Economic Justice

Economic justice guides one in establishing economic institutions. Justice is the notion of giving someone what they are owed or deserved. In the catholic view, justice involves the promotion of human flourishing. The teaching acknowledges that justice is natural and everyone has a claim. In the liberal teaching, economic justice is simply giving profits to those who have earned it through goods and services. As a survival mechanism adapted since evolutionary times, humans have been accustomed to act in the best interest of one’s self. Although this concept of self-protection is innate in individuals, this self-interest mentality should not be practiced in pharmaceutical industries as workers should be obligated to care more for the common

Negative freedom or obligations are imperative for every individual. They believe that individuals are only obligated to do two things: one, to not interfere with another individual’s autonomy and two, keep contracts and promises. Narveson uses a straightforward example, as he claims that “people have a right not to be attacked, but they have no right against me to be aided, and hence I do not act unjustly, or wrongly, if I fail to aid the needy” ( Narveson, 398). Anything else beyond these two criteria is not an obligation, but a choice (donating to charity). Narveson believes that poverty is a result of bad government, so the rich should not feel guilty for having wealth, and the poor should not expect anything from the rich. In an economic situation, it is only through trades and services should people receive what they deserve. “Production … is only promoted by justice in the sense that justice consists in not interfering with the various processes by which people improve their lots” (Narveson,

The catholic social teaching identifies natural law, which acknowledges various goods that all can claim. “There is a substantive and objective good common to all, a good that we have a responsibility to pursue even if it conflicts with our individual choices”(DesJardins, 3). In other words, humans, as well as social institution, have an obligation to put others before self as it promotes a society that will enable common good. In order for humans and society to flourish, we as a whole should use the “incentive of profits to promote the efficient production and distribution of those goods and