ABSTRACT
‘Social’ justice (or sometimes ‘economic’ justice) came to be regarded as an attribute which the ‘actions’ of society, or the ‘treatment’ of individuals and groups by society, ought to possess. The conception of ‘social’ justice is thus a direct consequence of that anthropomorphism or personification by which native thinking tries to account for all self-ordering processes. The appeal to ‘social justice’ has nevertheless by now become the most widely used and most effective argument in political discussion. Almost every claim for government action on behalf of particular groups is advanced in its name, and if it can be made to appear that a certain measure is demanded by ‘social justice’, opposition to it will rapidly weaken. Demands for the realization of ‘social justice’ are usually as a matter of course, though often only tacitly, addressed to national governments as the agencies which possess the necessary powers.
