Question

What are the basic principles for just ownership in Nozick's "entitlement theory" of justice? What methods of obtaining property does each of the first two principles cover? What does his third principle reveal about any claims about the right of poor people to goods now held by others as a matter of justice? What does the principle of rectification add to the basic principles? Describe the Wilt Chamberlain story used by Nozick to illustrate libertarian justice. What is this story meant to show?. Explain why you find Nozick’s arguments convincing or not regarding the definition of a just economic system.

Answer 1

Nozick's entitlement theory has 3 basic principles.

1. Principle of justice in acquisition

2. Principle of justice in transfer

3. Principle of rectification of injustice

Nozick believes that only first two principles are needed if the world was wholly just.

Principle 1 : This method is about how people first come to own unowned and natural world properties.

Principle 2 : This method is about how one person can acquire holdings from other which includes gifts and voluntary exchange.

Principle 3 : This deals with the holdings that are unjustly acquired or transferred, whether and how much victims can be compensated and how to deal with the long past transgressions or injustices done by the government and so on.

Principle 3 says that no one is entitled to holding except by application of principle 1 and 2.

According to the story, wilt Chamberlain is an excellent basketball player and many teams compete with each other to engage his services. He agrees to play on a certain team's side on one condition that everyone who attends to watch his play puts 25cents in a special box while entering and this will go to him. During the season, 1million fans attend and he gets 250000$. Now however the just distribution of holding is upset because Chamberlain has 250,000$ more than anyone else. Is this the new distribution unjust?

The strong intuition that it is not unjust is accounted for by the nozick's entitlement theory because Chamberlain acquired this by legitimate means but it conflicts with the egalitarian theory. Nozick concluds that any society that attempted to implement such theory would have to intrude grossly on to the liberty of its citizens inorder to enforce the distribution in a just manner.

Nozick emphasizes that his vision of the minimal state is inclusive and is vompacompa with the existence of the smaller communities based on the varying theories of justice.