Fairness as Order: A Grammatical and Etymological Prolegomenon

Abstract

If frequency of use and early acquisition are any guides to significance, fairness must be one of our more important moral concepts. Complaints of unfairness are ubiquitous, and the obsession of children for fairness is a notorious feature of family life. Yet the concept of fairness receives little attention from moral philosophers. This neglect may seem deserved for two reasons. First, it may be said that fairness is concerned only with procedures and with interpersonal comparisons, and that neither of these matters raises any deep philosophical issues. Thus there may seem no need to analyze the concept of fairness. Second, it may be said that fairness is a part of justice, and hence that issues of fairness are addressed, if only implicitly, by accounts of justice. Again, then, discussion of fairness is unnecessary.