Political Justice for Otfried Heffe

Otfried Heffe (born 1943) is a German social philosopher and ethics specialist who examines the problem of political justice. Theory of Justice Heffe seems to be completely in line with the Kantian tradition. The thinker distinguishes between personal and institutional types of justice: The first is to understand the criterion of individual actions, and the second criterion for the correctness of social institutions (political justice, concerning the assessments of law and the state, is part of it). Also, Heffe notes the universal connection of law with loyalty to his own community, with solidarity. But solidarity, like morality, can only be asked, and we demand justice. The basic principle of political justice, Heffe formulates as a principle of impartiality, he is also the principle of equal rights to freedom, he is also the principle of distributively advantageous free existence. The scientist believes that there are certain categorical legal principles that can serve as a counterpoint of modernity. Justice, according to Heffe, lies in the structure of a society in which social benefits and public authorities to one degree or another benefit everyone, so everyone can agree with such a scenario for mature thinking. Heffe's just social order is directly related to democracy, which is understood not by "majority tyranny", but by "enlightened liberal" constitutional democracy. At the heart of Heffe's views is the concept of "transcendental exchange", which is the following. Social power is justified only when those it extends to can accept it. But this requires the ability to agree. In other words, social power must recognize in the people subordinate to it subjects of law, capable persons. Capacity implies basic rights. According to Heffe, positivism is erroneous, since power orders, which lack a well-known layer of justice, can not be considered public legal communities. Where there is a division into objects of coercion on the one hand, and persons from coercion of the winners, on the other hand, there is no even basic justice, and therefore the legal nature of the corresponding rules cannot be said. The legal form itself implies coercion, which serves the common distributive interests. The definition of right by attributing it to the ideal of justice is highly debatable. As part of the debunk of anarchism, Heffe attempts to justify the very existence of the state and law. Here the scientist again repels from Kant, who claimed that the right is connected with the right to coerce. But to justify it, it is necessary to prove that it will be beneficial for all. Heffe does this by reference to empirical data. It is also necessary to justify that coercion should come from the State through a legal form. Heffe does this by analyzing the "ticket-free problem" associated with public goods. According to the author of the article, Heffe correctly defined justice as a benefit for everyone, proposed a noteworthy way of justifying the basic human rights and the objective ideals of freedom and equality, but criticism of positivism and anarchism raise questions and objections.

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