
irwolva them more <keply in tho: political process than voting
can ever do. The citizen/voler is crucial to Ihe survival of doomocratic
politics; but tk citizen/pelitician ;s crucial to itl hc1incss and
integrity,
TI'e argument for the stronger forms 01 p;lrticip;ltion i. argument
lor oompleJl equality_No doubt, p;lrlicipation can be widely di.spelltd,
as it is, for cumpk, in lhe iury .yden. But cven lhough juries are ""-
keto:<! by lot, and even though each memhcr one-and only
o"e-vote, the 'Y.tem ....o.ls more like a callCUl or con'-cntion tru.n
like a primary. 11>c jury IO(Im is on<: more setting for the uncqu;al exer
ci"" of power. Some of tk memhcrs have mOre rhetorical skill, or per
10",,1 charm, or moral for"", 01" simple stubbornness than othen,
they ale more likely to doolermi..., the verdict. We might think of sud
people as "naturallcadc,," in lhe ""nse their leatlcrship doesn'l
Political Po....cr
on tm-i. wealth 01 birth 01 C"en tm-i. eduC1ltioo; it is inhinsic
to the politic:al pl'OCnS. If thc jurors nf'\cr md or wilh one
othef but .imply listened to the ngulTlent. of the thoo.lght their
(M'n thought., thffi voted. ""tural \ad.cn would nC''C'' The
prl"A'c. of the mo.e pass;ve juron wwld be by soch
whcthn \-.:rdicts would be belle. or worse, I don't know,
But I sUsped that the jury syslem as a whole w"Ollld be dC'"alucd. and
individual iurors would value: thei. own .oles 1CS!. ror we mOl-
monly Ihink of trllth from ditCUUioo-moch as we Ihink of
policy eme.ging from the g;ve_aml.take of political debate, And it is
ktlcr. morc satisfying, to sho.e in Ihe and debates. C'"CI1
if Unc<luaUy, lhan to abolish Ihem for the $;Ike of .impk equality,
Democracy requi.es cqualrights. not equal POWcl". Right. he..,
guannlced oppo.tunities to exc.cise minimall'C"'"C'" (YOli,,! ,ights) or
10 try to grealer PO-' asscmbly, ami petition rights).
theo.ists mmmonly conceive the good citizen U $OnlCOOC
who is constantly !I)'ing to aerei.., flO"""CJ, though not ne<:cW.
ily on his OI"n kha1l. He has priociplcs. ideas, aoo p'o&nms, and he
cooperates with like-minded mffi and women, AI the $;IIDC time, he
finds himself in inle'lsc, so,netimes bille., lnRid ",ilh olhe. groups
of men and women ,,'ho ha\'e Iheir own p,inciplcs, ideas, ai'll! JlfO&rams.
He probably rdishn the mnlliet, the "fieredy api.tic" character of
political life, the oppo.tunity for public action.
l1
I-lis aim is 10
win--that is. to exc.cisc: untqu"ltd p<l"'CI. In pursuit of this aim, he
and his f.iends exploit ,,'hatC'c. ;K!vantages they havc, l1>cy make good
aCCO\lnt of theiheto.ical dill and organi7..:ltional COmpetcnCC; they
play on party Io)"ahies and melllo.ies of old struggles; Ihey sed the en
doncmcnt of .eadily 'CCOlP'ized or publicly honored individuals All
this ;5 ffiti,ely legitimate (JO long as rceocnilion OOcsn't I.anslate di
.ectly into politicall'O"'1:r: we don't give the people "'1: honor a doubk:
mte or a public officc). It "',(lUld nol k legitimate, oo..'C''Cr. lor .ea!l(lnl
r hoi"" ",,,,kedth'ough, if Klme eitizens we.e able to win their
political st.uggles bcaulC they were personally we::althy or had "'"C:lIlthy
backe.. or I'O"-.:rflll hiends rebti"", in the nisling g<)\'Crnmcnl.
11Iere ate some inequalities that can, othe" lhat c:annol, be ex
ploiled in thc COU.lC of political activity,
E,"CI1 more iltlpol"tanl, il would nol be legitimate if. h:l\'ing won. the
winneR IIlCd their unc<lual pawl" to cui off the voIing .n<! pa.ticipa-
tio" right. of the losing side. l1>cy c:an rightly say: bttolM "'1: argued
and organiud. penuadcd the assembly or carried lhe eketion. we shall
.ule (1\'1" )'Ou. BUI it would be ty.annical to say: we sl.. 11 .ule ove' you
3"9
SPHERES OF JUSTICE
fOfe.n Politicol ,ightl they underpin a pm-
Cl:$1 that hal 110 endpoint, an ugument that has no conclu
lion In dcmocTlltic politics, all de.tinationl an: tempo,ary. No citiZC1l
can el'er claim to ha"e persuaded his fellows once and for aIL TIlere
arc alway.! new citium, for om: thing; and ok! eiti7.cm alway.! enti
tlcd to rfOPl'n the a'gument--of join an a,gument from which they
have p,eviously abltained (or tu kihitz endlCSlly hom
This i. what compb equality meanS in the sploere 01 politics it il not
!""Wer that il shared, but the opflO'tunities and occoniom 01 poI'e.,
E,"CfY citizen is a potential p;irticip;int, a potential politician
That potentiality is the nCl'nSary OOIldition of the c;ti,.cn'.
selfrespel:t. I ha"e had something to say about the OOIlntion
between citi,.enlhip and selfrespect. and I want now briefly t" con-
clude the argument. TIle c;tit.en rf:lped.l himself who is
able, when hil principle. demand it, to j<>in in the political struggle,
to C(lOpcTlIte compete in the exercise and JlIl"uit 01 povoff. And
he al", rcspttt, himlelf as someone who is able to Tcsist the "iobtion
of hil tights. I1(/t only in the but in the olhe. sphe.cs
"f di.tribulion, too; for rcsiltance: il itself an excreisc of povo'e., and poIi
tiet i. the Iphe.e through ",'hieh .. arc .egulalcd. The cal""l
or arbitrary exercisoc of l'O"'e' won't generate self-rcsped. tholt's why
p",h.butlon participation wQ\11d make for a morally unsalisfying polio
ties The citiull must be lcady and able, when hil time comcs, to delib-
erate with his ft/\ows, liJten and be listerlCd to, take responsibility /or
"'hal he say.! and doeJ. and able: not only in Itatcs, cities, ar>d
tow", hut whel""e'!""WeT il exe.ci5Cd, in cmnpanies and factories, too,
and in uniolll, f:ICUlties, and profcssiom. Dcp.il'ed permanently of
powe" whether at national or Iocallc\-cls, he is deprived also of this
",nse of hi",,,,1I. Hence: the of Lord Acton's maxim. attlibuted
to a ,""ritly of twenticth-<:entury politicians and writers: "POI"el COl
rupts. but the lack of l'O"'e. CQf.upls absolutelY'-'n Thi. ;s an insight
availlbk, I think, only in a dcmocr.rtic letting, where the len'" of p0:>-
tential JIO"'el can be Icwgni1.cd as a lOIn> (If mor.rl heahh than
as a threal of politi<;almb,enion). Citiuns wit hoot ",1f'lespect d,cam
of a tyrannical ,f."1,engc,
The 1110151 COllln'l(ln form of !""Werlcs:rnCl$ in the United Stat.... too..y
dc,i,'cs f.om the domirur>cc: of rllOrlCY in the sphe.e of politics.
endless spel:lack of propc.tY/JIO""CI, the politicalsuccas story of the
rich, enacted and re-cnacted on C'\'ery social stage. hal {)I'el time a deep
and pelV:l,;,'e effoct. Citizens witoo...t fllOner rom" to share a profoond
conviction that polilia offers them flO hope at all, Thi, is a kind of
3"
Political Power
Ihat they kam I,om experi.,na and p;l$S on 10
lheir children Wilh it oomes p;l$l'i"ily, dclc.entt, and ,.,..,,,tment.
n
But "e must iW-1d, apin, agaimt drawing tile cilek 100 tight--from
I"""'nb!r..,.. to a Io:ss of .e1f.csp1 10 a deeper 3r>d deepe, Io:ss of
I"""'n, and", "" For the .truggle againsl Ih., dominantt of m""er,
again.t corporate ,,-eallh and is perhaps th., finesl oolliempol"ary
of sd/respecl. And Ihe p;lrtics 3r>d the mm-.,,,,enb tl",t /)I.
ganite lhe struggle and ClIlry it I/)I......d are breeding grOUnID of
,.,Ifrespedir'i citi?...,ns TIle slruggle is itself a denial oll"""'erlwnm,
all acting oul of cilizen1y What makes it l'05"ibler A surge of
hope, generated perhaps by a social Or an econornie crisi a shared un-
derstanding of political lights, an impulse t""OIrd democraey latent ill
tile culture (not in e....el}' cullule)
BUll can't say thai vielory is allY guaranlee of sdlrespecl. We can
rKQ8:nite rights, "'e ClIn distribute 1""""Cf Of at least the occasions of
P""-.,r, bul ,,'e cannot guaranlee: the prideful adi"ity that rights and
occasions n",\;c possible. Democratic poIilics, OI>CC ..." o''nthro",n
"''''ry "'ronglul dominance,;s a slanding im-ilalion to act in Jl'Ublic and
know a citizen, ClIp;lbk of choosing datinaliolls alld acplirrg
lisks 1m oneself and olhelS, 3r>d ClIpable, too, of p;llro11ing the distribu
li"e boolw./.aries and.ustaining a iust society. Bul tllere is no way to
make sule Ibal )00 or I, Or anyone, ",ill seize th., opporlunity_ TIlil,
1suppose, is lhe =1:" ,..,lIion of Locke'. p'opoIIili"" that no one can
be beal 10 k san..!. But citizenship, 31 durinel from sahOllion, does
depend upon ttrlain public arrangements, "'hich 1 h..-e hied to de-
IClibc !\IId the dominion of citizenship, unlike tile dominion of g.ace
(or rl'I(lnCy, or office, or education, or bi,th and blood), is not
tyrannical; it i. the end of tyranny.
3"
Tyrannies
and Just Societies
The Relativity and the Non-Relativity of Justic:e
The bat a<X:OUnl of distributive justice is an acrount of ils 1""11: 5QCioI]
g<XXh and sphe'ell of distribution, But I want now 10 S:lly oonlething
about the whole: li'll, with reprd to itl .dati\"t duracter; second. with
reg:ard to 1M, form it taka in OUr own lOCiety; and third, wilh regard
10 the slability of 1M' form. These three points will rooclude my ari""
men\. I shall 001 attempt he'e to consider the whethe, 0()Ci<,-
ties wllele goods are justly distributed are also good socielin. Certainly,
justitt is belte. Irn.n tyranny; but whether Of'" jU$1 .lOC;"ly U
th.:ln another, I have 110 way of SOIy;ng. II tk-re a 1'':111;.,01" uoo.15lmd-
ing {and then a particular distribution} of social goods that il good sim
ply? TIut il not a qu.rstion tlul I have addlessro in Ihis boo\:.. AJ a
singular COIlCeption, the idea of the good IlOI oonhol OIlT argu-
ments aboot justice.
Jwtitt is rebti,'., to .acia! meanings. Indd. the ,clali"ity of justice
FollcJws from the c1:lssic non-rc1:lIi\'c definition, a:iving each perJOn his
dll", as much as il does from my own propo$Ol1, di$hiooling goods fO<
"inle,,,,,1" reason'. These are formal de6nitions th.t require", I ha,l'
Iried to .how, historical completion. We cannot uy what i. due to this
3"
,
Tyrannies and Just Sode-ties
pl:non or tint one unlil "''e know how lheK plIOple to on<::
IhTOllih things ItlC')' malt CilnllOl be
a just sociC'ly is lKlCicly; the adjecti\'e ;u,t doesn't de-
it only modifi.... the liFe of the societies it de-
are an infinite number of possible lives, shaped by an
infinile number of l'O",bk cultUT"', rdigiorn, political
grogfllphical coRditions, aRd so on. A a:iven society is just if ibsubstan'
life i, liYed in a Cl'rta;n W2)'-that is, in a Woly faithful to the sha,<'d
urnkntandings of the memben. (Whm people disagree about the
meaning of JOCial goods, when undeutandings are ronlroveuial, lhen
juslice requi.... that the lOCiety be faithful to the diug'eelTleniJ. pfO\'id-
ing institutiornll cha",,,,u for exptesJion, adjudicati'e meclta-
nisms, and alternali'l: distributions.)
In a society where $OCial manings afe integflltrd and hienflchiCilI,
justice will rome: 10 the of inequality. Consider again the aste S)'S-
tem, which has Sl'n'rd me before as a tesl of theofetial ooherence.
is the .ummary of a detailed account of the distribution of grain
in all Indian "iIlage:
Each \ilbger I'olrlicil'oltod in the di\-iPon of the grain hC'3p 1nere -as no
Nfpining, and no fo< spilic ItfYicn "nd<'cd 1nere .,. no
"""",ntine, ret nc:h alIllributor 10 lhe hf<, 01 the had a claim on
its produce. aoo the wbok produce was ea,ily and succesJfully divided
arnone lhe: vmage... '
This;s lhe ,magc as commune, an idealize<! though not an pic-
ture. Bul if a claim on the communal gr.lin hap, IOnll:
people had gn:al.-r claim, than others The villagers' portions ""Cn: un-
equal. 50; and thc inequalities "'C.e lied 10 a long .,ries
of other ioequa\ities, of them ;ustilird by CUltomary JUles and
Q\ierarching religious doct'inc. Distribution, "'ere public and "asily"
made, 10 it an't ha'l: been difficult to r.-cognize unjust seizu.es
acquisition., not only of grain, A J.ndownt-T, for example. who bfOUglr1
in Irirrd labor to repbce lhe !owna,te mc:mbeu of the village oommu-
nily would their cighlJ. n.e ius!. applied to thi, COllI-
munity, rules OIIt all such ,io!alions. Bul it does flO! rule 0111 till: i,,-
equality of tire portions; it cannot 'r<]uire cadicalrrdesiifl of tire
agaimt till: sh....od urnkntandings of the members. If il did,;U$-
lice: itself would be Iyrannical.
BUI perhaps ""C 5hould doubt thai the urnkrstandings p'eming "il-
Iage life ""ele rally sharrd. thc lower caste fflI:mNfI welc
3'3
SPHERES OF' JUSTICE
allgry and indignant (though they repressed these feelings) C"'en with
landowners ""ho took only their "rightful" po<tions. II that "-e,e so,
then it "'Ould be importanlto Jttk out the principles that shaped their
angel and indignation, These priociples, too, lIlust ha'"C their part in
village justice; aoo if tl>ey ""CTC kllo""n amollg the Jo.,,'er ca,tes, they
"'ele not unknown (though perhaps repressed) among the higher. S0-
cial meauing.s neW 001 be harmoniou,; SOllletimes tl>ey prO\'ide only
the iutdltttu.al structure within ""hich distributions are debated But
that ua necessary structure. 1bere are no extemal or uni'-crs.al princi-
ples that con replace it Every .umtanti,'e aerount of distributive justice
is a 001 account"
It will be useful at this point to return to one of the questioru that
I set aside in my p<eface: By virtue of what characteristics are ,,'e one
anotnc:r's equals? One: characteristic aoo..-e all is central to my argu-
ment. We are (all of lIS) eultme--prodocing creatures; ""C make am! in-
habit meaningful...,rlds, Sinc:e the,e is no way 10 rank and Older these
worlds with reg..d to thei, undentaooing of social goods, ,,-e do illSliee
to aelual men aoo Wllmen by respecting their particula, creations. And
they claim jll$ticc, and resist "'ranny, by insisting on the meantng 01
social goods among themselves Ju.tice is ,ooted in the di,tinct under-
standings of places, hOllOn, jobs, things of all 5Orts. that constilute a
shared w:r.y 01 life. To override those undentandings is (always) to act
unju,tly
Assume nO"' that the Indian villagers really do accept the doctrines
that sUPJlOft the caste system A visitOl to the ,-ilIage might still try
to com'inc<: them-it is an entirely respedable acti,'ity--that those
doctrines are fa1&e, He might argue, for e.ample, that men and women
are created equal not aCI\JI5$ many incamations but within the compass
of this ooe [f he a Y.I,iety of new dislTibuti,-e p,inciples
would come iuto view (depending on how oceupatiOl'ls ,,'e,e IttOIICCp-
tu:rliud to match Ihe new undel5tanding of persons), ... 1"", .imply,
the imposition of a ""","n ,tatc burtaUCIa.cr O\-er the ,ystem of cosies
immediately introduces new principles and lines of diffelentiation. Rit-
ual purity is 110 longer integrated with office holding. n.e distribution
of ,late jobs inwl.".,. different c,ite,ia; and if outcastc:s, s.ay, are exclud.
ed. ""e can begin, because they will begin, to talk about iniustice_ [".
deed, the talk has a familiar form, for it includes (in India loday) a.gu
',,", r"' ..... 1 .. <....... " u...rtMn ......... "',,,.,,,,...,
, """""_0I1O<U1 p:.d<, ;....ny. ""'..,. in .g. '-'on _"" n..,
piricaI ..." .. 11,_"'drt ..pmmr_""' .............
....... b, M--' ._-.. <bl ...""" 01 .....t>-<o
3'4
,
Tyrannies and Imt Societies
menls about the reservalion of offi<:es, ,"'hieh some ptOpko
sox as of the Cilste 1)"llem, OIheu a nece:uary for
it.
z
E:uctly how to d...w the line between old castn !lew bureau.
cracy is bound to be a contenlious matle,. but lOme line will ha,.., 10
be. d"",," OfTce thl- bur<"aUCT:lCY is in place.
lust alone can describe a casle system lhilt meets (inle"",l)
duds of jUllice, 10 one can m,sc.ibe. a capitalist Iyslem thilt does lhe
I,1me thing. But TT{PO." the description ,",'ill have 10 be great deal more
complex, for social meaning< are nO longer in the .. me way.
It may be the ease, ill Marl says in the first \"olume of Capital,
the CKalion and appropriation of surplus value 'is peculiar good for
tune foI' lhe buyer [of pov.crl, bUI no injustice at to Ihe IdleT.'"
But this is by no means the whok dory ol j....tice and injuslice in capi-
talist society. It ,",'ill also be. crucially imporbnt whether thil surplus
,..lue is OOTJ\'ertible, "'hether it purchases special privileges, in the: law
courts, or in the n1ucational system, or in the: sphern of office and poli
tics, Sioce capilalism m,ve\oi along "'ith and actually sponsors a con
side...ble difF"'entiation of social goods, no OICroUnt of buying
ing, no description of free can pouibly settle the question
of jUltic<:. We win need 10 le:am a greal deal about otha dislfi!luti"e
proc-esses and their relati"e autonomy from or integ... tion into
the 11K- dominance of oulside the nukes c:api-
uniust.
Thc: It.eo.y of justice;s 10 differences, to bound:lries.
It doeoIn't follow from the tilWI}', h"",'",..,r, that societies are more just
if they more Justice simply he ",ore scope in such
lOCieties. bttause Ihere lTlOfe distinct goods, more distributive ",in
(ipln, lTlOfe agenls, more pflx:Mmes. And the nlOfC scope justice has,
lhe more cerlain it is thai romplex equality will be the form justice
takes. also has lTlOfe scope. from the oulside, from
our own perspecti\"e. the Indian B...hmills look "ery much like Iy
r:onlJ-and so they will come to be illhe unm,rsl1nding< on '""hieh their
high position ill hilled cease 10 be: shared. rrom lhe inlide, IlO""C\'el,
thing< COllie to thl-m rulu",l1y. as it ,",'CIC, by "irtuc olillcir 'itual purity.
They don't need 10 turn inlo tyr:onls in OIdel to enjoy Ihe
goods. Or, when lhey do lurn Ihem",h"CS inlo ty
r:onls. lhey merely exploit lhe itdvantaga they already possess. BUI
when goodl distinct and distribuli,.., spheres autonomous. that
Ame enio',menl requires exertion. intrigue, and violence. This il the
elucial sign of tyranny: a continual grabbing of things th.l don'l romc
naturally, an unrelenting struggko 10 rule oullide one'l """n
3'5
SPHERES OF' JUSTICE
The hi&hest form of tyunny, modern totalit.ri."ism, is only possible
in highly dilfere..tiated locidiQ. For tolalit.rionism is the CleidlU:h"l
tun,. the systemotic roordi... tion, of oociol go<Xh .00 spheres of life
that ought to be sep;lr.lte, its peculi.1r terron derive from the force
of that "ought" in our ""ea. Contemporary tyr.lnts 're emllwly bu.y.
n..:.e is 10 much to do if they.re: to mole their llO"'t:r dominont e-'err-
where, in the bureallCfoey .nd the courts, in mkets.mI Ioeloricl, in
porties.mI unions, in sc:hools..,d chufChea, .mollg friends ami Jo."eTI,
kinfolk .mI fdlow citiunJ. gh'es rise to new.nd .adicol
ino:quoliticl, but it il perholpl the one raleeming feotu.e of these in
eqwlities that the thc:ory of jUJtice am IleVer come to their .id, He,e
i..jUJtice t.keson. killd of perfection, as if "'e have. conceived ond cre-
ated multitude of ooc;;1 goods .nd the boundories of their
proper spheres only SO OS to proo,me enl:lrge the .rnbitiolll of Iy_
ntl, But least ,,'e COn rl'lSniu the t)r.lnny
Justice in the Twentieth Century
JUltice os the opposite of tyr.lnny Jpe;lU, then, to Ihe most terrif}'ing
cxperiellttS of lhe t""CTllielh cenlul)'. Comple. equolity is Ihe opposite
of tol.lil.rionism: muimum different"tion'l ogoinsl mu;murn coor
dinotion, II is the speciol ...Iue of compkK equolity kw us, here .nd
now, that it m.la Ihis opposition cJe;,. For t'Quolity COInnot be the
pi of our politica unless we can describe it in a woy thot ",otectl U.
ogainsllhe mode", tyra.."y of polilicsgainst the dorninolion of the
party!sl.te. r need 10 focus, then. OIl how th.t ptoleclion works
Conlemporal)' for"", of ee:olitori.n politics hoi,..: their origin in the
slruggle ogoinsl capitolism.1Id the porticulor tYr.lnny of money. ArK!
surely in the United Stoles today il is the tyr.nny of money that most
cleilrly in"ita resist.nce: propetty/power rathe, Ih.n IJCI"'"Cr itself, But
it is oommon .riUlIlcnt that withoul property/power, p"wer itsdl
is too dangerous. SI.le offie;;ls will be "": a'e told, when,""""r
their power is not b.abnccd by the power of mOlley, It follow., lhen.
thot eopit.lists "'ill be tyr.mtl ",h"""""""1 W<'::;Illh ;s not bobnced b)'
strong (O'o""rnment. Os, in the metaphor of Americon politi-
COIl seierlce, politicallJCl"'"Cr.nd we.1th must check one .notoo: since
.rlllies of .mbitious men and women pIlsh forward from Olle: side of
3.
6
Tyrannies and Just Societies
tk boundary, "'hat we are similal armies pushing forw:..d from
the other .ide:. Jolin G.allmith de-.-eklped this metaphor into
a theofy of "countm.. iling ]Xl\\""rl,"4 There is abo a competing argu
IlKnt according to which frttdom is """'ed 0I11y if the armies of capital.
ism al....Y' and eo.-e.ywhcK unopposc-d. But that argurne"t elIn't
be light, 1m it isn't only equality but freedom, too. that "-e defend
when block a brge number of (tl><: larger numoo of) poISible ex
eharlgel. N", is the theory of COtmtc"..lence light without qualifica-
tion. Boundaries must, of course, be deferxkd from both sides. 111e
problem "'ith propnty/power, horJ.,.-eo.-er, is that it already rqm::senll
a violation of boundaries. a .,izlIIe of ground in the sphe.c of polities.
Plutocracy is an established fad not only '.,hen rich 111<:n and
the .tate but 011,0 they rule the company and the f2<;lory.
When these two sorts of rule rptogether, it is commonly tl><: that
.,,,-es the pulposes of the SOIld: the SOIld is paramount. So the Na
tiorusl Guard is aIled in to la'-e the local powel" and the real political
base of ov.-nr:n and
Still, the tyranny of 1110ney is leu than the kinds of tl'"
anny that ha"e their a.-igillS 00 the other side of the lllOIl"Y/politia
divide. Certainly. is IesJ than re
sistanee is leu dangerous. The chief rea50n fa.- the difference is that
money nn bll)" pown and aJ it elIn buy office, edocation,
hOllOr....d 50 a.-l ..ithout radically coordinating the ',uioos distributi'-e
sphern and without eliminating alternat"-e procnses and agrnll, It
corrupts dist.ibotions "'ithout transforming them; and then corrupt
distributions oor:xist "'ith legitimate ones, like prostitution alongside
married Io\'e, But thi, is Iyranny .till. and il an make lor harsh forms
of domination. And if resistance i.1ess heroic than in totalitarian states,
it i. hardly IesJ important.
Resi,bnee will require at S01ne point a OOIlcentration of political
po".-e. that matchr:. the concr:nbation of plutocratic I"""er-henee a
u",,-emcnt Qr a party that oeius or, at least, U5ft 'tale. But once
plutocracy is defeated. ",mtlle .tatc "'lther away? It woo't do Ihat. nol
fO'l all pr(Hni.... of re>'(llutiolla'Y leaders; nO'l should it Sm"Cleignty
i, a p"lma""nt of poIitica.llife TI>e CToc;al question, .. 011....)'1.
COOm' the boundaries "'ilhin which 00\"CI"tign1y operates. alll! thr:sr:
will depend upon the doctlinal the politica.l orgaui:.a.
tion, and tm, prac1ical activity of the -S\ICC'r:sSluJ IllO'"Cment or party.
That means. the: rOO\'emCllt must rr:oocniu in ill evnyday politics
autonomy of dishiboti,"C ,pheres. A campaign again.t plutocr:K"Y
that docsn't respr:ct the: lull range of Joeial good, and 50Ciai meanings
3'7
SPHERES OF' JUSTICE
i.1ikdy enough to end in !yr.Inny. Bul tOrt:! of COImp;aign are possi
ble. !'aced wilh lhe domillaoce of money, what cme all,
i. a 01 ir><kpc:rlllentt. In principle.
ment ..,d agents of and 10 they will he
in practice if they 6rmly in hands of sclfrcsptmg eitittn.
A gTeal dcal depends upon the C'itilCOJ, upon their ability 10 asserl
them""h'" aclQU the rang<' of goods aoo to defend their O\O'n sense
of meaning, I don't Wllnllo lI.tggt:St that lhere arc no imtitutional ar
Ihat might complex equality easier (Ihough il can
[JC\'e' be as "easy" as the casle $)'ltem), The apPrr:JPriale arrangements
in our own society arc thOle, I think, of a democntic
socialism; a slrong slate lun, in p;arl al kast, by local and ama
I...... officials; a ronslr:ained market; an and demyslifi.cd civil ser
public tchools; the sha.ing of hard .....c>rk and free:
time; the protedion of rcligiou. and f:lmiliallife; a $)'Item of public
hoooring and dishoooring free: from all conlidcnlions of r:ank 01 cl.,J;
control of comp;ania and fa<:toria; a politics of p;arli<:$,
",cnb, lllee:ting3, and public debate. Bul instilulions oflhi.! 50rl
oIlillk use: unless they arc inhabiled by men and "'tlme1l wbo led al
within them and are p,cp;ared lodclend Ihem.11 may be an argu-
ment ae:aimt complex equality that it requi.es a strenoow de
fense-and a delenlC that bcgiru while equality is slill in the making
But thi! is abo an argument againliliberty, Eternal vigilance is the
price of both
Equality lind Social Change
Complex equality might Jook more lttlIre if wo: C'OUkI describe il in
temu harmony, ralhct than tho: autonomy, of spher... BUlsocial
meaning. and distributions harmonious only in this respect, that
",'h"", we Joec: why 000: good hal a c<:rtain form and is dishibulcd in
a certain ""'y, we also ICC why allOiho:r must k diffo:ro:nt. Preci",,1y be-
cause: of these differo:ns, how<:\'er, boundary COllAict is endemic The
principles 10 the diffct"",t sphe.es alO: not harmonious wilh
one another; nor aro: tho: p;attermof conduct and fc<:ling llleY gene.ate.
Wdlare $)'slems and ",alWs, offices and familia, ",hools and Ilates
ale run on diffcmlt pl'inciples: so lhey should b<:. The principia mwt
3,8
Tyrannies and Jusl Societies
somchow 6t togetIKr ,,-jlhin a single culturc; thcy musl be comJl<chen-
sible ac",ss Ihc diffclcnl compania of men an.d "'Omcn, But thi.
doesn't rule out dtt-p sltaim and odd juxtap<)litions, Aoci<'1l1 Chillll
'Mil ruled by a he.roitary di'-ir.Night emperor and a IIIc.itocratic bu-
rcaucracy. One has to tcll a CQmpJe.. story to explain that 50rt of cocoi..
Acommunity's culturc i, thc ,tory it.. members ten 50 as to make
lenle of all the diffc,cnt pitta of thei. social lile-;lnd justice is thc
doctrir>c th-ot distinguishes tbe picca. In any diffcrcntiatro society, ju..
titt will make for harmony ooly if it first makes lot sepa.ation. Good
fcoca make just societies.
We kno.... cuetly whe.c to put the fcnces; ther ha\"e nO natural
location. lbe goods they distinguish 3rC artifacts; as they "cre made,
110 they """ be remade, Boundaries. thcn, arc vulllcrahlc tn $hilU in
social meaning, aoo ....c ha,'e nO but to live with thc continual
probes and ir.ctmioru th.ough ....hich tllOC shifl! arclO.ml<ed out Com
monly, lhe shift! arc like se1 changes, \"cry slow, as in Ihc stOf)' that
I told in chapter l about thc curc of souls and the cure of bodies in
th-e mcdiev:l.1 and modern West. But thc adual boundarr rC\'ision,
"'hen it rome!, is likely to COme suddenly, as in 11K creation 01 ana
tional health Ie'\"ice in Britain after tbr Second World War; one )-car.
doctors "CrC profcuiooals aoo entrep.eneurs; and the next )'C<lr, thcy
"eTC professionals and public ser\"anl!, We can map a p.ogram of such
rC\'ision., based on ou. current understanding of social goods. \Ve can
set ou.selves in opp<)lition, as I ha\"e done, to the fofms of
dominance, But "'c can't anticipate the Oe<-pe' changes in consciou$--
ness, nol in ou. own rommunity ...d nol in any olher. The
social wo.1d ",ill (Mle day 1001< diffcrent from tbe war it docs t...uy, and
dist.ibuli\'e win take on a diffe.ent charader than it has For u.
Elemal vigilan.,., is no gua.ant"" of eternity.
[t isn't likely. h"",'C'o'c" that we (or our child.cn or grandchild.cn)
wiD Ii,.., through changes on such a R"'Ile as 10 into doobt thc facl
of diffCfentiation aoo the argument for oompla C'quality Tht' fo.-m'
of dominance ar>d domination, the precise ..... .. in "'hich C<juality i.
denied, ""'y wt'n change. Indeed, it is common argument among $0-
cialthcoo-isls today that education .nd technical kf>OWledge are incre ..
ingly tht' dominant goods in mode", societies, replxin,g ""pibl d
pflMding tbe ptaclial base !OJ a new ruling class of intellectuals.' That
argument is ptobabl)' "'lOng, but it .uggesl! tbr possibility of
la'ie-R"'Ik t... ",lonnation, that still I."".., intact the ...nge 01 goods aud
social me.ilning'. For e\--cn iltcchnial knowJc takes OIl new impor.
bn.,." ".., ha\'c no rU1IOI1 to think that it ",ill be 110 important as to
3'9
SPHERES OF JUSTICE
require lIS to dispense ""ith the 0Ihet- dislributi,." procnoeo in which
it currently plays no pilrt then 10 gi,." people alIl1ll, for
befo,-e .llowing them 10 lien." on iurio, or l'3ise children, or
take 'Olcations, or pilrticipille in political life Nor wililhe
of knowledge be such as 10 guar.nltoe lru.t only inlellcctu:lll can m>ke
money or di"ine graN: or win the TeSpec:1 of tl.eir fellow";Ii=.s.
We can I think, lru.1 social cru.nge will lea'", more or kloS
Ihe different comp;lnia of men WOlnen.
.... nd Ih.t me:anslru.1 complex equ:llily will ,."main a li"ely possibilily
even if new opponentlof t'ljLLillity lake the place: of old ones. The possi-
bility is, for all practical PU'polC!, pe'm>nent ... alld so is the opposi
tion. TIll: eslablishmenl of an qalibrian lOCiety willl\Oi be till: end
of till: ltruggk for equality.....Ulru.t OIle can hope for is that the slruggk
might gel lillie e:asier as men and women leam 10 Ii"e with the aulon
omyof distributions and to rCOOSni"., thai different outcomes for differ.
ent people in diffe,ent spheres m.ke a iwt lOCiely, lbere iJ a cc:.tain
attitude of mind that underlies the theory of iustice and 1ru.1 oughl
to be sl,englhened by lhe ellJ>C,icncc: of complex eq\lillity' we <::In think
of il al. decenl respecl for Ihe opinions of m.nkind, Not the O\linions
of this or thai individ\lill, which may well <leser'", a hrU$quoe .espon"',
r those deeper opinions th31 are the 'eRection. in indh'id\lill
mind..<, shaped also by ;ndi,'iduaI11'>ou&ht, of the social meanings that
constitute our common life. For us, and for the foreseeabk future.
these opinions make for autonomous diltribut;orll; and n'efJ' lorm of
dominance is therefore acl of dillesp1. To arguoe against dom;
nance and its xcompilnying inequalilicl, it is only nesIlIry to allend
to the goods at stake alld 10 Ihe shared undo,"tandings of these goods.
When philosophelS do this, wlll:n tbey write out of ,apt lor Ihe
Ihey lhare with their fellowcilizem, they pu'sue iUltice
justly, and they reinforce the COmmon pursuit.
In hi. PolitiCJ, .... ristotle argued. thaI iustice in a democracy '\"lui,es
the citizenl 10 rule and be ruled in tum. They I.ke lums g<l"ellling
one That is oot a likely picture of a political community that
inchxles lens of millions of citium, Something like it m4l;hl be possible
lor m.ny of lhem, ruling not only in tl.e slate but also in cities ami
towns, companies and factories, Ci,'en the number of citizens, howev
er, and the shortness of life, tlll:1C simply is nollime enOU{:h, ev<:n if
IhClC is ,""ill and C3pi1city eoough, for ""e'}'OI.e to h3\'e hil lurn. If we
cofllider lhe sphcTe of poIitic1 by itself, inequalities are bound to ap-
pear. PoIiticiolnl, Ol'3ton, aeli";sls, and "''C can hope,
10 constilutional limils-will exercise more po....e' than the rcst of us
3"
Tyrannies and IUlt Societies
do. But politics il only One (though it il probably the mOlt illlpoltant)
among many lphcTCl of social acti,ity. What a brger conception of
iustitt requires is not that citilClll rule and arc ruled in turn, but that
they rule in one sphere and are ruled in anothCf-,",'here "rule" ITlCInJ
not that they eUlci.., power but that they enjoy a greater lhare than
olhel proplc of ,,'hate-'er good il being distributed. The citizens cannot
be g u a r a n t ~ a "turn" C\"C:rywhere. I suppose, in fact, that they can"ot
be guarant=! a "turn' an)""hcrc. But the autollOlTly of IphCfCS will
make fof a greater sharing of social goods than will any other conceiy-
able ammgement. It will spread the satisfaction of ruling nlO<C ...ieldy;
and it will establilh ..hat isal...a)"! in question today-thccompatibility
of being rulcd and of respecting OIlcs.elf. For rule ..ithoot domination
is no affront to our dignity. 00 denial of our m<)r:Il or political capacity
Mutual respect and a lhared ..,Ifrespect are the deep stlcngthl of com
plex equality, and tOli:cther they are the IIOUl'e of ill possible cndurallCC.
3"
Copyrighted m a ~ n a l
NOTES
I
, So 101><> " ''''''''' oil.""" iCom"'olor..\ .... , ,,,,,,,. h_... H.bn L.,.'_,
_0..;. ,..... l 'm),etp p, "J. 6,o"d. ,5o<ooIJ-
.. ,,.. t __(s,.... tt..., ,<>801
, Ilol>n' [',;",.,1 nuh ,,",,10, .._ s.... "oJ I.H),
I'l' '",,"",0, boo , 1Iy ...... .. """ n..., """" ... "" ......... ,II< -..1......
...
1 ".11>1> W.!"io Eo",""". -0<1<:' .. no, c....,J... c...."...J CIt"". \I'M.... l _,
(I"<- r ..... ,_I. P 170
+ ..... St , 0. I.",.,.,. on no. /oM _ .\till. l M.""'U eot-
(N...' y",... , , I. P III .. "","'"",*,,",<Il d .k",* md .... I,k... ,.,.... p>do.
... Muy 11>"", n., llo.l4 01 ("_, lNno ,"<>d. ",,..),
I 11",..... I....... on CIIs..,,,,,,.nd 11.....01 t,......... U-.... 111. II-
_ .. 01 0.""""" (s.. y",l p ,oS
6 Korl n... <""""n IJroIo,r.... II Yon. ,,><,1, p s.,
1 _dW.l\,.,.... 1"r<hI<.... 01''''' S<I! 1",,10II0/>Io<oI P_ '016-'91' f....
pod. '9711. lIP 'J_111o< 'd<> '" n.. __ ;, .... oI.io. "'"'" po;o"h 01
lOr"'. ,IIonl>N!.bou' d,.. ....,,,,, 50< .... ,I.. co;'..... 01 W,_', ........... (..,.j
.. ,n , ..Ion ....) d "'I' ""n) '" "''''I' '","..n", l-J><,.I .,...I;ty lC.mb<><lt<. f.ncIon,1, ,0801.
..
I 5... 11<.\\. \\'00<1, "111< M..""" c"'_ 011...",,: fobl", ,
1".,,\ ,..-Ii,
9 M.d.... r_. n.. .. <>I "" I.............,.. ,S,....,.>/l 1I1.1,__,h.
''l'I.1-o "',_ po< of ""..I K_< ,,:,_
'0 1lI_", 1'Iuy oj!oni.u 1'1. pp 11R
'+ So< M..., ""''''''',... d.. CoIl P>F_:' ,I, ,'" tit ,;, o<pobI..
d.. "Ieom '" - ."h,n .I.o;h ,10. "'"" " ..Ie ...... '" I""",, '.' _ ,he ...
"'m"""""cIt _"""'" 01;-."", ,ckco..l .. poloto<>lM<\M....... StlfftI "'....
__ ,,,,,,I."" 11. p 1>\
" Rt- .....-.1.111< 1'<...... , ..... I M Co>hc.o (Il...-.Io-.h. F-<>P-l ''l'I' \. p 06
1M uo)
'1 ItodM.... t.__ __ oof,"p/y IV_<d T R Il0o...
..... IL.ondoo.. ,061\. PP '9' ..... ,... on_,... ,. _ .n ._he, ho 01 ......r, "p"",,'
, .I.<I.Im Smrth', n-.r 01.1_ Stnt_nlt lEdon....1h. ,R, "" I. "" 118--79. bo.oo S '
l1w ...,....... bl><kn f<I to ,he "",... "".Ii,.. 01 po"...... ,n h
,-
3'3
Notes
ehaptor ,
3'4
Noles
11>< ~ r_;n c....1 PoJifin (f'Ieo. 11.1..." '9171. PP 16?-b9
'1 I""',..... _"''' \\....eh<od. o i ~ 1.1,,;" I'JI, PP "-'I'
.6. I\'hil<bNol oi"""""" Mtb< \"1. p '7'
'7. lbod,. pp. lM8
,s. Ibid, pp "
' ......._1<. 11>< 1'o:>Im<. ",610, ,,,n. F........ Sorko (Odofd. , 8), p. 1<1,
JO- In ..,. _,01.__k40. 1!dr cWctr"" S1rphao Cootla Codub Kooatt. Mi
"... 1I'...,.,.....,j a... s.--;., It ....... Eo_ (o.f<Iod. ~ uIHl..,.; ........
"""! a.......t ""-I .."" ""'"Un _00"...,.".- NitWJ SnOn ~ . ,
(Sum"", ,.,.1. 'n-. .... Ioh" a.. A s.-6 Moo is... t",k, 'mi
l' 1""'" ,_Ill< "'"" -""".....m.. 01 rn.rxter" ffom 010> _ (>e< A-.\I4<U""
I"l. p '''1).
Chapin)
3'5
Notes
'9 ""'" no-, 0/ """'" (Comlloodc<. M.... '9'/'l. 1"" I, ''''I'' ..... 1
,<>- T H. 0.... CiIUmoJ,,,, .... So<oJ (C,,<!<n CU,. NN' rool..
,ot>s). p ".B
". s ,""".......1"" I..."n. 1l< H.,IIh..., C,,, M,;...,a.. .,.; I/o< 1'tJI" ... 0/ II,
;""11'...- .,s.\. du" I
" Sr. ,... ""..... _ .. 110....... 1, w_,. 1l< 1I<1J-."""o..t f...,t",.III....
l<y, '97'), pp 81..,,6
H P II I II e-... S<l/-ikip. v.....'"?' .1.,.,."",",, ,. tI>< ,\,..,,,,otJ, 0"",'1 (I"'.....
'",1). ,...,.. 9
)< Sr.. Joo- ... .....,. II..., r"h,,,.. 01 """""'........ """m..
..-.. 0;,;,....... c..\-n...... 0.--, 01 Shodro/ ,\'.....,.." Ip".moo. ,."lo6l.
pp.8,-67
11 t.-. So<ooI Coo__ {,j, PI' 's<>-1'
16. U- 0._. 1_1_.. 1l< Cell< 5)"'..... Iu 1..pI_(k"O<d
0:1., Ch,,_ ,()/Io). P l<"
11 '1' 1. \, ..-1..... so... h.l, d......... ,
,S, Sr. "' ,...,. s..,h s..-. II,,," /w6 f (N"" r ''l1I). ''''''
9 Il.<n< ... .. MaW 'u", ,,"'" IV (H,,_'h. E..
,.,.... , ), p, 8,
.". r 100<1 _, 01 do.d. ... (lob W A.ool<o-..... 11t< U._l.q".Ib;
om _ ... F ...., 0' ,_s. ,. lito u.iIftJ St."" iN<..
I"""". ,1l68)
ll...0:1 W-. '''Tho Id.-o 01 '" J'looI>/<_ of 11><:><11 F..,.l>,ol.
'9'11). p.."
+' S Rob<tl N.-l. "-.\:Y. SkI<,....J IJIop;o IN... r.. ,..,,1. PP '''_I<
+1 -n.-., s. 1),*"",,:' J<--/ 01 I'IoJooop/l, " I"'H) l>lI--1O
.. M"".... '"SoriII Dlfk, on pt,t>o<>l Il<>Ith." loh. B M<K",l<y, '''Tho
IIdpSod.. 8cN> 01 1M 1'00<: >od ,_RNh, -n..T ' ' .. 'M Sd; '"
..J 11..t,;"" "".".... 0:1 )01." Kou .... I.."", K h ZoI> ICO.,IK.... M....
-,..., PI> ,,,.,. ,i>< ..l ,!k>-.!,
+. O>tm" o-ell.., ... <;do Cl><I. "-'" "',... 1'tJJ.", 01
Protx-I lot. 11....,..1_ T.. (Ik>l>u' P..,..- 1). t.-b.. 'm)
<I> S 11>< N I.... T_ ,....,. 'orl. P ,. ..,. ,
+7 M..I.\I 1100 C;(t. "_, t... e-(N.,. rool.. ,,,",l. p 6,
+8 Ilocluo:l n n.. c.. 1I<I<tiont.l.", r.... 110_ BIJd to s....I Pol"" (Now j..l
,.." I
.... n.. -..J pt.... " f.... So<ioI II'.... 11<1,.". ..1110<514". N Not! P"".
R",,"..... Corolo So"""",,; Il.>ocIo<>. 197<l1. p.65. f m....."""""" ... I'NN''', So-
...,e-.t \ul. PI' '1'-1\
I lWlum SIui...." .. r...... 0/ MII<>o>, IV 1,- """,..t .. KMI M... E..-..'"1"lIIIo-
.. W"""&<. ....... ...,;1.. T B 8ot'_ILondon, ,'l!il).P. '..-
M E..I, II'....... i,), P '9'
I W, SIo.>__.". JJ., \'1. Po.lII. IV .
+ 0. 'ho 01 'ho ...,...1 ,ho _ ....t. ... lI'.h.. ""'I,o..t.ll," 01
Sn.d-,'; 01 _ ,lid...." (N r ''113). PI', '0'_.
, .\h"", C""Id,.""""" onJ cmr n.. Mort>ol $po'';' ,. ",,'h<.. (1'Ifto
y..... ,,,,\1. pp 101-6
,..... M.c...... TIo, s..-J /t.IJ<U"", TIl, Soo<y<l/'Io< A'..., r... (.'il)- Oro/< 11_0/ ,UI
(N<w root. '0(3). p \+
)' Ih;d.. po ,8
8 ...".... (lII_, ...,t>tyonJ Eftrin<'r 1M T"'""tI (IV"""""",. DC. 'mI. PP

q lhod. p.'O
3,6
,.
Noles
3'7
Notes
Ch:lpl.... )

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'IH t l nrl riff
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.i-3 if!.
f ;.. !i f f, l
- I r. B .. r > t, r < I'
t H t <i t! f h j fILt
Notes
,. It.KII<I" I""", I.... ', C,U-1wbIn (N...' V",I. '<n.l. "" ,t>--n
q W>lt __ -so.. ... ,10< f;,pooo...,..- .. 0-,1," ""',n.,.j 5<1",/ r-,. .d
I..... E M'Il." 1_, ,.7
'. s... M"hod "'...... rIo,.w;"" 01 ,10< 0..,;. 0/ !'old""
(Con>boode<. M..... '" .
'I So....... 0...., \I......J<h<l'tuUo/O'-.....+... IIlo<....
..,.. 7
,6, SN_. 11'_" c-lt I"I. "'I
" lbocl. .<
", s.-."... I'll. "1'/
" "'ilok. ''Sool '" 1,1. ,68.
'0 r""l'.s-........ I,'I.'.8.
" 11JOI. PI' .8&-0,
" Shdo T....... lIo.t V", .. '07sl .1>/1.
IJ 8<fNtd Shooo...Mo, lot R<..:iIo'''''''''':. .If......J Sopmno" .. Sn.. (N<w
y",.. ,.,'1., :,,6
" W " ..10. -In T....... "'"-IXXV).,, ,;od,. ronn.,t"twfO, .00Iv...
_., 11-'';' '0.17'"'.111. .d F.do.td M.......... ''1'18'. p. ,6,
" E, , H........ n. r.,. (Clo_ '0'/'). '"
,6 I'.
" lbod
.8. Shw. 11'_" c.oIt I"l., '''1
T",Id. Il ....,. 1111. 'll
TI.ontao. V<IIIm. n.. 1Itoooy 0/ "" L<Uu", 0", (N<w r '.lll. .,
I I...... rlwl-." S-wI /010._ .d lInp Is.-.- l",'. '<>I'), 1d>
I s... .. s.\>AI_.C...i ot1'_. 11 .... II'...
r",. '06.1. ", 0fId M..'m 8uIJn...- n.. "" e..-, IN... V",..
.... 8)".8,
T It M,...a, CIm. CiIo,raoh;".,.j _ iC.k" Coli. 1', .!l
".
, AlIt<dZo_n. ThtC",,' e--",,",tlo lo.lood, '1601 P "', ...'............. __
hom C s..t>...., I. ..."__...no... 1P,,0, ""olIl, p, ,,!j
.........Ir. __CtA"" )( ,
, 1:>01 . qwtl m SUn'" .',"" ... tiN c:r...<. /Iott> St><vI".. ...J c... .
oi"" (Combf.dc<, M.... ,080)., ., So< n. 0._. '" ,,,'" b, l\n'" Md "
IN... 1'",1. '07'l ,'.
8. I:.Irl Mm, (N... 1'",1. '''''''l..,j Ill. ph>, d p ..
C.",;w III. vol, I, "" n.-,I
.0 lbol.. vol, l. PI' ,6<-1>\
" lbiol, I, ,b.,
" [)" C,..... 11_ Ill. PI' a.,...,.:.. NriI H CI><d ..... "'iIlum M. BuKt.. 1'" !io<;,! Ootpi-
'" 11,,_ Sori<lylN<w V",1. PI' 80-&<, W...... L P.... -S
Whrto. .... .. a.... ICloo<>op>. ,0801. p. .:. n.. ",bob-
""'" '" ,II< <OK of C!I;"' .., ,t-of .. __01 ,.><Ii,,,,,,,1 f.>r ... of ...., (_
1M" ,n 'h6 bool, _ ".,l,
" Mm. c.p;uI [SI. 1.,6<
' .. W SNh",..." lin" V. IV,
'I lIn td Sl--. 110< _'ipwt 11_. Q,iJ .. Sorio/i,... e"p.,.Ii.... _ ..... ..,d
f_ (11.. " .. t"cJ-l, .!l .....
,b IbOl. p, I
'7 [)" C....., r 1'1, 4/>71'>bI< ,.)
,8 tbid, p. No I ..-", ... <l< C""... ...........", ..... ..oJ .ho ... /111 ,,6lI
'. CI>' ond Bumo, s..i<Io.,.,.;uM<o j ..l. <... ,
33'
,
Noles
8
, n.. f'o/;ht$. 'n,' ,,,.. E....... B,,"" (o.fo<d. .... p I'"
, s.. s. 8<>01.. .... 11<>1><0, Con, . SdtooI,., ,. c.p,o,r", A_"", IN... Yool.,
."
1olo" On fJo--r'od u..- (s... Yoot ,,,,,,,t JIll
a " rIo<e.-m"""".'Potood. "'" \\' ...b.ilnd_
..... '07Il. I' bo<. noI ...... ,lit .-....... '.,m... , h....... co_" Tho,
....." to _ ,1] .....
C C \'.i n.. A,,,,,, 0/ .'k,;'" (H.....-h_, f,OJl.ond. ' ..oJ. p. "7
,_s..... 'n../),iiyI,'1- 0/ rJo" A"<. ,,,.. ' .. ,1<108,.... itt..""".l, ",'h.
,.....1. JIll .]-1.
7 ...,,_It. "'" Pol,,,,, 'll.h ['J. P \7"
8 Tht.....,." ,<1<>ld .......... H llIu....... hoI, III Am """ /0' .Ir"rlI no. sw, 0/ 1/,/101
(n pi, .r,.), JIll .-.
s.. ,lit ..-.do. c.... "l ,. Ho. 1lt. l.o<JJn 0/ s........ '" '_nJ
a.;.., A./'OI 0/ So<wI Mo6<I>/)'. IN... Y"'. "" .6;-1.1
00 " H r ......,.. ""'11.."'" 7'44,,,,,,, (N..., YooI.. '0601. p. t.o
" It. no. Pol,,,,, 'lJ.b 1'1. P .,.,
" I " <Oal-.J, .<p<d ,kit ,lit .:>1.< 0/. ..". hop I<hooI <d.o<J,_ "-oioho!<d,
... " -. ,obukd, "'" ,lit ut<fol do ..,. 0..... t;: GoI><n ..... Il>obo..
-n.. F" 0/ I 50.......... Edu<.t_.- .. 0...;./ s.m...... ,08,. I'
,., .nd ..,
'. Will C....n".... F.d""""",,...t ,n""', ("'''''...... JIll +-\
'. Ib;d. I' l7l
'\ Ib;d.p .7+.....1001' '1+
,6 ...."""It. rio< PoI_ "17.i,l. p '
., e-m-,""'n 1'11.1' " ......... 1' "7
.8 11.d. P '71
'. II.d
JI.d.P "7
" Iln-<l Sh-. 71><101<11_ "_. c..i4t to SMI_ c.:p,roI..... _ ... ...t
(M'" (11M_th. 1'1'
II So< I,... I..... 1l<o</oooJ !io<i.ty (s...- Y..... '07'), .... noIh,.... "Y ........ ho,...
............. ""'""_ -..1<1 b< ....,........... -dn<IIool<ool" """"'Y
" r ......,.. hhoJ r_r... PI' 7J
" So< 0. , ........... II""" Edo<...,. foo- _:' .. E.:d_.,." 0.'_'"''' l
I),.-,d .oho " -.lColon St-..I.nd l . 110, """"-"'h. L.c\ond. '07>1. "". ",-.1
33'
Notes
" "",. M...... "Of in e-t.w"- II'"", 0/ /QJo11iltm.. ..,I, ll. ed, f,m<\t
SUIotk (1'Irw 11.-. '9\91. P. 119
>6, Soc ,... _ in e-.onp, /o,lw>o 1'11. chop .. 01 ,... P"'"'" ""mbm 01 Japo_
,loddfn, <omp<t'" 100 ........." p:w;._
'1. _dC,d. e-.. 0rwIt, " UI< 1-.... .950\. chap , ........... ,""
,I. e-.. o...ct. "Such. Sod> W... ,... I""," in 11M 00iIKt<d C-. ... Ad
lAm 0/ e-.. od, ScoWo o....d uwllo. >\.ooc... II'Irw rod, '06'1, "" \II. p.
lINd.. p. 141
10. ,..... p._
I' r.. lA</l, II.,
I' Stt Mocbcl.""""..., _ 01 ,... "..1<01-.1........." """"""""'" po_......
10<_and " ........ .. Ad f'woiiA no. BirlIo 01 rJ. """'"' ""N Alan
S.....d lNew Y",k. 'm}. w. r""""....... too '"""" .. ,... -.-.
II IoUE, e-..""" Slcphen D, Sup....n. C_ 1lI. c...,." Fnfif,e-
170/ (1I<c""".
J<.Albnl 0, l1indunon,b;" II""" Ad /AIwIfr 1I_",o.a-m
-. Ad sw.. (c"mbridlr. M.... '910\.
lI. Soc ,he eft,",," .. the Co..... uwl 01 ...M<o ........- .. V""'.I. ;"
N"han fMcri_.. [/10.,;" Jo"104lifr...J Pt.Ni:: I'<Jli<r (N... rod.
""l. PI' 61.,(,(,
16. Oq_ 01 IUciaI lCOll!I. "... ""-I loo Com 5<...... Di<blct,-
ro91<ll. in no. G_S<I>ooI Bw0,.,-.,.. oil, NIC'lIboi IN r '971). PI' I' ,-"
11 ....... thelocaloclMll,op<>l. -1omc<>"10
[1lWM,. AdtlwS<l>ooh (l""_loo EcW>t"",1 t-!n""" DC.
'm'
q
, J.-. -... no. u,.o/ Som..l /oIt_ .ct. 8<tC'" [ ..n, Is...- r .... '9\'1. p, .8\,
,. no. "...... 0/ ConJo,c;w, ",no, A,1!I>It W..., [N... rod, ft d l, p. 8, II .1,
I. I..... I,,", rort, '9'I'J. p, >0.
o Soc V;e"" W,h..', dio<uMion .. Uno/I.", -", "'*'....1...... '" T_
AdII ...........,"SnJr0/1'oIiIWI 0'iIll c... 51._ 0/ -..."/rico c....
....- IN.... Yoot. '0691. c!IIp .. Iftd 110m Ioio dc><ripf;"" 01 ,loc ., bt Shal>.
,loc 0/ 'loc Zoluo, PI' '!>"i0,
,. Jcfto ScIolm. r.llk T.tl oil. r_Pollock (1.ofIcIon. ,.").
6. '""'" r"..... Sc<W( OJ- "" 01 t<Nit 1/nN1.I,."".. (Ch_
'06<11. p, JC">
7. Th, qu<lI<d p/N_;, ,.- fon... J:;",Irjp'" SoN! CWn- (61, I'- >\0
I. 1""_ RowIo." ""-"0/ /Iub (Co..".... '9'101. P 14
lINd. I'- I"
,0. I'Ilto. 17>< 1I<fJ"I>Ii::, ,,.,,,. F M. Co>m/<N4IN<w r",t ''H,l. PI' .61-06 j\' <61-6.<1.
H, Lo-o"""",Sl_. 17><,-" s..:. .._ ,.,..).
I'- 06
II. ""'0. no 1I</JVb& I.oj. P 'H (e.,.,-....,., """........,1
11 So< ''Th<o.;..l0 51,..01 De-
""""'"' 01 ?OJ'9'lsl PI'. 6""'1
' MM,."""" hi. P.1
" So< c.:.don I S</Io:Jdod. P""'-lMI_;" _ (S- YOlt '9'lll cltopo
,-,
,6. r_ 7"'- (.<.,,/;""'0/ Ii< lI'odBv Oa.- .. "f/oJ (.411. .. M'R
..,d r_F.ne<k w.... ..t '9711,""" .. "I""ioIr I'P. "O-Il" tho
-nccJcc' oI.<bnmVo<lo',,",- ..,1. A_. Ad no. \I ......,
a.. (N,..- rort, 19'10). PI'. 'lSf
'1. J_ 1I-....,",'IOc w..... a... ...ilr A M in J..n Il<fhk
EIoII"in. oil. no. F-"Iy;. (..m....... M 1111. p "'"
33'

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Notes
I ... s...Ito,ht .. .... ,ht f""l'd..
pod.. B......."" (0 "h"', '.")
R.o"'" \1'.1<1<> E , C><od",' 0/ Li/>. .. .oqI .oJ cw.... \I;;,;.p 0/
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7 II L M""I lit. A-.... ,_(.,h",. N"" ,....... ,.,81. P 'J'
8 1l>roId R I b.J..', f.-/.ho""",IoobI.. ("'1.... 1"'".... '9'/,1. PI' ,;_,8
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... 5<Oi.J c.w..I S",,," (1l<,1.ky, ,.,a)
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.. r"ol P"I,. 00t..1>o.qwI,r"...J 1\>I.:i<wI 0nJn (1"'-. '9'/1). PI' ......
'1 1......... S". M""oJ ",",,_ {Co.,"""'. '070), P "'+
P..lm"'JI'<' "'" IIKI> .;olw'..........dy "." 'h<qI< ,n., ... ",bonIo.... 10 "'....
......"""'..,,, la... !,.I, p 9'/)
.; c...,.r "" Il<t<l. TIt. " .... I B II.oollooU-.b>. ,on),
p '"
,8, Sor joh" R.o , "",",'<>I ""'" (Co....olo:r, M...... '''J' I, PI' ,,,,-...... "-7.
"'-k', " ....omh "'? 01"" """"<1...... I I""h _ ,I.. "., ....... NooKI.
A.....-II'. s..". o.J!Jll>pio (s...- "..1. '9'/.1. PI' ",-,6 .-1 ,,8
'. """"', C T.d......,....., ..... I,.. _ ,.",,,><01 \',.-1 IS",,' Voo.
,06,1. p ,.,
10...... DM........ SUI.. A PoI,_ 1.-.:.... V..1. ,'>bo). PI' ,}'O-"
" And... "1.< ''''''.orr !'r,,,:' .. It Sfh.d.'" ", \"<WI 111. "NoJ ''''
,,",n l..._ .......... 06, .... p. 11

" 1<...,1_ c.wn....., 0/ 1\>1.0./. " ..... will,...... I'<lw/"l (1."j",..pW<.
"m), pp ..
' ..,... w.... n. .\<0./,.. 11-.. ,,_ A.t..< \1',lb (Il....... '0'\,1." 10
'I 1 lIodin. -n.. 50', & ..bo/.Com_ ...J<. '" ........ .......
M"" .\16, .... P ,511
>6 Fun";, _ ........... '", "'OIlht T.... (1......... 01 ..., ,ud .... -
,; 11<"". 5;, 8A, ['II. P 18b
,8 s.. Ilmuld [)o",\"., """""" 'ho' .....i ,.." oI"...t<ly 'ho 'ho'
..>11 ...... "wi .....om- hoY< ....., .......I.p1 IT"";'" 11.,10" .0;"_,,, 1Co M....
'0l71.
'9 1-... I\ol>bn.. I......"... I"" 1I .hor ,a
I" ..... Tlt.A"""""Ct1> (t1o"'.......... F..... """".,
o/Iht hnl".,..ud (NO<Iu<.. "'''''''''01.''' Arido</<."., .1""""""," .. /)t.,",''''' ."., 01.,...
,." ".,,, <OIII.......".lJ,I J .......... (........,.. 'mI. PP '.' ....
" f..-.ky. C...b hoi, P 110
I' Sor .......... f<o '.'ro-''''''','' M..
"'. II>. r..... 0/ 1""';-"",,' (Ch_ .w,l, PI' 61-71
n, It I. A 110,1.1'1<0.1.......04 1I""",,J,;j,,, (O>looot .:.-.p.......968l. PI' "_"
" "'"".j....... Roo.oo<> A t:\O<oo< tit. 01 ""'-1"'- on n.. S<oioI c..._
."., Di......_ ,,,.. C D II, C<.lo Is...- v <>sol." ,116 ..... no 01 T...01-
l-', ."_n<!<. "" M" Sfht 11...._ <d ........ A 0... (s... '"'" ,0601. P 67
11 s...,l.0U" 1'hr l\>IuIod l.ln""' 01 Wool- AS1od!' 01 s"",p<:'
.. 5.1""', w.o...... od 111, S<rifI oi 1I'0<l (l<..lon. '9'/lI). pp. ,&04,
W<l...... 1110<........, no. _ oi s"""" tc..d<o C",. N 1". ,ob.l." "
J' Snobnl n.,. -n.. CWJ";,,,_ (1' .... , ...., ,9';8)," , ..I,
"" ... A.-.Iy I,al, pp. '<1_
,. O1-/ohIl'",wo 0........,.. ,. -"" -""...,.," u.,wI s.cIo.. _ 01 ,'"
l... '''''In, ''J phobophtn .100 .......;" """" ,.., <Iolon<lioo.... "How .. Do",.,......
Sd!.IIp1 r, Sdl.:........: (1"I"""".niI /WI", A!Ioi ,.. (.'0/1 ,.,s,).
,. T""""' .. A"M7>N I-I- P I"'"
"" II.....\'>1,.. II.... I,.J." '"
334
,.
Notes
.' I....,)........ RwoI<.... n. SMI boollll, , ....p 'I. in So<;,! cw.....od
lli_hoJ. P. 01
.' s.. R-k', doo<-o.. d ,..... -......-......... _ ,t.. had 01 "odl.....-"
01 M6 (,8). p ,,,,,t
'1 W..l"""" "" Il_ ['.1. p. ",
.. s.. """"', 1_', "JUmnd ,.... _I. ..... ,,.,,,,,..nt '1-"""", in ""'........
-Idl _- ......, -' no-, [F<!InD<y 'ohl 'II
<! P -I'll. _ ...\.,..,
<Ii> W;&;oro Slo.o......... "oIhooor.od III.
., ""I<>, rio< IX. 11'-76
o! u.i MMt, __".,.4 M."...,;pu. ;" -.1, 1"01'. to_ T B !IoI,..
""'" tl.<odoo. '06'J. p '
O"plrr "
335
Notes
'1 c.w.,-. M_ M, 1><>1. p....nI.
" BoooIn. f'JI_ 1',1. p....
'1 l:o,l M..... (Nro.YoR, .<kIl...l. Ill. pp 1I\.116 L.en.o ......., ,ht .'1"......
_I... ",ht roold l<<d<ollo;p ofo -.nor of .. ""'....,,,.. ",. eumP< of ,..,_"'
...u.:.1tr. _ 1 .... ImmnIiot,Tnll of n.. s..... Com.""..: .. S<lttJ If'",*, (N.... rook.
.d I. >01 VII. p. 14'
>Ii. '""""" .......... .,." 1;_olL_. eel F..ct;....... T_l..... eel. N.... Yoo'" .060).
pp ....." (,.", '. ,loop. ' 0 It
.7.1I--.... X ,,_ ....t1I_...,.J "-1,Moo!,
(1k<kIey. 'mk p. "" (lht _. f_ !'!oor<', """....,...,.)
,S. )__ nw -Sot>oI ,_. G. 0 H. Col< (Nno Yoo., .",,01. p.
,6 (lrooIr Ill, <hop .
'9 I.... '. &,oM II"""" 00"",,_ (Now Yoo'" .,,&>l p '07
10- SoNI c::ooo-< I,al. p '7 ("':do. II. <hop \)
\' It"'""" rncIt. nw 11._ Corod_ (C\o;o_ .""a). p or
J'. l'ht JIl<n<d .." ......, -.... ... Iloo: 0</-1 oj In!'''
('9l"Il;, to AdIor SI_
II So< ""'" e:.-. -.... ...Il.b<II_ "' ...1/'1',1 h""
V.JI., la-."fII' 1_ .,h)
Clupte, II
,
INDEX
A"ke""'n_ 81'\ft. lOll
A<ton. HoroIcI. lli!
....... MOlt...... I.. 1ll.
" ' '. poky .... 1_'FJI-'
M...d,......
Ali<-.... ..c_ H.!
AIiom. & ii.: 1!. ii:fi, t!. .61-.66;
_ 0/00 !oklocs
A........
AICIOdt. tlMlMlo. quoted. g
A"'toIIo.
"" <d >1;"", !!lZ. Ii2L
.... Iriod ,81.,86,
"" 1ftCtia. 1.1:1.5.
Ao,ium,
AtM., <do ..... in. J'I'>.. 2'l. JAl.
Ioltwy ... I!l5..
........ u::n,
__-.'Z9-pl,

......... WlL .....
""".. .. 01 poiI<]' ...
A-"'1ro UL I!J2
Ama, 01. """
Bocon, FlO""".
a-l., I-. !.!:I
Ilbrbm.... RcNord.:li6
a...... Ono, '" ill
llloW, .. ""-no -' '"
..... 111_'51
..I1<hool .01... ",-".
<w' S 'IlL ,00=,9', .5._
'"
8odioo, ,...,
6oooP<poeI, Ile<no,d. 11
IIribny. 't l.lIl
""bn. M"Hn, W
llu'k. Ed.......d, 19.
Ilott..., Somuel quot<d, \2)
c..- (M.n). !!z, l!J
c....... u. Ult lUo l!.!!
e..t"'_ . asta..l ....,iboI.....
.-......

_.I... CoIn
China, 0'_114 1M, lllJ.. l.!$
...."i...'.., .,..lern on, 110-14' !.J&.
...
'1I<_,ab'
_ lI:!i'::ll!
a.d. '!lL I >to)O,

CibBnohop' _ 0.==,. sx.-..
'-.Sol. ; I
"'" - """'"
Co diot........ !,,-,'s.
lei cl. ,06-'0"1,
.nd Jilt., !.!.lo !..!i. ut;
.nc! the ....,kl.
..Id ,ntm"".hip, lll6;
politico of. Ull, "I-Ill, W
e--...lpo."''';'' Alh<no, l!lt:::z.>..
""" ........... fit 8.L
..,dtht.- ...... h.Uoi.
IRd """"'*_1<;>, n.:a :l!!::::<!..
_ POO'''''' dut-W
-'"
_IrplMClh,llU,
...........
in .......:01 ,..... too,.....,,!J<O, 7'-
,.
..wi old .,.> &I. &.
:l37
c""m"ru1 (Co"li"lo'OII)
principle> "'.li:!J., '1"!::2.'..
.nod I"'blic 8,-ll"
.nod oimpIc """,lily. 2.!i
..><I >anli"" !!!!
Comm""i.l M,,,i"'10 (M.., .nod En
roll}. ill
Coo''l'Clihon. for hoooo, '\'-'59,
for m<>n<y.nod <OOlmodi.ic>, !QS.,
for olf>. !..f1,
for p<)li.i<al pawn, l1L
.nd ..If,......m. ill
Compln equalily, defi...... !.1. !2.. !1.
.nd I"""ion. !ll.;
and ,6-,8,
.nd l.!1.
and polili<alll'J'l"<'T, 19<>-308,
."d 'l<Ii"ition, !.l.!
.nd ,dip>n,
,><I..:iaI c,,",'St', 3'9'4"';
in 1f'h<1,,01 mon<)'. ,<3
c",fuciu>, c",fu<ian;,m, '..f.!.. uS.
Cons<:,iption. for Ib..,n". '.!"t,
for "",I ,69-'7""
in ,86\, ri!:::w.
for ...tion.sf !.h.
0/ proIe>siorul>.
Con%o, ".-, 7'. !..Il. '.1i
eo..-pon-, WiR..". """,I, W
C,i""...f justia:. 8i-ll6, !!l;
I oIH """isllmet>'
C"",,-a, OIivn,
C"",,,.mc. quIlt<d.
C"mminp. Will"m. '04-.06
I).....,." John P., 'I'"'ll, "i-,,6
de e".... SoNs'''''. !.'8
I)nJlocfllcy .nd I"""ion, >o.-xii,
!.!1. 5-116;
and me",bcnlUp,
.nd <&e. '.1! .6.-.!it:
;n poI,I;c;,1 t'lZ.. 101-\' "
and I"""<f 0/ 1"_11', l.!..!...
and ><il.,espod, =
;n """,.. '" "......,., '11-" S;
.R<! ...d'f<, l!. zt. 'M
Index
Drm""""'" Viol4> (Wbil"""), l.Q'l
De_be"""
Dnco,t<>, Rrnrf, h
l.kll.
anod .....L:b. 10&-109
.nd ol5c<:, 'll-'W '-'U,
a"d """'I:nilioo, !.!2:.!fu
Deuleronomr.
0<-.."", lohn,
l'liIkfn> pri""pl<, '..,
Disabo1ily. Sa.
00'"",""".,., (P.Dusse>..).
Ditcw"" "" M'lho<! (Dn<artn),
Ois<'rimi...hon, W
Diot,ibul;"" pri"rip\<:
"
Diot'ibuli" priocipln, <kmocr"'-1'. fu-
,61 ,6", '0'_106, !!1. !2!, 10l-
3" :
dcseot, ,0&-",9. ,n-,w.
'19-
16
1:
"'1""1 ronsidcr.,"",. '..l!. '-'M. '5'-
=
.PI"....I. !ll,
eflaoro, = '04-'Oi,
i!.. t.m. "1-"9. u!.
I""","""', .8\-.'10;
lot'ery. !.l.1. l!:'S.,
n"",,\><nhip, 1!. '..!..:i.
mnl",,1 oid, lL ffi
nenI. '5-16,
""r><f>!lip, !!ll. '9)-1""
poli!;c;,1 pWoe<.
.....Ii""'"'ion. q6-,l7, ' ....-,>".,.,..

.........Ii< 10"" llI.

uloo'l, '..L '.1!.. ::..l.CtollJ
Diot,ibuli><: "muln, form' 0/. 11-' J
Ooct<>r.. ,\6-,5'/,!'l!
Don'....""''' a"d "",,,pin Iu.lhly, !Q.;
ddinal. lll=..l!..
.,'" ..,,>pi< cq...liI1, q-,I>
lJo>m....tion.i,i-x;", !'l. l!.!..
....100 Ty..""y
Dryd"", )<>1m,
Ou""",I, 1.<>0....
Ou,UKim, Emile, !.1.!
Dvowt'"' R"""ld, '\'-,5\, ill
,
1mb
""".....ll..,
Edu<':lh"'" I>uic. ,0._,06;
""',,,,.....1!"'>"is.... 0/. 76-
Lt.!!1'lI.O
romph ,,,. !.!.S..
.,Ki :1<}', >0'-'04. >06;
&e', L
i" 1>pO". m-,06;
in ,...ioh ... '1)-

pouP'JOCt 0/. '.'fl., ,0'-'<>\, l..I2.;
simp!< in, ,O'_lOl,
spcNliI.cd. '0<>-'0\.
ICC <tI", St!HxJlI
\'icl",. quull. 1.1
EI.." NoIbcl1. ill
F.1y. Ricl'lafd, !'lZ
Ii......""', Ralph W.Ido, !.\l,.
qoolcd, I
E.,.la, '1'-'11. 'n'" ll.'.
EnlKprmeII<O. ,.0-.". ''14-'99.

En,y. ,;;;
Epict."". ill
EqIUI ."",id"..ri"". '.li, '..H, '.E=.'.ll
Equol fC:l(>CCl, =.u!!
Equ>lil)'" .pp<.1 0/
ICC .1.0 Con,pln Simple

'lW!jfy.t>J EIIirit""l' (Ok",,). La>
0/ """""unily. 'll-'.
ICC 0100 f.qIUI ......;da.tioo: M..

Eum;"'t""", i" Chi.... 1\9-'"''
""
.ne! cd"",,'..... l..l.2.:
.,M! ......i''''OXy, '..l.!. !..l2
Uoodu..
f:<clorin. "Z:"9, !ll< '9'-
""
ICC "I... M"'A' 0/ production. Work.
",,' """trill
rami"'" .00Ii!;"'. 0/, "9'-'1', "9"
dlildr<n in. ".1!,
.. <!Utri..... i ",he.", "1-1>9;
and <'<OI1OIl'y, 'j1-'H;
a..d 115_,,6'
......K". ",Ir. u!
.'inky. M. !.,. l!..
r;,..o..c..,lli'
.'ord. lI"nl)'. ,'.}
rOIl... Meyer,
Misl>cl, ,SS--.80, 1).
r"",.... r,..lQ>i> a.a,.... l..6B
r..,ICC: b.... rJ ini'>cfi!,,,oOt .'. 1>\_,,6
r.."lIin. I!<ft, '-'-'
r,c< ...,"',,"", l..l=.ll. '''''-'Ol,
frttdom. ,u-'16.
.,icd, a ..,.... !iI
'oon ill
C.ndlri. "'''''',,><100, '.21

wm"m. =
Cccl1.. Q;lI1>L q.."cd. WI
e.-., ,
Cilt.. 'll::<H. l..I!2. "1-' ,8
CildcT. Co:><g<:. ill
S. D. l!.. n.
Coo<! S. ...rililnil,," .... "'"tlUl.id
Coods, domi..."t. lJl::.ll.
ncptic. !fu. !!l;
prim .,.. t
""..I "..."i"JI' 0/.
theory 0/. 6=.>.a
Cor.. !.!1
eo..m_n! 1>/ PoUnJ (Rouso<...l.
Cr>. ,S)_.S",
do><>Mnion .nd. '@-'47,
... oo<ial fl'X'd.
Cnc....o proccdura.
CuDt ""'k.... . !fu.. !22
Iblf_WOl' Co-<mnl. ill
Hqd, Ccorl Wilhdm !.i'./;
"""cd,
11<"'1 IV, Pm l !'l!i
U....."'hy. ,6-,," '49->10. !1}, '71-
'"
339
'O'_>OJ
Ilippo""t... Il6
Hinchman, Alber! 0,.u8
1kJbbn. 'Tl>oma, !J.!, ;B. ,8.-
ili;
on <1<..-."",.
on lif.... ra, '14-'II,!llo
.nd .ho r;,ht to' plKo. elL
OIl ,ho Ilnal< /of ill
1ioIidly>. '9.-,96,
I oJ... Sabbath
Honor, !!ll. !.1.'l.
_ .Ior> Public Iion<-; R"""",it;".,;
"".-
lioopit:lla, .S,-,s. .83-.9"
lluab, ,8,_.8.;
qllOk<l, '.1!
II......, I)r,id.
Hulton, I. 1.1.: """,at, e!1
1001 tonlr""tUllI;,m, L B 19.
l<lco>l<>p...
IDich. t-.. ll!
Immigratm' into A"""Ii.>.
.nd mo.,..,;"". 12. 'l!::!l.;
.nd
.nd mu'..aI .id, U.
.nd "",Iizat;"". 1!..
."d 1 .s-s .
Rebt tu -.trol 12. i!i
in,,, Unittd Stat...
I""': <:Ill...r><! dist,,1>J,o-. !1..
rl'" jrl-l'S;
I .Iso UnlOu<habIoo
Inhml.,,.,.. "\"-,,e. !..!1
In'....ot;".,. "'-"4
hlullipotl W......... , Cuid. 10 SocioIi.m,
Ctp;toIiom. Sooirosm .,rJ F...mm
(st-j.
J....,.. H.rold. 's,n
I-.'ta, H::::U. /U
j....... Willia.... a
)''''''''t>, MOlt;" quotat, Zi
34'
Index
I"l"'" ..locat"", .nd "'I"'>'Y in ..,.-
""
I<wah rommun;'icr, mIiocval. I!.::Z4.

loft"""" Samud. r54-'So;, !..!1
'ur;e., ,\6-'18. ,61-,1>5.
I""u:.r><!
.nd pNroliJm.
M...Mtr.nd "",,frl>!il'i', 01. 'i. 1u_

.nd '''-1' 01 """'". 6-ro;

.... ,,/... 0>n\9le. <qII11jl,; DUllibul;..e
po-;nripl<: Oisl.ibu""
pl;nciplos
Jlilt price, !.12. r"n
Keloo, I.cuU, ill
Kennody, john F., !.fl
Kentltd). Robotl, !J1
Kibl>ut..
Kibh.I:: V"nlu" in Uklj>td (Spiro). !..I!
Kind"p. 4.'.J. 1.!.. "2='. '1'-'4'.
I 01", F.mily; M."ias"
Uoo. Rnl><fl. ill
'.1.2
Lepl Aid, h, w
r."iNr. ,!I-r87;
-"'" ...
Unin. V. L '.ll.llii
Lolto' .. Tok........ (Lrl<).

LotI., 10 /)'AI<mbm .... lite 1JM.oI..

(Rouunu).
Uriolhon (Hobbes). , ''
Levin. Tom: quoted. '11
Un,ited pernmonl. ,8.-.84
Linco/n. Abo-.h>m. Il!!
I..odo, '''''n, 1'i!. '''''-'''5, l!.'.i
OIl lOb.,;".,. '44-',.6,
W'"",. !ll. J!5.
!!ll. '!.!2. !.1!. 'B'" !ll, ,\8-'\9-

lui"",, !J1,
,
Index
LrNJ, 7';
Lydi. 0..,100. u.6
M><y. Roorl"nd. I lQ,J."
M'i.-idn. l!..:n.!il,
Ma t-y. !1!.
qooI<d. ;n
M,""""'-sO. B "J-".I
MooT H.!
M.,k<l. Ml.!!ol. '-l.L
.. diot,ibuliv< """'c, ''''-'04. !..Q!l.
"9;
impauMm of. "o-'If,
i" b!loo,
Mm. l.Q.!. .1..... 19. J!h
""
I """ .amilr: l<w<
M.nhon, T !:L fu., !!I
"to..,Kotl.ijj. "",, '" '..1. !.!. ill
"" communi>!: .I>l!looily. '9')-1<;
and <011"0"" equalily.
dlStril>uti"" ",..im 01. !i. 'l!...
"" tt.< I.."ily. ill
and juotn, l!1;
"" '0l0rI<J'.
qlO(Jll. l.k
"" _k.nd 1tisoK. '&-,&, !..11!1
M.t...... 1fl<fn1<. ill
M.tt"""'.
M."","",. Som<n<t. ill
M
1.1 01 pt<Jdo.;:lioo. L.4 LU
Mli<::ol cu..
I 01>0 Doctun; l""""l.Ilo; Nuna
Mc!bou<,... u"d. !!!':
"'....b<nhip: i" dub<,
in ,.milia. ll!;
in indullTioI ",""",Y. '..!.j,
."d jusli.
..0<1 ii. kll;
in flCithilo<hoo<k,
..0<1 .. .'&-180;
simple <qUOIity of. H.
... _ill ,ood, <2. l.!.::l!
M<fiI<l<TO<}'. 'JI-'U,!..fi;
in Oino. !..l!hf!'.
"'"itt, 5..l:::5i. ill
Mil. Joh" Stuaot...... 1. ll1.
"" i".....;u""". uli=uB
John, ill1
Mi"imAI .tole. M
bIocUd """ 01. on. ''''''"tOJ;
.nd poIitic11 pown, '>0--111,
"'
pr<>ptr sphrr< of. !.r;>i;
.. ""i"",,,1 modium.
I ..00 Com".,dit;"; rn",u' Prop.
."
Mo.>OPQlr. ond """"*" <qU>lity. !1. !..i;
eldin!. '0-",
01 pown .l!l..
of lit< ..int!. HL
.,0<1 simple '4-,6;
0I1he to....tl,
01 waltk, l!l 'll,!..!l::.!.!.i
1.1",...1.id. U. 1
n.om.., ';7"
N,polton, ill
N>pOI.oni< Cnd<. '..!L u6
NOl ..,Ii..tion, 5.!t t1ti
W.ker C., q..,.l. l!l
N<ed... disc""'t;'" principle. .\_.6,
='
,TId "'t"". ;l;
priorities.nd,q...... 0/,
and ..... 1M!. ,s,..,88,
on<! oori>l Introcl.!!s.. 8,-81;
IOl'iolly -.niz<d,
Nd.....ilk. !'ll
N<ilkilo<hood: mernl><nllip .,0<1.
",hoo,h. ".-,,6;
.. a p>d. "'
N<p<Jtii",. ':t6-',.S,
<01""";"', t.d.
N.... YOlk Ci4y, P'boc<' <o8<clinC in,

Nino,"" i{1ttr-F_ (0.-...II).!1!'

Nol:>d, Alf,..j: II.. "'....
Nooa. R.>l>c:rt. 88... l!.l. lOio l!1. J.H,
ill
Nuna, tfu.. &
34'
':b. !Q!, l.\Ill. ili,
rool';",,,,,,,, d. '.1.i. 160-,6.4:
ock.oI. "9""'1"
..........,"'" "'. '4S-'H, lJ.1;
.......,diol. ,;;-,60;
rota,"", ,no 'U-'li,
a',", fimplo <q""liIy. """115,

m ...an', fa,
,u oJ.., M.,rtOfTO<j"
a..u". "",1><". I.llll
Old->t< p<nlio>m. a..
'9'1=100, ll!o.
o",d1. C<u<r<. t!!<l. " I, ",,"8,
""
o.""""m. =ru
r"l.", funk.i-,j;' ill
PU<>1, BLJ , '.22, !M. ;n, =
d<finh of I,unny. ..&o:a.
r.n......... O<LJ,odo, 'SOOI
r."",nt... q<ootl u.
r...",l<"-, I..L l3 .8']-.88,
P..,y,,SI.....,., . '77-,,8.

P..Uy"'-" ;", Ull. !.!.L o.W
Philoqll " .nd .......,. ,8s-.86:
.nd """'inl """.,.,. lM. o!L.
}<':IJ-1Oi
rbI<>, L!12.< \01-\04;
a"d t""- bonit,.. no-no,
on polili<> ... ,85-IRS
01 di"ribtlli", prin<'I*s, '"
bl..!!.
of <phna d juo,t...., l.Q
I'\ulOCrocy. i!.l
"""1l<3l """,,,,,,,,iIy
and ""'non......l """,..ion. Ih.
8s:
a,od mombonft'l'. l.'.., H, i!. 6J_Ii),
a,O<1 ,""""", !.52;
."d ,d'fCSll<Cl, .,6-.80;
.. O<I'i"l 01 "" "l\Imto,l, ,S-1O
PoIih..1 I"','i<>. 106-)'>8
PoI"inl pO...,. 'sn, ll..<h.
bIo<l<d 0lCJ d. ,8._1&.j,
and.....,'I'Io> t:q<ool'tl'.
dt"",,,.., .. I"inciplo <>I.

..... k_k<ig<. ,8'1_'00'
.... pn..-.I. I'",p<rty,
.... oi"\plo ""..
Polirif'f ("ti>lollo), ill!
Ull
PK>"""i." dtt".,ion. '7'_'7'
I't;p. !1L ill
I't.....,i<>, 106-J08
Pri"dpl.. of Poti6c<tJ oo"","y
"'
"';,00" .58-,..,.,
Priv>t< I""P"'ly. :!l,
a"d """ , '9'-10\,
.. ",i...l. P'f'f" ,. '91-JOJ,
NO .1,., em",,<10';"': M..", of 1''''"
docti""
Priin, 1}6-119, 1c..._,66
Prnlr...."Iis",. 15;-.;6. ';7"-
"'
P..,...;t... '..l (C:o!iklrn..j. Ull
"'""iM"', 'l.
Pnlt....... ,*,88
Pul:>I>c: 8J..,,:.
I'ublO: hoooo, ;n, J.k;
and <Irmor<....,-. b;-'0,
aoo ......... ';9"",6J.
and "taily, ,6,_,6\;
'" .1,., I""".: Pri...
l'1oi1" , ew..... '95-1<>8, 10<>--'01
I'undkn l. 2. t11,
dislineuilh<d Iron, ""fAil..., '70"-
rr!.o fro", Pf'<'"",ti.c dctC>l';o",
"'-,7>,
.. ""hIic d',I"".,.. ,68-.60:>
"'",ito.... '..i!.
Qw.lilicatiom. lIb-'I'.
m..-."" ,....-,46;
and II.. <>I ofIi" 'is-'i?.
""
and opoc..li..ro htcaf.,.,. '09-
=
Qooloo: ... 0lIicc., <>I
Indu
R.omo. 'OS-'o6, '...!J
1oM."'lI'l. J.ll,
.....1 rio 1'i, !!.
....._ po rio lL
"" '" ,; ._,. !..l!.t
.. --_11
"'- 01. &01.. f
....
!.!.. '''-''J.
01 '\I-'Sot'
.... lot 'B-'!',
_ I-bw>r. fl. t .a,
ll.toial_ 01 J!>.
.. bluo....11' "'-'.
'19-' II
f";,, (OInmunal prooioi".. , UQ
Rriupu, !!:5'
R.lo:>.. ,....",.. '1
(I'LIto), >.S6
!lowr,. or"'Y, !1!l:
Rat .-1100, 1M.
_01.,6&-,&1
...........
_ ... 'Wi<ioyI. \'oaI....
R,.tot... n, f.!.,
.... .......,., poIiha. 5
... ""'"" , ..-. !J" !;H, ".-
w.
... pIoc'C', il.
10 welue.. z!:::!<l, !l
1l>Il. "I-, ,q, !!z,. i'l!. "p-'91,
.....1Ib...' ...... _-jy, "'->91.
'"
It...... " .... h. (O\-wdl, lJg
Il.oorun t""""" :fiJ.
f l_ !.l.L w.
.ll.L UL ilL
...J tM ...1< boll, ,}f>-'11,
on tht <OtYt<. '1'-"'.
"" ""bl... ""'..... m
",,'<>Ii,'I-
RIII1in. fohn. If!B.
Solnt_. !..f!.
_ """
Solo 1' .....,....

...............
St"'...... 0.....1 qoool.... .loU
SclIooloo t Wt-W'
__"'01 ,.-,,6;
.. ...., .. .,..wihol iM-.op,
.. ....-d "'"',
01, ",_.14
'''.'''''''000<1. ,Lf-..6,
""'" 11 '-'!J,
pm,... "'-llOj
_ ""IO T_.....
s..",h (OInmo,l<... .,6-,,8, !..t!.

Stidttl, '''''no ua
Stl/...trnn, "'-'7\1, us..
Stll-;:
Sd<fClJl<rt. "."So, 1.....J "
WdIu",. is.:!2,, !.l.L
!'lL !.!.to
..,rod.
sa-. CaIqt !.1!. J.U.
.. ""tr...n. !B. '76-on, till. !!1,
eM """"'"-.!!!:.
.,. foot to-. th.
Sodpd."-7. 12.)lJ, as.
s-.,.. 'iL ""
s;",pIt ond ntooDt_. f!N;-1C\.
_loot I .....
Mli ph>, J.ll,
....I ,r
ll
,
.nd btnhop. U.
"""_. "'.
on<! olioct. ,at' n, l.ti. J!!i,
....I p>I'IC.. lD6-m,
.nd !..U.
"Jim< 01, ,._.6,
.nd ..dlort.
.nd..n.
Slo>a, 5..L H. U2t n,,"
Soallh, Ado.... lS.'iL i&111=)"
s..oloo, '71-,,.,!2L m
StOol rtu.ce. ,,1-'10
SoWien, t6&-'60 151:1
-",
343
....". Soul 01 M.n 1In<kr Social;",,"
(Wilde). !.h
6,...(;,. l!.I;
I flI.. Politicol r-.,
So..'W:! UII""" and World W.. II ' ..

Sj>oc.ol rflol.......ip<:
ki",hip,
mcmb<nhip,
Spir<>. MeII<lrd. '.l.!=!.M
Spo;l< ')'OI,m. !..lQ, ,6>-16\
Stokho_. Stokho.no.iIm.
,.,
St.lin, 'oooph. ,6,-,6j.!fu
Sw,
I Politico' ...,....a; Soo<mcnlr. Wd.
far< ".t,
St ...-. AlIbi. ill
St,.. U=H, ,u, fu
$I , bootht.. (N..ho". Ibdoo. Ooeo.l.

Sunotl Compony.
S,..;II, jOlUtholl.
'"po"", Y2
T...,n<y. R, '.l!,!'ll!!.:
"" Iu<>iion. ,<>S-,%
"" ,ilk, ,.&o.!..2
Ta""tion. lit 'll. !1.!. 0'Mi
_'i.e. 'l!. >.eli
T...,hn,. !..IIQ. !.w. <li>.!.'lQ.
T"ktI. Studs, l.k. !!l
T....
T..lulI..... ill
n..dctay, Willm M.k<paoe, m-
ill
Tt...... of Ath.", (Show"..../. '!l:i::lI!i
Titl, '.w-'5',
TitllllW. Ri<h..d. 'tl::'M
T""q"";U., AIn;, do.
Tot:olit.,i2nism. !.!.'l. J..l.h.'..z
Tr<rV<I. in Norrh A......... 14<U) ...m
T,w".nd l.undo, .ift =hone< ill. ")_
"'
Trotsly. lcooI. '..2!
344
Index
Tynlll"Y. '&-'9. lJ.l. "5-,,6;
and """"'", m.
and k;."f,ip, l..l1. ill;
.nd ....'nb<"..ip. l..f:::ll., l3. fu.
0I_,l!1i
.nd nq>oti1m.
.nd ol!ice. '59=,60;
.nd politico, m l..h. !'l2. J.!..!,
and punish....nI. !1.!. nh
and sdl'Sp<d. '7<1-,80;
and work.nd rat.
U""",pIo,'mmt. ...
Unioo>, !..!.!. Lll. !.1'l. m
Unit<:<l Still"" Civil Wor. cono<fipli<lo in.
..".
cducotional .....,...,mt. ;11. ,,6-.,6:
;mrn<a..tion poIi<y of,,eo
P'<mmmt in, .h-.8i,
m<dicol III.
pri ill. J"Z--JoS.
'JU"I" on<! .lfo<lNIi,. ><lion n. .,6-
"'
United St.... CcInpes<,
lI"iI<d St.t.. Const'l"tion.
Ullivcn;ol .i,1I K'fVlC<. !.1!. l.6lI;
....J.., Equ.ality oI_t"""" 1.1....
t"",acy
U""""'hobb. 'S' It, '.llc.-'.ll
Utilftorialli>m. "".
V.uti".... '90-'9'. !.'H. !..2i,
1./00 Rat
V<l>Im, ThonI<in.
Vot ....
V_he,., '17-1>0
W...., ,,6-"9. '.1!
W.k.... E_", Vi<to<. ill
W.,bol, Andy, ill
W<bn. 1.1". !..!'l. !..2l
,
'mb
Wril. Sin..,...., If:g, m
quo<<d.
Wdf..., i1>!<. l1t :z1, !I::i, J..::z,
""
1ft .rI1() Comm"",,1 """..ion
WlI;I...... , W.I1. !.Q'i. !..2.l
Wil&, 000.., 'l!. ,,8n
wm......, !laNnl, It. &6... ill
Wmth""" John_ ll.. i.!!!. .ti
Winm, c..l David ./.
w......... fu.. 2i, !.1. 1.&
.nd oction,
and "'-ion,
and the family, 'lI-lB. '19-'4>,
,00 ill
w........, ...R.... ,_

Wood. Alan W, u:
WO<\: do...... ,63-'70;
diny, ".-,,8, ,80--,8,"
domnti<,
.R><,",," '7(>-'7<1;
,",rd," I rood. ,65-,1)$
W",len' -.,..... "7-"9, ,6._,6,
10'-101
Wu Ch;ne"'" W
Zimmorn, "11...1 quot<d, !!l
Zion....... !..ll
Zoninc bll4, J'1"
345
Copyrighted m a ~ n a l
Copyrighted material
The dlSllnlullbed pohtieal and luthor of the
widely a:Uroimcd hm and UtI/WSl WQfll.lWyla how tociccty
dlltnbllla !lOt IllSl -.-Ith and power but other $OCia!
like hocIor. cduutlDll. wort. free tilDe ev!:n \oYI::
u
A boot which br'idp:s pb;loaopby and IOXi.t poljo;y m the
IDOIt maaama: and fntitflll ....y \be foulllbbOlt of 1_.
e_rJelll Iiberabsm.
1'biI is. b...1ll&lIC and bopdul ' .... and Mr Wa1l:er c:one:)'
it with. wry aad pile
praenll sophisbCatcd DeW theory of eq...aIity and
wpportI II by sun'e)'llll"" utnordinanly ric'b amy of lllCiai
and pobtic:aIldeoiopes and Fuc:inllinllnd
IrnporunL M P
I' MIT
Wllzer $(lmelhll1i of I IIllionll Ire "', .. the
Iheory thlt [he) dcvelopll muk. I major contrib I;OIl to the
deblU: ovc:r how 10 f..hion a jWII /I (
"TbiI brillillll book........ill tnnIform the debu: lboul di.l-
justice beyond all
,
M it Professor of Social Soent:c III the
for Advuc:ed Study, New Jc:rxy, He is theautbor
of, IlDIIIlf otbc:r boob, hut aNI Uti/WI W.-J' (Basic: Boob.
1971) and R_ioal I'rincipIQ (8aIic Boob, 1980).
B
'"
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