A Naturalistic Understanding of Justice Under Pandemic

Jingtao Jiang

doi:doi:10.11648/j.jpsir.20200303.15

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A Naturalistic Understanding of Justice Under Pandemic

Jingtao Jiang

Published in Journal of Political Science and International Relations (Volume 3, Issue 3)

Received: 31 August 2020 Accepted: 21 September 2020 Published: 30 September 2020

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Abstract

The coronavirus pandemic has sparked controversies over freedom, equality and democracy, some of which affirm the government's epidemic control measures and some deny them. Through the further analysis of the meaning of freedom, equality and democracy, we demonstrate that the epidemic prevention and control measures are in line with positive freedom, proportional equality and republican democracy, but are contrary to negative freedom, absolute equality and liberal democracy. Further evaluation involves the criterion of justice. The traditional normative justice standard is the axiom system constructed by the rational man, but the problem is that the rational man here is not a real man. This paper advocates a kind of naturalistic standard of justice based on the needs and satisfactions of human being's survival, development and balance. According to this view of justice, freedom is the ability and degree of a living system to meet its internal needs. The pursuit of freedom is the instinctive response of a living system to the law of survival and development, and therefore is just. Equality reflects the comparison of the influence of one living system with another living system. Absolute equality with equal influence does not exist, and the enforcement of such equality only hinders the strong and indulges the weak, which is not in line with the law of survival and development of the life system and is therefore unjust. Only the proportional distribution according to the actual influence of living systems is fair, conducive to the survival and development of living systems, and therefore just. Democracy reflects the comparison of influence between the middle class that composed of lots of ordinary people, and the upper class that composed of a few elites，in one same group of living systems. The middle class overpowers the upper class and the upper class overpowers the middle class, which are both bad for the survival and development of living systems and therefore unjust. Only when the middle class and the upper class have equal influence or simply eliminate the classes can they unite and represent the public will of all members. Such a republican system is conducive to the survival and development of the living systems and thus is just.

Published in	Journal of Political Science and International Relations (Volume 3, Issue 3)
DOI	10.11648/j.jpsir.20200303.15
Page(s)	84-91
Creative Commons	This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright	Copyright © The Author(s), 2020. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Coronavirus Pandemic, Normative Justice, Naturalistic Justice

References

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[7]	Harvey, D. 2020. We need a collective response to the collective dilemma of coronavirus. [On-line]. Available: https://www.jacobinmag.com/2020/04/david-harvey-coronavirus-pandemic-capital-economy (accessed May 10, 2020).
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[12]	Aristotle, and Benjamin Jowett. 1999. Politics. Kitchener, Ont: Batoche Books, 1999, p109.
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[14]	Rousseau, J. 1762. The Social Contract. [On-line]. Available: https://www.earlymoderntexts.com/assets/pdfs/rousseau1762.pdf (accessed May 10, 2020). p7, p6.
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APA Style

Jingtao Jiang. (2020). A Naturalistic Understanding of Justice Under Pandemic. Journal of Political Science and International Relations, 3(3), 84-91. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jpsir.20200303.15

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Jingtao Jiang. A Naturalistic Understanding of Justice Under Pandemic. J. Polit. Sci. Int. Relat. 2020, 3(3), 84-91. doi: 10.11648/j.jpsir.20200303.15

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Jingtao Jiang. A Naturalistic Understanding of Justice Under Pandemic. J Polit Sci Int Relat. 2020;3(3):84-91. doi: 10.11648/j.jpsir.20200303.15

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@article{10.11648/j.jpsir.20200303.15,
  author = {Jingtao Jiang},
  title = {A Naturalistic Understanding of Justice Under Pandemic},
  journal = {Journal of Political Science and International Relations},
  volume = {3},
  number = {3},
  pages = {84-91},
  doi = {10.11648/j.jpsir.20200303.15},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jpsir.20200303.15},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.jpsir.20200303.15},
  abstract = {The coronavirus pandemic has sparked controversies over freedom, equality and democracy, some of which affirm the government's epidemic control measures and some deny them. Through the further analysis of the meaning of freedom, equality and democracy, we demonstrate that the epidemic prevention and control measures are in line with positive freedom, proportional equality and republican democracy, but are contrary to negative freedom, absolute equality and liberal democracy. Further evaluation involves the criterion of justice. The traditional normative justice standard is the axiom system constructed by the rational man, but the problem is that the rational man here is not a real man. This paper advocates a kind of naturalistic standard of justice based on the needs and satisfactions of human being's survival, development and balance. According to this view of justice, freedom is the ability and degree of a living system to meet its internal needs. The pursuit of freedom is the instinctive response of a living system to the law of survival and development, and therefore is just. Equality reflects the comparison of the influence of one living system with another living system. Absolute equality with equal influence does not exist, and the enforcement of such equality only hinders the strong and indulges the weak, which is not in line with the law of survival and development of the life system and is therefore unjust. Only the proportional distribution according to the actual influence of living systems is fair, conducive to the survival and development of living systems, and therefore just. Democracy reflects the comparison of influence between the middle class that composed of lots of ordinary people, and the upper class that composed of a few elites，in one same group of living systems. The middle class overpowers the upper class and the upper class overpowers the middle class, which are both bad for the survival and development of living systems and therefore unjust. Only when the middle class and the upper class have equal influence or simply eliminate the classes can they unite and represent the public will of all members. Such a republican system is conducive to the survival and development of the living systems and thus is just.},
 year = {2020}
}

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TY  - JOUR
T1  - A Naturalistic Understanding of Justice Under Pandemic
AU  - Jingtao Jiang
Y1  - 2020/09/30
PY  - 2020
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jpsir.20200303.15
DO  - 10.11648/j.jpsir.20200303.15
T2  - Journal of Political Science and International Relations
JF  - Journal of Political Science and International Relations
JO  - Journal of Political Science and International Relations
SP  - 84
EP  - 91
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2640-2785
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jpsir.20200303.15
AB  - The coronavirus pandemic has sparked controversies over freedom, equality and democracy, some of which affirm the government's epidemic control measures and some deny them. Through the further analysis of the meaning of freedom, equality and democracy, we demonstrate that the epidemic prevention and control measures are in line with positive freedom, proportional equality and republican democracy, but are contrary to negative freedom, absolute equality and liberal democracy. Further evaluation involves the criterion of justice. The traditional normative justice standard is the axiom system constructed by the rational man, but the problem is that the rational man here is not a real man. This paper advocates a kind of naturalistic standard of justice based on the needs and satisfactions of human being's survival, development and balance. According to this view of justice, freedom is the ability and degree of a living system to meet its internal needs. The pursuit of freedom is the instinctive response of a living system to the law of survival and development, and therefore is just. Equality reflects the comparison of the influence of one living system with another living system. Absolute equality with equal influence does not exist, and the enforcement of such equality only hinders the strong and indulges the weak, which is not in line with the law of survival and development of the life system and is therefore unjust. Only the proportional distribution according to the actual influence of living systems is fair, conducive to the survival and development of living systems, and therefore just. Democracy reflects the comparison of influence between the middle class that composed of lots of ordinary people, and the upper class that composed of a few elites，in one same group of living systems. The middle class overpowers the upper class and the upper class overpowers the middle class, which are both bad for the survival and development of living systems and therefore unjust. Only when the middle class and the upper class have equal influence or simply eliminate the classes can they unite and represent the public will of all members. Such a republican system is conducive to the survival and development of the living systems and thus is just.
VL  - 3
IS  - 3
ER  -

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Author Information

Jingtao Jiang

Research Centre of Medical Humanities, Zunyi Medical University, Zunyi, China

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APA Style

Jingtao Jiang. (2020). A Naturalistic Understanding of Justice Under Pandemic. Journal of Political Science and International Relations, 3(3), 84-91. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jpsir.20200303.15

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ACS Style

Jingtao Jiang. A Naturalistic Understanding of Justice Under Pandemic. J. Polit. Sci. Int. Relat. 2020, 3(3), 84-91. doi: 10.11648/j.jpsir.20200303.15

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AMA Style

Jingtao Jiang. A Naturalistic Understanding of Justice Under Pandemic. J Polit Sci Int Relat. 2020;3(3):84-91. doi: 10.11648/j.jpsir.20200303.15

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@article{10.11648/j.jpsir.20200303.15,
  author = {Jingtao Jiang},
  title = {A Naturalistic Understanding of Justice Under Pandemic},
  journal = {Journal of Political Science and International Relations},
  volume = {3},
  number = {3},
  pages = {84-91},
  doi = {10.11648/j.jpsir.20200303.15},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jpsir.20200303.15},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.jpsir.20200303.15},
  abstract = {The coronavirus pandemic has sparked controversies over freedom, equality and democracy, some of which affirm the government's epidemic control measures and some deny them. Through the further analysis of the meaning of freedom, equality and democracy, we demonstrate that the epidemic prevention and control measures are in line with positive freedom, proportional equality and republican democracy, but are contrary to negative freedom, absolute equality and liberal democracy. Further evaluation involves the criterion of justice. The traditional normative justice standard is the axiom system constructed by the rational man, but the problem is that the rational man here is not a real man. This paper advocates a kind of naturalistic standard of justice based on the needs and satisfactions of human being's survival, development and balance. According to this view of justice, freedom is the ability and degree of a living system to meet its internal needs. The pursuit of freedom is the instinctive response of a living system to the law of survival and development, and therefore is just. Equality reflects the comparison of the influence of one living system with another living system. Absolute equality with equal influence does not exist, and the enforcement of such equality only hinders the strong and indulges the weak, which is not in line with the law of survival and development of the life system and is therefore unjust. Only the proportional distribution according to the actual influence of living systems is fair, conducive to the survival and development of living systems, and therefore just. Democracy reflects the comparison of influence between the middle class that composed of lots of ordinary people, and the upper class that composed of a few elites，in one same group of living systems. The middle class overpowers the upper class and the upper class overpowers the middle class, which are both bad for the survival and development of living systems and therefore unjust. Only when the middle class and the upper class have equal influence or simply eliminate the classes can they unite and represent the public will of all members. Such a republican system is conducive to the survival and development of the living systems and thus is just.},
 year = {2020}
}

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TY  - JOUR
T1  - A Naturalistic Understanding of Justice Under Pandemic
AU  - Jingtao Jiang
Y1  - 2020/09/30
PY  - 2020
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jpsir.20200303.15
DO  - 10.11648/j.jpsir.20200303.15
T2  - Journal of Political Science and International Relations
JF  - Journal of Political Science and International Relations
JO  - Journal of Political Science and International Relations
SP  - 84
EP  - 91
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2640-2785
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jpsir.20200303.15
AB  - The coronavirus pandemic has sparked controversies over freedom, equality and democracy, some of which affirm the government's epidemic control measures and some deny them. Through the further analysis of the meaning of freedom, equality and democracy, we demonstrate that the epidemic prevention and control measures are in line with positive freedom, proportional equality and republican democracy, but are contrary to negative freedom, absolute equality and liberal democracy. Further evaluation involves the criterion of justice. The traditional normative justice standard is the axiom system constructed by the rational man, but the problem is that the rational man here is not a real man. This paper advocates a kind of naturalistic standard of justice based on the needs and satisfactions of human being's survival, development and balance. According to this view of justice, freedom is the ability and degree of a living system to meet its internal needs. The pursuit of freedom is the instinctive response of a living system to the law of survival and development, and therefore is just. Equality reflects the comparison of the influence of one living system with another living system. Absolute equality with equal influence does not exist, and the enforcement of such equality only hinders the strong and indulges the weak, which is not in line with the law of survival and development of the life system and is therefore unjust. Only the proportional distribution according to the actual influence of living systems is fair, conducive to the survival and development of living systems, and therefore just. Democracy reflects the comparison of influence between the middle class that composed of lots of ordinary people, and the upper class that composed of a few elites，in one same group of living systems. The middle class overpowers the upper class and the upper class overpowers the middle class, which are both bad for the survival and development of living systems and therefore unjust. Only when the middle class and the upper class have equal influence or simply eliminate the classes can they unite and represent the public will of all members. Such a republican system is conducive to the survival and development of the living systems and thus is just.
VL  - 3
IS  - 3
ER  -

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