Idea Of justice by Amartya sen core teaching

Main Idea of the Book

Sen says: Justice is not about creating a perfectly ideal society.It is about reducing injustice and improving people’s real lives.

Instead of asking: “What would a perfectly just society look like?”

He asks: “How can we make people’s lives more just right now?”

Core Arguments of the Book

1. Justice should focus on real lives, not perfect systems

Many philosophers (like John Rawls) tried to design a perfect model of justice.

Sen disagrees. He says, We don’t need to imagine a perfect society. We should focus on removing clear injustices like: Poverty, Hunger, Illiteracy, and Discrimination.

Example: If two societies are not perfect, but: One has less poverty, Better education, Better and Health care then that society is more just.

Justice is about comparison, not perfection.

2. Freedom is the center of justice

Sen says justice is about what people are actually able to do and be.

This is called the Capability Approach.

He focuses on: Real opportunities, Real choices, and Real freedoms