A Naturalistic Understanding of Justice Under Pandemic

Abstract

The coronavirus pandemic has sparked controversies over freedom, equality and democracy, some of which affirm the government's epidemic control measures and some deny them. Through the further analysis of the meaning of freedom, equality and democracy, we demonstrate that the epidemic prevention and control measures are in line with positive freedom, proportional equality and republican democracy, but are contrary to negative freedom, absolute equality and liberal democracy. Further evaluation involves the criterion of justice. The traditional normative justice standard is the axiom system constructed by the rational man, but the problem is that the rational man here is not a real man. This paper advocates a kind of naturalistic standard of justice based on the needs and satisfactions of human being's survival, development and balance. According to this view of justice, freedom is the ability and degree of a living system to meet its internal needs. The pursuit of freedom is the instinctive response of a living system to the law of survival and development, and therefore is just. Equality reflects the comparison of the influence of one living system with another living system. Absolute equality with equal influence does not exist, and the enforcement of such equality only hinders the strong and indulges the weak, which is not in line with the law of survival and development of the life system and is therefore unjust. Only the proportional distribution according to the actual influence of living systems is fair, conducive to the survival and development of living systems, and therefore just. Democracy reflects the comparison of influence between the middle class that composed of lots of ordinary people, and the upper class that composed of a few elites，in one same group of living systems. The middle class overpowers the upper class and the upper class overpowers the middle class, which are both bad for the survival and development of living systems and therefore unjust. Only when the middle class and the upper class have equal influence or simply eliminate the classes can they unite and represent the public will of all members. Such a republican system is conducive to the survival and development of the living systems and thus is just.