Classical Liberals on Social Justice

Economic Affairs

30 Pages Posted: 21 Apr 2020 Last revised: 20 Sep 2023

See all articles by Jacob Hall

Jacob Hall

University of Pennsylvania

Marcus Shera

George Mason University, Department of Economics

Date Written: August 31, 2020

Abstract

In the summer of 2019, The Independent Review published a symposium on classical liberalism and social justice. We give an overview and commentary on the symposium papers. Rather than adopting the term social justice, we recommend returning to the three senses of justice maintained by Adam Smith and explained by Daniel Klein (2019). We articulate and explore Smith’s tripartite understanding of justice in contrast with an understanding that gives place to the expression social justice. Smith’s tri-layered understanding is in the spirit of addressing the micro-foundations of macrophenomena, the spirit of Thomas Schelling’s Micromotives and Macrobehavior.

Keywords: social justice, Adam Smith, commutative justice, distributive justice, estimative justice

JEL Classification: A13, B12

Suggested Citation

Hall, Jacob and Shera, Marcus, Classical Liberals on Social Justice (August 31, 2020). Economic Affairs, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3561656 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3561656

Jacob Hall (Contact Author)

University of Pennsylvania ( email )

Philiadelphia, PA
United States

Marcus Shera

George Mason University, Department of Economics ( email )

4400 University Drive
Fairfax, VA 22030
United States

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Downloads
209
Abstract Views
1,037
Rank
263,919
PlumX Metrics