2026/05/25 by Callum Zavos MacRae · 1 voice
Arts and Humanities · Social Sciences · #Philosophical Ethics and Theory #Political Philosophy and Ethics #Social Policy and Reform Studies
paper · doi:10.16995/fe.24867
openalex publication_date 2026/05/25 · openalex created_date 2026/05/26 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/06
Many political philosophers believe that freedom of occupational choice rules out both using legal means to force people to work and holding individuals under a moral duty to serve in socially useful professions. Most political philosophers also believe that justice requires that people be provided with certain goods, such as those resources required to meet their basic needs. But what if not enough of those goods are produced when we allow individuals to freely choose their own occupations? This is the problem of productive justice. Lucas Stanczyk has argued forcefully that the problem of productive justice represents a serious challenge to contemporary liberal egalitarianism. This paper offers to meet this challenge, by offering a Rawlsian theory of productive of justice that can resolve the problem without abandoning the core commitments of liberal egalitarianism.