Introduction

Let’s start with a big, timeless question: What is justice, really? Is it about fairness? Equality? Getting what you deserve? Following the rules? Breaking the rules for the greater good? You’ve probably heard the word “justice” tossed around in everything from superhero movies to courtroom dramas to social media debates—but it turns out, the idea of justice is way more complicated than it first appears.

Philosophers have been arguing about justice for literally thousands of years. And not because they’re indecisive—it’s because justice sits at the heart of nearly every major question about how we should live together. It’s about who gets what, who decides, and what we owe each other as human beings sharing the same world.

In this chapter, we’re going to explore some of the biggest and boldest ideas about the nature of justice. We’ll look at ancient thinkers like Plato, who imagined justice as a kind of cosmic harmony where everyone plays their proper role. Fast-forward a few centuries, and we’ll meet modern voices like Hobbes, Locke, and Rousseau, who tried to figure out how to build a just society from scratch using the idea of a social contract.

But not everyone bought into their version of the contract. We’ll also explore powerful critiques—like Carole Pateman’s Sexual Contract and Charles Mills’ Racial Contract. These thinkers ask, “Wait a minute—who’s really at the table when we talk about justice? And who’s been left out?”

We’ll also dig into John Rawls’ famous idea of “justice as fairness,” where we imagine designing society from behind a “veil of ignorance,” not knowing who we’ll end up being. And we’ll challenge that model with more radical perspectives, like disability justice and transnational critiques that say, “Justice isn’t just about rights on paper—it’s about power, voice, and lived experience.”

Why does this matter? Because how we define justice shapes everything: laws, policies, school systems, economic structures, even personal relationships. If you’ve ever asked, “Why is the world like this?” or “What would a fairer world look like?”—you’re already doing the work of justice philosophy.

By the end of this chapter, you’ll have encountered a wide range of theories, critiques, and provocations. You don’t need to pick one and stick with it. The goal is to wrestle with these ideas, ask your own questions, and start building your own sense of what justice means—not just in theory, but in practice.

So buckle up. We’re about to dive into one of the most urgent, frustrating, and inspiring questions philosophy has to offer: What does a just world look like—and how do we get there?