September 2013
Volume XXI, Issue I
The Fenwick Review
The Independent Journal of Opinion at the College of the Holy Cross
Thoughts on Social Justice The Difficulty of Applying the Concept to Public Policy
prices that are considered fair, and a major critic of usury, the practice of making unethical loans, particularly through setting excessive interest rates. In terms of policy, this proto-economic thinking It is impossible to avoid the term “social rooted in medieval philosophy differs greatly from justice” at Holy Cross. We hear of the need to the economics espoused by Adam Smith and later promote social justice during homilies, in Religious economists, who argued that prices should generally Studies classes, and from student groups, particularly be determined by freely moving market forces. SPUD and Pax Christi. Founded in the belief in the Desiring a just society is obviously laudable, sanctity of all human life and the inherent dignity of and this should be a goal for Catholics and nonevery person from conception until natural death, Catholics alike. Every person’s life is sacred, and, Catholic social teaching stresses the need to care therefore, should be protected and respected. for one another, particularly for those who are less However, despite how noble the intentions of fortunate than oneself. Ensuring certain forms social justice proponents may be, implementing this of equality among the different social classes is supposed form of justice through public policy considered socially just. becomes problematic because there is no universally Luigi Taparelli, a Jesuit proponent of the agreed upon meaning of social justice, and there ideas of St. Thomas Aquinas, coined the term “social is much debate whether the concept holds weight. justice” in 1840 as debates raged between laissez-faire Income inequality, for example, is frequently cited as classical liberals and socialists. Aquinas, a thirteenth a form of social injustice. However, income equality century scholastic, was an advocate of just prices, can also be considered unjust as such equality requires
Patrick J. Horan ’14 Co-Editor in Chief
The Rise and Fall of Detroit Can the City Rise from the Ashes? By Eric Kuhn ’16 ..... pages 10-11
forcibly taking earned wealth from some to give to others. Equality of outcome inevitably results in some receiving more wealth than they deserve from others. This begs the question: at what point does economic inequality become unjust? Economists have differing barometers for measuring wealth and poverty, but such metrics are made at the discretion of fallible human beings. The American political philosopher John Rawls endeavored to turn the largely theological concept of social justice into a core tenet of democratic government. In his famous book A Theory of Justice, Rawls attempted to create what he considered to be objective standards for what constitutes social justice. Everyone could agree to these standards by conducting a series of thought experiments. Rawls argued that in an “original position,” parties within a civilization would determine the ideal characteristics of that society. Continued on page 5
Like us on Facebook & follow us on Twitter @FenwickReview and read The Fenwick Review online at: http://college.holycross.edu/studentorgs/fenwickreview/index.html