John Rawls’s paradigmatic theory of justice (1971) triggered great debates in understanding and approaching Justice in modern times. His theory perceives justice as fairness, making the elements of society act in a rational manner under conditions of equality. He deviated from the classical utilitarian concept of administering justice and instead offered to create a hypothetical ‘Original Position’ where a new contract is written to define unique principles of achieving justice. As the contents signify the idealistic approach of Rawls, this great stir in political philosophy also received equal critical scrutiny by none other than his own friends, like Amartya Sen.. In order to constructively redefine some of the idealist fault lines in the understanding of justice, Amartya Sen’s famous book ‘The Idea of Justice’ (2009) is a remarkable reference. He delved too deeply in a surgical mode to question different aspects of Rawls’s approach to justice. Sen categorically refuted that humans are not driven by idealist positions, but by a set of realistic, culture-specific solutions to create order in society. He digressed from Rawls’ idealist perspectives to the provision of practical improvements in the system. Sen emphatically talked about guaranteeing freedom and public reasoning rather than developing institutions. He centres the debate on the human aspect, which is driven by its own needs and challenges.

These are interesting shades of great intellectual endeavours to suggest a suitable and result-oriented way to address issues of justice in modern times. It is all the more crucial to go deeper in exploring how post-colonial societies have encountered such Formal Laws........

© Daily Times