Human flourishing and universal justice

Abstract

Wide disagreement about human flourishing is partly explained by different perspectives on this topic. One perspective is that of social justice: the moral assessment of social institutions by how they treat those they affect. As persons are increasingly affected by foreign and supranational institutions, we need a shared universal criterion of justice. To be sharable, such a criterion should be modest and abstract, focusing on essential contributors to human flourishing variously conceived. Contrary to consequentialist and contractualist theories, such a criterion must differentiate among the ways in which social institutions may affect persons. A somewhat unconventional understanding of human rights furnishes a promising candidate for such a criterion.