[ POLL ] What Is Fairness?

Post Reply New Topic

Source: It's Not Fair! But What Is Fairness?

Here are three different ideas about what we mean by fairness:

1) SAMENESS: There is the fairness where everything is equal.  So everyone pays the same price for a theater ticket, whether a child, an adult or a senior citizen.  No one has more than another.  Everyone eats or no one does, for example.  Logically, then, an infant and an adolescent will receive the same amount of food.  It doesn't matter that one needs more than the other.  Fairness is finding the average and applying it across the board.  This is fairness as equality of outcome.

2) DESERVEDNESS: In this notion of fairness you get what you deserve.  If you work hard, you succeed and keep all that you earn.  Fairness means keeping what you deserve and deserving nothing if it isn't earned.  The hardest working, most diligent, smartest and most talented should have more because of their attributes; the lazy, indifferent, stupid and inept deserve to have less.  Fairness is a rational calculation.  This is fairness as individual freedom.

3) NEED: The third idea of fairness is that those who have more to give should give a greater percentage of what they have to help others who are unable to contribute much, if anything at all.  Fairness here takes into account the facts that humans have obligations to one another and the more one has the more is demanded of that person to contribute to the common good.  Fairness and responsibility are linked.  Compassion plays a role in the calculation of fairness.  This is fairness as social justice.

The poll allows up to 4 options to be selected, but the selections can be changed.

Fairness is more complex than you think.

If a lion kills a deer to survive, it isn't fair on the deer or its family.
If the lion spares the deer's life and starves, it isn't fair on the lion or it's family.

Sometimes you have to rob Peter to pay Paul.


However there are some things that can be made more fair if it wasn't for greed. But greed gets the better of the government.

I voted 2 and 3.
A situation where both comes into play is where a person wants to use salary earned to pay for clothing but there is not clothing available that fits the person.

The person has earned the ability to pay for clothing but since none are available that fit it is unfair.

Saying it is unfair to the person is not saying the person has a right to proper fitting clothing.

It doesn't truly exists.


It can only be determined on what others value and deem as 'fair'.

Everyone has their own priorities, every circle has their own priorities, every culture has their priorities, each species as their own priorities.


Humans just have theirs with one of the most complex ones.

One prioritizes outcome. One prioritizes rules. One prioritizes compassion. One prioritizes merit. One prioritizes haves and not haves. One prioritizes calls of many. One prioritizes certain conditions, variables, concepts, or formulas...
Some situations cannot allow one and another, some situations allows any or all of the priorities.

'Fairness' in my opinion, is just a person's or a being's priority and idea of 'treating one and another accordingly'.

Gained Number Post Count (1).
Lose Time (n).

Lose more time here - Updates at least once a week.

Other: Where's my ice cream?