Chaos, State And Utopia By Robert Nozick - 1350 Words

One of the most prevalent topics in modern-day American politics is the rising wealth gap. This drives the question, at what point do inequalities of economic liberty and social justice become unjust? There are three main views that speak on the subject. In his book Theory of Justice, John Rawls follows a high liberal tradition of thought, asserting that a distributive pattern of justice is most correct. On the other hand, in his book Anarchy, State and Utopia, Robert Nozick argues for an emergent approach to justice, rooted in libertarian philosophy. Lastly, John Tomasi, in his book Free Market Fairness, offers the most compelling argument of the three. Tomasi purports that the market democratic approach to justice is the appropriate way to achieve much needed harmony between economic liberty and social justice. Market democracy, as Tomasi stated, is â€Å"a hybrid†. Market democracy is a philosophical attempt to bridge over the ideological divide between the two liberal trad itions of libertarianism, as defended by Nozick, and high liberalism, as defended by Rawls. Tomasi’s market democratic hybrid is most compelling, because rather than state that either economic liberties or social justice are paramount, as the libertarians and high liberals do, respectively, market democracy states that social justice and economic rights are not mutually exclusive, and that they are integral to a just society. According to Rawls, justice can be defined by two principles. First, justice