Feasibility and social justice [Faisabilite et justice sociale]

Abstract

Is feasibility a constraint on the requirements of social justice? Proponents of what I call the "unqualified constraint view" say yes. Proponents of what I call the "no constraint view" say no. I propose instead what I call the "qualified constraint view" according to which it depends. In particular, there is an irreducible plurality of different kinds of claims about what justice requires, and it depends on the kind of claim that is at issue. Unlike the unqualified constraint view and the no constraint view, the qualified constraint view can explain why we often feel conflicted in the face of certain claims about the requirements of social justice that make infeasible demands.