ABSTRACT
Fairness at the fundamental level is a consequence of respect for real persons and for what they make of themselves and by themselves. Natural differences, although undeserved, must be respected if people are to respect distinct, real persons. The distinction between social and natural differences lies not in a difference in desert, but in the relation of the properties to distinct personhood. But the claim that society must correct also for natural differences among individuals – differences in intelligence, talents, beauty, and physical prowess – is far more recent, having been articulated most forcefully by John Rawls. The resolution of the tension lies once more in a compromise within the recognized scope of justice and moral demands on individuals. A central question is whether the alternative theories honor the distinctness of individual persons at all, whether they are capable of capturing the anti-utilitarian intuitions that both Rawls and libertarians share at the base of their social theories.
