Nozick Distributive Justice Essay

Introduction

Distributive justice involves the appropriate distribution of goods among a group. Robert Nozick and John Rawls are two of the most highly renowned philosophers of their generation. They are at the heart of the conflict between the libertarian and liberal egalitarianism perspectives to distributive justice. Nozick puts forward his entitlement theory in ‘Anarchy, State and Utopia’. This supports the idea that the history of a community should determine how resources are distributed. This essay will critically discuss the strengths and weaknesses in how Nozick justifies his approach to distributive justice. Rawls presents a contrasting social liberalist theory in ‘A Theory of Justice’. His theory consists of a hypothetical scenario

The entitlement theory contains three principles of justice. These are acquisition of holdings, transfer of holdings and rectification of injustice in holdings. Firstly, the acquisition of holdings sets out the conditions to which property can come to be held. Secondly, the transfer of holdings concerns how property transfers from one person to another and, finally, the rectification of holdings examines how previous, unjust influences on the transfer of holdings can be rectified. Nozick’s entitlement theory establishes that property rights held by a person is justified so long as they are entitled to the property by virtue of the principles of justice in acquisition or transfer. Nozick believes that distributive justice should be considered in line with the right to self-ownership and not having actions governed intrusively by the State. Nozick’s right wing belief of libertarianism dictates that if people wanted to distribute their resources, they must do so voluntarily and without interference by the government. The ‘minimalist state’, as referred to by Nozick, is the lack of government interference in the distribution of property. The functions of government are limited to allow people to be in control of their property whilst protecting citizens against force, theft and