Primary goods are presented in the book ''
A Theory of Justice
''A Theory of Justice'' is a 1971 work of political philosophy and ethics by the philosopher John Rawls (1921–2002) in which the author attempts to provide a moral theory alternative to utilitarianism and that addresses the problem of distribu ...
'' (1971) written by the American philosopher
John Rawls
John Bordley Rawls (; February 21, 1921 – November 24, 2002) was an American moral philosophy, moral, legal philosophy, legal and Political philosophy, political philosopher in the Modern liberalism in the United States, modern liberal tradit ...
.
In the first edition of the ''Theory of Justice'', these goods are supposed to be desirable for every human being, just as they are also useful for them. Thus, primary goods are the common base for the unanimous selection of the justice principle in the
original position
The original position is a hypothetical position from which members of society would consider which principles they would select for the basic structure of their society if they had no knowledge ahead of time regarding the position which they w ...
.
Primary goods are subdivided in two categories:
* ''Natural primary goods'': this category includes intelligence, imagination, health, speed etc.
* ''Social primary goods'': this category includes rights (civil rights and political rights), liberties, income and wealth, the social bases of self-respect, etc.
In the second edition of the ''Theory of Justice'', primary goods are stated to be those that the citizens need as free people and as members of the society.
See also
*
Utilitarianism
In ethical philosophy, utilitarianism is a family of normative ethical theories that prescribe actions that maximize happiness and well-being for the affected individuals. In other words, utilitarian ideas encourage actions that lead to the ...
*
Welfarism
In ethics, welfarism is a theory that well-being, what is good for someone or what makes a life worth living, is the only thing that has intrinsic value. In its most general sense, it can be defined as descriptive theory about what has value but ...
References
*
Rawls, John, ''
A Theory of Justice
''A Theory of Justice'' is a 1971 work of political philosophy and ethics by the philosopher John Rawls (1921–2002) in which the author attempts to provide a moral theory alternative to utilitarianism and that addresses the problem of distribu ...
'', Belknap, United States, 1971.
*
Sen, Amartya, "Equality of What?", The Tanner Lecture on Human Values, Stanford University, May 1979.
Deontology
Concepts in ethics
Quality of life
John Rawls
Concepts in political philosophy
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