Uploaded October 2020 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
Professor Geoffrey Sayre-McCord explains how difficult it can be to work out the demands of justice given all the complicated and competing claims to justice that people have. It’s this difficulty that makes it so important to think deeply about questions of justice, and not to expect easy answers. Justice demands that people have what is rightfully theirs in terms of property, power, and opportunity. These things are often distributed unequally, which leads to questions about whether this unequal distribution is unjust. Some of the most important discussions in political philosophy concern whether certain inequalities are in fact actually required by justice.
This video is part of a series about basic philosophical questions on the subject of justice, and is also part of a larger series on foundational topics in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics (PPE) courses. Videos in the series feature six professors who teach in university PPE programs.
Watch the rest of the videos in the Justice playlist here: youtube.com/playlist?list=PLNeQlRoOOIMkxgrMHX-5QtQnQoKQFOB7W
Watch all 23 videos in the PPE series here: youtube.com/playlist?list=PLNeQlRoOOIMnPu92i-V0alFYHuGTkexfP
For additional PPE curriculum resources, including suggestions for further readings on each topic, visit our website: theihs.org/ppe
Subscribe to our channel to see upcoming videos: youtube.com/c/TheIHSorg?sub_confirmation=1
The Institute for Humane Studies supports and partners with professors to promote the teaching and research of classical liberal ideas and to advance higher education’s core purpose of intellectual discovery and human progress.
About Us: theihs.org/who-we-are
Twitter: twitter.com/theihs?lang=en
Facebook: facebook.com/InstituteforHumaneStudies
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/instituteforhumanestudies
Instagram: instagram.com/theihs
Professor Geoffrey Sayre-McCord explains how difficult it can be to work out the demands of justice given all the complicated and competing claims to justice that people have. It’s this difficulty that makes it so important to think deeply about questions of justice, and not to expect easy answers. Justice demands that people have what is rightfully theirs in terms of property, power, and opportunity. These things are often distributed unequally, which leads to questions about whether this unequal distribution is unjust. Some of the most important discussions in political philosophy concern whether certain inequalities are in fact actually required by justice.
This video is part of a series about basic philosophical questions on the subject of justice, and is also part of a larger series on foundational topics in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics (PPE) courses. Videos in the series feature six professors who teach in university PPE programs.
Watch the rest of the videos in the Justice playlist here: youtube.com/playlist?list=PLNeQlRoOOIMkxgrMHX-5QtQnQoKQFOB7W
Watch all 23 videos in the PPE series here: youtube.com/playlist?list=PLNeQlRoOOIMnPu92i-V0alFYHuGTkexfP
For additional PPE curriculum resources, including suggestions for further readings on each topic, visit our website: theihs.org/ppe
Subscribe to our channel to see upcoming videos: youtube.com/c/TheIHSorg?sub_confirmation=1
The Institute for Humane Studies supports and partners with professors to promote the teaching and research of classical liberal ideas and to advance higher education’s core purpose of intellectual discovery and human progress.
About Us: theihs.org/who-we-are
Twitter: twitter.com/theihs?lang=en
Facebook: facebook.com/InstituteforHumaneStudies
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/instituteforhumanestudies
Instagram: instagram.com/theihs
