The Task of Justice

Abstract

For two years (1985-86) the problem of social justice and unearned income was discussed on the pages of Komsomol'skaia pravda. The authors of this article also participated in this discussion. Hundreds of letters to the editors in response constitute rich material for reflection. They do not reflect the quantitative characteristics of any general group, but they do represent the qualitative structure and "phenomenology" of normative consciousness, including those everyday "social theories" with which this consciousness operates. Experience has shown that public discussion of such urgent problems as justice gives rise to a broad range of judgments in which elements of civic and even state thinking may always be found. But these letters also show how difficult it is to cultivate in a person the capacity to be just, and how easily a person loses this ability when his material interests are affected. Sociology must also do its part in cultivating this ability as a key element of public morals. If it does not ...