Values and Justice A New Perspective

Author(s): Hemant Shah
Publisher: Z_Philosophical_Writings_001802.pdf

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Values and Justice - A new Perspective
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It is a shift - materially and culturally - into this new conception of social life”.27
With reference to India, I would like to mention that most Indian scholars of social sciences agree that contemporary India is marked by divisions and cleavages. There are divisions between rich and poor, division of social class, division between religious and different humanists, between urban citizens and rural citizens, divisions between employees and employers, divisions between sexes, in terms of typical pattern of their position they occupy in the family and at work. All these make 'social structure'. Contemporary Values and Justices:
Philosophers and Social thinkers are, merely telling us what values are what justice is They bring before us the conceptual aspects. They are not giving advices on how to achieve them. I do not agree that justice is to be found in some place we have not yet reached, or values are all negative and good, positive values are yet lo he implanted. This is wrong. We, infact, already know what justice is, we know the value of values and our.societies already are, in certain basic way, just and value oriented.
The new perspective clears how policies, everywhere in the world, are based, not on ideologies but on a balanced perspective of the role of markets. "It is based not just on understanding of our economy but of our society, and it goes beyond the materialistic values that are paramount in the growth and efficiently agenda. There are three corner stones: i) social justice - about equality and poverty; ii) political values - particularly democracy and freedom; and iii) views about the relationship between individuals and the communities in which they live."28 Let us not defend the basic values of social justice - let us simply assert. The need, the utmost need, as I would say, of the day is to think about the plight of the poor. It is a moral obligation, one that has been recognized by every religion. "The coinmitment to equality" as it is in American constitution or resolved to constitute the nation into Sovereign