From Ethics to Justice

Abstract

In this paper, we argue that Ethics and reason should never be isolated from each other, since the task of Ethics consist precisely in finding reasonable principles for human action. A philosophical reflection on morals shows that the acknowledgment of my own freedom and of the freedom of everyone else, of my own existence and of the existence of everyone else, is a value that must be respected in an absolute way, leaving no place for conditions or exclusions – and that is precisely the fundamental principle for a rational foundation of Ethics. This involves an unavoidable social and political dimension: a reasonable social and political organization must be articulated from the basis of an absolute respect to the dignity of all persons, of justice for everyone. A social and political organization which does not have such a foundation does not deserve to be considered either rational or human.