Justice and Constructivism

A lbert W eale's D emocratic J ustice and the S ocial C ontract is an important book. It offers an innovative and original (proceduralist) account of justice. In so doing, it places what B rian B arry called ‘the empirical method’ at the centre of normative political philosophy's attempts to generate determinate answers to moral questions. This article – written from the perspective of someone sympathetic to both the commitment to mutual advantage and the empirical method – focuses on the kind of argument it is that W eale is offering and in particular on the nature of his constructivist project. It argues that W eale's commitment to equality lies outside the constructivist project and that this undermines his aspiration to genuine constructivism. The article goes on to consider, on the basis of arguments found in D emocratic J ustice and the S ocial C ontract , various ways in which W eale might have grounded his egalitarian commitments from within the constructivist project.