Business Ethics Chapter 6 Glossary

The difference principle says a distribution of rights and responsibilities is just if, and only if, everyone receives the same resources unless an unequal distribution will result in the least well-off receiving more.

Strict equality of resources holds that a distribution of property rights in resources is just if, and only if, it results in everyone having the same amount of resources.

Equality of welfare holds that a distribution of property rights in resources is just if, and only if, it results in everyone having the same level of welfare.

Equal consideration of interests holds that a distribution is just if, and only if, it assigns the same weight to everyone’s interests in the aggregation of interests for purposes of utilitarian maximization.

Equality of opportunity says that a distribution is just if, and only if, it assigns positions in society according to morally relevant criteria such as ability or merit and not according to morally arbitrary criteria such as race or gender.

The law of diminishing marginal utility is the hypothesis that as the consumption of a given economic good increases, the marginal utility produced by the consumption of one additional unit of this economic good or service tends to decrease.

Marginal utility is the additional utility gained through the consumption of one additional unit of an economic good or service.

Total utility is the sum of all the utility produced by the consumption of economic goods or services.

An indirect utilitarian theory of justice claims that equal consideration of interests will lead to equality of resources because of the diminishing marginal utility of income.

Libertarianism holds that a distribution of rights and responsibilities is just if, and only if, it respects people’s equal rights to self-ownership.

Moral equality requires that organizations (and individuals) not treat people differently based on characteristics that are morally arbitrary.

Distributive justice ensures that society allocates benefits and burdens in a way that treats people as moral equals.

Compensatory justice ensures that people, who infringe the rights of others without consent, recompense fairly those whom they harm.

Retributive justice ensures that we hold people accountable fairly for harming others or violating their rights.