A Stereoscopic Approach to Distinctions of Justice

Abstract

How we use prominent, culturally significant nouns such as “justice” and how we differentiate the value of nouns through adjectives (e.g. “just” institutions) can be politically relevant. As this article shows, this nearly trivial point can be thought through to implications for a new approach to justice that I term “stereoscopic”. A stereoscopic outlook on justice places distinctions of justice (e.g. global, social, etc) into a complex relationship of synergy, tension and critical interplay. To introduce the stereoscopic outlook the article connects the ambiguity of “distinction” with operations that distinguish the meaning of justice through adjectives. A heuristic of distinctions is then introduced to illustrate the relevance of “adjective-noun” operations to justice. This heuristic indicates the possibility and benefits of having a stereoscopic approach to justice in mind when we rethink cases that invite considerations of justice across the globe.