A worthy society. Margalite a

The question of what is a fair society and how to build it is discussed in European culture since the time of Plato and Aristotle. As a rule, in discussions about justice, the central place is given to the distribution of material and public goods. Meanwhile, the social movements of the last time (#Metoo, Black Lives Matter, new feminist discourses, the introduction of inclusive practices, protecting the feelings of certain social groups) show that in the modern world, justice is inseparable from another concept - dignity. Back in the mid-1990s, the famous Israeli philosopher, now Honorary Professor of the Jewish University at Jerusalem, Avishay Margalite investigated this problem in the book “Worthy Society”. In his opinion, a society in which people are not humiliated by social institutions can be considered worthy.

Margalite, the advanced idea compares with the famous theory of justice by John Rolz, trying not so much to identify their differences as to show the possibilities of their convergence. At the same time, he believes that a worthy society, in comparison with the fair, is a more achievable goal in the near historical perspective. By defending his position, the author conducts a detailed conceptual analysis of such fundamental concepts of ethics as “honor”, ​​“fraternity”, “mercy”, “integrity”, “proximity”, etc.