Happiness and justice

The first chapter is on the relationship between happiness and justice, insofar as it is relevant to the objectives of the study. To this end, a definition of happiness was developed that acknowledges the possibility of materially conditioned happiness without denying the fleeting nature of happiness. Subsequently, two basic assumptions were discussed that are essential components of the thesis of just happiness. These are the idea of the diminishing marginal utility of income or money and the idea that just material happiness is subject to the proviso that it must also be deserved. Undeserved happiness, the idea continues, harbours an injustice that must be corrected through redistribution. Critical discussion of the two theses revealed that neither of them is tenable, but each helps to explain why the spontaneous distribution of material happiness is the subject of theories of social justice. Although the theory of the diminishing marginal utility of material happiness is not entirely implausible, its scope of application is limited to rather curious and short-term cases. It is not suitable for generalisation and only applies under the assumption of an objective concept of happiness, but not if one starts from a subjective concept of happiness. Furthermore, it overlooks the fact that income only has a temporary , but not a final diminishing marginal utility, and that people pursue other goals for which they wish to use their income in addition to goals that (may) serve their happiness.