Transcendental vs. comparative approaches to justice: a reappraisal of Sen's dichotomy

Ragip Ege, Herrade Igersheim and Charlotte Le Chapelain

The European Journal of the History of Economic Thought, 2016, vol. 23, issue 4, 521-543

Abstract: In The Idea of Justice , Sen describes two competing approaches to theorising about justice: “transcendental institutionalism”, in which he includes Rawls, and “realisation-focused comparison”, in which he includes Condorcet and himself. The objective of this paper is to demonstrate that a comparative approach cannot exist without a transcendental dimension. Contrary to Sen, who claims that a transcendental theory is neither necessary nor sufficient in order to frame comparative judgments, it is shown that a transcendental dimension is a necessary, albeit not sufficient, condition of any comparative approach. To illustrate our thesis, we refer to the works of three great authors: Condorcet, Sen himself and the later Rawls.

Date: 2016
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Working Paper: Transcendental vs. Comparative Approaches to Justice: A Reappraisal of Sen’s Dichotomy (2012)
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DOI: 10.1080/09672567.2014.916734

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