ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book discusses a third possible approach to the traditional dichotomy of universalism and relativism. It argues that different principles of justice apply in different contexts, and that there is no unifying principle underpinning them. The book explores contrast between 'transcendental' and 'comparative' approaches to justice. It examines a pragmatic version of political constructivism, which starts from a 'subject-based investigation' of a concrete political problem and then develops criteria to judge the normative principles. The book suggests that the tendency in political philosophy has been to make so many questionable assumptions at the level of theory that the resulting prescriptions are cognitively dissonant with reality. It highlights the importance that caring for other people has in shaping our opportunities as individuals in society, but acknowledges the impossibility of redistributing care so that everyone gets a fair amount, as luck egalitarians would have it.
