Customer Reviews

Theories of Justice: A Treatise on Social Justice, Vol. 1 (v. 1)

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" A Treatise on Social Justice is addressed to the question that Plato asked in the Republic 2500 years ago: What is Justice?"
This are the first words of the book, in them, Prof. Barry summarizes extremely well the contents of the book and then proceeds to make good on his promise.
In less than 400 pages the reader obtains a wealth of information fron subjects related to political philosophy and ethics (with an exhaustive review of game theory), a thorough review of Western thought and an understanding of the difficulties involved in creating a just society, a Utopia not yet unrealized by any Polity.
The book is a tough read if you have no knowledge of basic Political Philo, of Hume's and Rawl's thories, etc. But, if you work at it, at the end you will be able to do quite well in Political Philo 303!
Both Hume's Treatise and Rawls seminal "Justice as Fairness" serve as a platform to analize the monumental problem of creating a "fair" society, Prof Barry stily is not consistent, however, and parts of the book are made harder by his difficulty in keeping "on the subject", but this is compensated by others, luckily in the majority, where he is lucid and succinct.
Perhaps the hardest part is the first, where the theory of games, and of baganing solutions, are exhaustively discussed with relative success in making it understandable for the mathematically challenged.
The basic thesis is the similarities between Hume's and Rawl's take on Justice, despite their different basic philosophies. By keeping this as the central subject, the author succeeds in, not only proving his point, but giving an exellent review of both these giants in political theory.
All and all, this is a must read for anyone interested in the subject, I await the other 2 volumes with interest.

Brian Barry does an outstanding job tackling the complicated world of Justice. He discusses the many theories of Justice in a clear and concise fashion. He gives extremely accurate criteria of how each type of justice is achieved and which theories are less likely to occur. This is an excellent study for anyone interested in the concept of Justice and what the various differences and similarities are. For a Lincoln Douglas debater it is a must.