ABSTRACT OF PAPER
Title: The Concept of Social Justice and the Liberal Project of Welfare: From John Stuart Mill to L.T. Hobhouse
Author: FUKAGAI YASUNORI
Among the debate of political philosophy in the late twentieth century, the idea of social justice had often been rejected especially under the marked influence of libertarianism. The critical point here was mainly on the economic redistribution scheme produced by the government. However, some of the recent monographs such as David Miller are returning to this idea, and reveal its connection with the ethical basis of well-being. This paper examines the formation of the concept of social justice since 1840s in Britain with reference to the variety of the projects of welfare. Although there had been some preceding usages, J.S. Mill was one of the earliest authors who utilised the term of ‘social justice’ seriously. In his Utilitarianism, Mill focused to ‘the highest abstract standard of social and distributive justice’ under the light of ‘deserts.’ Besides the change of the meaning of utility in economic reasoning, there was the profound discussion of the concept of ‘well-being’ and ‘welfare’ by those authors of T.H. Green and Henry Sidgwick. On the turn of the century, J.A. Hobson produced the scheme of the human welfare, and later L.T. Hobhouse developed the issue into the line of liberal project of social justice. (198 words)
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