IDEA OF SELF IN FORMULATING THE PRINCIPLES OF JUSTICE

PROJECT WORK

Submitted by:

Submitted to:

Aiswarya Murali

S K Kaushik

IVth Semester

Faculty of Law

Roll no: 1262

NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY, JODHPUR

SUMMER SESSION
(JANUARY-MAY 2016)
1

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I take this opportunity to express my gratitude and personal regards to Prof S K Kaushik for
inspiring and guiding me during the course of this project work. I also owe my sincere thanks
to the library staff, National Law University for the corporation and facility extended from
time to time during the progress of my project work.

Aiswarya Murali

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

SUBJECT: Jurisprudence
TOPIC: Idea of Self in Formulating the Principles of Justice
For the completion of this project I have utilized the doctrinal research from primary and
secondary sources. Books, Articles and commentaries have contributed the major part of my
research.

SCOPE OF THE PROJECT

The Project seeks to find ways in which the principles of justice are formulated, through
identifying the concept of self. It examines the concept of self formulated by various
Jurists and analyses how the concept of justice has evolved through it. It also enables the
readers to realize the importance of the idea of self which hasnt been often given enough
importance when discussed about Justice.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION..............................................................................................6
CHAPTER 2: TRACING BACK THE IDEA OF SELF........................................................7
CHAPTER 3: EMERGENCE OF THE IDEA OF SELF IN MODERN JURISPRUDENCE9
CHAPTER 4: THE SELF ATTAINING JUSTICE..................................................................12
CONCLUSION........................................................................................................................17
BIBLIOGRAPHY....................................................................................................................18

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

The Ancient Indian Sages called it Atman or Brahman, the Greeks called it auto, the
Latins called it nosce te ipsum, the Egyptians called it the akh. Yet it all had one universal
meaning, that we now call it as self. The contradiction of the word is that, its the most used
word, yet the least known. We, humans spent our entire span of life with our self yet we
know the least about it. This word is like a Pandora treasure box. If you manage to get the
key to it, you shall uncover the entire secret of life. The meaning for everything and an
answer to our unending questions. Yet we have no unending questions here. The only
question we have is that of Justice. If we are successful in forming an idea of self, the
principles of justice shall follow.1
Many Jurists all through their life have debated on this idea and it hasnt seen its end yet.
Starting from David Hume, from whose idea Kant criticized and gave the most detailed work
on self and levels of consciousness, the Utilitarians, who specifically did not speak about it,
but about its nature. The hard core Libertarians, whose entire idea is based on self and selfownership and finally the Communitarians whose idea emerged out of their criticism of
Libertarian idea of self. Most of these Jurists, in fact, slipped into the idea of self, while
trying to formulate the theory of Justice. Hence the main purpose of this project is to
formulate principles of Justice which shall be the byproduct of our findings of the idea of
self.
In this project the author begins by tracing back the idea of self as far as identifiable through
sources, which gradually evolved through human reason and advanced through the expansion
of human intellect. In the second chapter, with the help of understanding of the theories put
forth by various Jurists, idea of self is understood through the prism of Justice and in the
third chapter both concepts are intertwined to give birth to the principles of Justice. The
author wishes to put forth her own idea on the topic and finally concludes the project with a
positive note and summing up the entire idea.

1 John Finnis, Intention and Identity-Collected Essays: Volume II, Oxford University Press
6

CHAPTER 2: TRACING BACK THE IDEA OF SELF

In the course of human evolution, at a certain point of time, the idea of living in a group with
mutual understanding and dependency became a very useful and practical lifestyle. From
such small isolated groups, communities were formed. Then came the societies which in due
time became a civilization. The change that lead to such a transformation of human intellect
and psychology has been still debated. How idea of self, developed through this evolution is
notable. Interestingly the importance of self came into picture when people started to live in
groups and there was a transgression of self- interests which raised the question of Justice.
ANCIENT INDIAN CONCEPT OF SELF
The early Upanishadic thinkers were mystified, intrigued and overawed by the elusive
concept of self. According to them, the self, as thinking subject, could not be its own object in
one and the same act of thinking. The Upanishads came out with the statement Tat Tvam Asi
(That Thou Art) declaring the identity of Brahma (the creative and unifying principle of the
universe) with the Atman (the deepest self) conceived as the unchanging subject to which the
whole temporal order is an object. Even the Egyptians had a very complicated theory of
self.2
THE EGYPTIAN CONCEPT OF SELF
Ancient Egyptians believed that their soul or self had a different aspect. There were five
parts: the ka, the ba, the akh, the name and the shadow or shade. Each of the aspects of the
Ancient Egyptian "self" was unique, yet interrelated with the other four elements. Each aspect
of the "self" was viewed as unique; each had its own purpose and use. There are, however,

2 D. C. Mathur ,The Concept of Self in the Upanishads: An Alternative Interpretation ,Philosophy and
Phenomenological Research, Vol. 32, pp. 390-396, International Phenomenological Society Stable,
http://www.jstor.org/stable/2105571, Accessed: 02-03-2016 11:59 UTC.

also many ways that these aspects are interwoven. The importance of knowing Self only
grew with time.3

WESTERN CONCEPT OF SELF

Few of the oldest philosophers that sources can remember like Plato and Socrates had
employed the maxim know thyself. 4 Yet these are quite peripheral idea which looks the
concept of self as a distinct entity. Without questioning why the importance of identification
of the idea of self is important, principles of Justice cannot formulated. Hence we run forward
in order to find a solution.

3 Death in Ancient Egypt, a summary of the funerary customs of Ancient Egypt.

4 Plato, The Dialogues of Plato translated into English with Analyses and Introductions by
Benjamin Jowett, 3rd ed, Oxford University Press, 1892.
8

CHAPTER 3: EMERGENCE OF THE IDEA OF SELF IN MODERN

JURISPRUDENCE

Among the 18th century philosophers, David Hume gave his bundle theory of identity which
is his main contribution to the idea of self. Hume believed that the entire contents of the mind
were drawn from experience alone. The stimulus could be external or internal. I comprehend
all our sensations, passions, and emotions as they make their first appearance in the soul.
Ideas were images in thinking and reason.5 Yet there are several criticism on Humes theory
that says he had no theory on self. He rejected the very existence of self itself. One of the
critics were Immanuel Kant, who gave a very detailed theory of self.6
SELF FROM UTILITARIAN VIEW
For Utilitarians Justice was about serving ones own self- interest. Whatever served the
interest of ones self, was called pleasure. And for Utilitarians justice was maximization of
pleasure. And for Bentham it was nothing more than that. Mills idea of self projected added
qualities. There is an inherent conception of self. For them self is nothing but a pleasure
seeking entity. They also recognize the differences in self, as the pleasure sought by different
selves is different. Bentham recognizes this aspect and places no pleasure above another. Mill
on the other hand recognizes the subjective difference in the nature of Self as in the pleasure
seeking capacity. He placed weight on the effectiveness of internal sanctions. Emotions like
guilt and remorse which serve to regulate our actions. This is an off-shoot of the different
view of human nature adopted by Mill. 7 We are the sorts of beings that have social feelings,
feelings for others, not just ourselves. When one perceives oneself to be the agent of that
5 (Flew 1962 p. 176).
6 Hume, A Treatise of Human Nature, Selby-Bigge & Nidditch (ed.), Oxford: Clarendon,
1985, Book I, section 6, Of Personal Identity, p.251-263.
9

harm, the negative emotions are centered on the self. One feels guilt for what one has done,
not for what one sees another doing. Like external forms of punishment, internal sanctions
are instrumentally very important to appropriate action.8 Mill also held that natural features of
human psychology, such as conscience and a sense of justice, underwrite motivation. The
sense of justice, for example, results from very natural impulses. Part of this sense involves a
desire to punish those who have harmed others, and this desire in turn is a spontaneous
outgrowth from two sentiments, both in the highest degree natural; the impulse of selfdefense, and the feeling of sympathy.9
Yet the Utilitarian principle of Justice was not solely centered on the idea of self but on
pleasure and pain. The Utilitarians failed to regard the liberty and freedom aspect of
individuals, as their idea always tended to merge into the ocean of collective happiness.
THE LIBERTARIAN IDEA OF SELF
The liberal ethic asserts the priority of right, and seeks principles of justice that do not
presuppose any particular conception of the good. A central attraction of libertarian political
philosophy is that it takes very seriously the historical component of justice. To ask whether
justice obtains in the world, libertarians argue, is mainly to ask whether people have been
justly treated, principally whether their rights to their persons and possessions have been
respected.10 Libertarian theories of justice thus focus on the processes by which social results
come about, and reject theories that look merely at the outcomes or end-state distributions.11
Libertarianism, in the narrow sense of this entry, holds that agents are, at least initially, full
self-owners.
John Locke first recognized the idea of liberty, freedom and conceptualized it in order to form
the principles of Justice. Yet the position of individual liberty is not clear in his concept. He

7 M.D.A.Freeman, Lloyds Introduction to Jurisprudence, Sweet & Maxwell publications.

8 John Stuart Mill, On Liberty, Batoche Books Kitchener, 2001
9 http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/libertarianism/, Last visited on: 2nd March 2016
10 Supra Note 5.
11 Supra Note 6.
10

first proposed the idea of possession.12 According to him God owns human body and we are
only custodians. Since we do not own our body, we cannot sell it, or take life or liberty. He
identified the three inalienable rights as right to life, liberty and possession. The concept of
consent as well is important while discussing his idea. Property cannot be touched upon
without his consent as I have obtained it through my act.
Robert Nozicks concept is heavily centered on self. Its unique feature is the idea of
individual liberty. According to him the problem of justice is problem of liberty. And liberty
is the sole characteristic of Self. Liberty is essential for Self as it enables individuals,
express themselves differently and enhance their intrinsic capabilities.13 His underlying
presumption is that I own myself. He gave the most importance to the protection of private
property and individual liberty. If both of these are ensured then Justice, according to him is
served.
Yet few libertarians like Rawls, recognizes that the question of Justice arises not just at some
point of conflict but right from the start where he puts in as the natural inequalities. Self
cannot be put out of the purview of external factors that influences it. As in the circumstances
and the society it is placed in. For John Rawls Justice is Fairness. And Fairness is the just
treatment of Self. This is from where the idea of self intertwined with justice actually
emerges.

12 Supra Note 5.
13 http://www.libertarianism.org/media/free-thoughts-podcast/episode-3-robert-nozicksanarchy-state-utopia, Last visited on: 15th March 2016
11

CHAPTER 4: THE SELF ATTAINING JUSTICE

So we can't just ignore the problem. We have to find room in our contemporary world view
for persons with all that that entails; not just bodies, but persons. And that means trying to
solve the problem of freedom, finding room for choice and responsibility, and trying to
understand individuality. -Waking Life

Since Kant has made the most important contribution to the idea of self, we begin with his
theory. The basic postulate in this field is, according to Kant, the free human will. By will
he means more than the faculty of desire; he means the faculty of desire as modified by the
reason of the subject before a choice is made. Implicated in it is the notion of freedom. For
both ethics and justice are meaningless unless it be supposed that the subject is free to direct
his will to one choice rather than the other.14 According to him justice is the first virtue of
social institutions. Justice is more than just another value. It provides the framework that
regulates the play of competing values and ends; it must therefore have a sanction
independent of those ends.15 But it is not obvious where such a mention could be found. Kant
held that a person is acting autonomously when the principles of his action are chosen by him
as the most adequate possible expression of his nature as a free and equal rational human
being. Thus if a person realizes his true self by expressing it in his actions, and if he desires
14 Metaphysische Anfangsgrunde
15 John Rawls, Justice As Fairness- A restatement, Universal Law Publications.
12

above all else to realize this self, then he will choose to act from principles that manifest his
nature as a free and equal rational human being. 16 In his work he even elaborately describes
about the aspects of self-consciousness and the realms to it.
Within a Kantian cluster of ideas, people have dignity by virtue of their autonomy, and their
autonomy in turn is inseparable from their responsibility; these are two sides of the same
coin.17 The sides of a coin are not only inseparably linked together, but they also define the
coin as such, make it into a currency rather than just a chunk of metal, and, in doing so, they
endow it with value and determine its denomination, which in regard to persons is measured
in the metric of dignity. Since the coin here alludes to the self, this metaphor also helps
convey the further, perhaps obvious, point-namely that autonomy and responsibility depend
for their content and application on our conception of the self. To be responsible is, at least
primarily, to be answerable for oneself, and to be autonomous is to govern oneself. So what
precisely we are responsible for and how far our autonomy extends crucially depend on the
composition and boundaries of the self.18
For Rawls, Justice is dealing with the natural inequalities. Rawls main idea of self emerges
from his concept of original position. According to liberalism, who I am is not defined by
my class, ethnicity, religion or membership in any tradition or community.19 I am not defined
by these because I am free to reject or accept the values of associated with any of these
roles20. It is that freedom that liberalism seeks to preserve and respect. Same is being heavily
criticized by the communitarians.
His idea of original position is a hypothetical situation wherein, so as to ensure Justice is
fair, while entering into contract each individual should imagine himself behind a veil of
ignorance, wherein one forgets about all the factors which influences ones judgment while
16Patricia Kitcher, Kant on Self-Consciousness ,The Philosophical Review, Vol. 108, No. 3 ,
pp. 345-386 ,Duke University Press on behalf of Philosophical Review Stable,
http://www.jstor.org/stable/2998465
17 Sydney Shoemaker, Self-Reference and Self-Awareness, in the Journal of Philosophy,
p.555-567; reprinted in Quassim Cassam (ed.).
18 SelfKnowledge, Oxford University Press, 1994, p.80-93, esp. p.81-85.
19 John Rawls, A Theory of Justice, Universal Law Publishing Co.Pvt.Ltd
20Ibid
13

bargaining. This is a method of neutralizing the nature of self, wherein all selves are
unaffected by the extraneous circumstances.21 This ensures that the bargain is for the good of
the whole society. This give rise to a fair agreement which is born out of selflessness. The
author finds it difficult to deny the fact that Rawls imputed an inherent conception of self,
when he refers to an individual born with certain kind of talent. Fairness also requires that
individuals in the original position are self-interested and rational. This does not entail
selfishness or egoism, as everyone has to imagine the position of everyone else.
The Communitarians gave a totally different view of self through their criticism on
liberalism. Michael Sandel claims that Rawls posits an inconsistent treatment of the self.
Although Rawls acknowledges the inter subjectivity of the self, he needs a conception of a
rational and unified self to found his thesis of the priority of the right over the good. 22
Moreover, Rawlss deontological liberalism requires a conception of justice which does not
presuppose any particular conception of good, to serve as the framework within which
different conceptions of the good, to serve as the framework within which different
conceptions of self becomes possible. The primacy of justice is both a moral priority and a
privileged form of justification.23
For Sandel the idea of original position is rationally unassailable. According to the
deontological ethics, the self that emerges is argued as an unencumbered self, a self which
has no bonding. A self-understood as prior to and independent of its purposes and ends. It
also distinguishes between the value I stand for and what I actually am. 24 He also put forth
that for the justice to be primary, then, we must be creatures of a certain kind, related to
human circumstances in a certain way. This is a flawed portrayal of humans in the form of
sovereigns free to construct principles of justice unconstrained by an order of value
antecedently given.25

21 Meir Dan-Cohen, Authority of the Self, The, 43 Ariz. St. L.J. 1159 (2011),Available at:
http://scholarship.law.berkeley.edu/facpubs/1809
22 Michael J. Sandel, Public Philosophy, Harvard University Press.
23 Michael J Sandel, Justice, Harvard Press.
24 Supra Note21
25 Supra Note22
14

For Communitarians there is no idea of self at all. One is nothing rather than what one has
gained from ones history. The put forth the impossibility of detaching oneself from the
society and imputing an independent meaning for self. 26 Self at any stage can never be
neutralized.
For Charles Taylor the liberal view of the subject is atomist because it affirms the selfsufficient character of the individual. In contrast to the Aristotelian notion of man as
fundamentally a political animal who can only realize his human nature within the bosom of
a society27, it impoverishes our idea of ourselves and aids in the destruction of public life
through the development of bureaucratic individualism.28
We may summarize the above view as
1. We are unencumbered by our social roles only if this corresponds to our deepest selfunderstanding.
2. But our deepest self-reflection reveals a self-encumbered by its aims, purposes or ends.
3. So the self is not unencumbered.
Liberals claim that we do not need a fixed given set of values in order to question our
projects and roles. But that does not imply that they think that there is no given set of values
at all. Indeed, every choice may require a given set of values, but a liberal thinks that these
values themselves can be questioned over time, perhaps from the perspective of new values.29
Concluding lastly with another major contribution towards the idea by Michel Foucault.
CONTRIBUTION OF FOUCAULT
Foucaults major work revolves around formation of self with regard to the relationship
between three major and inherently connected forces: power, truth and subjectivity. Each of

26 Dr Clare Chambers, Political Liberalism, Communitarianism and Multiculturalism

Lecture 1: A Theory of Justice and the unencumbered self
27John. Friedman, A critique on Communitarianism, Canadian Journal of Philosophy, Vol.
17, No. 1 (Mar., 1987), pp. 227-234
28 Julius Stone, The Province and Function of Law, Universal Law Publications.
29 Supra Note 27
15

these has a unique relationship with the other, and the three forces in tandem have immense
impact on the formation of the individual being.30
For Foucault and the ancient Greeks, it was counterproductive not to focus on the self, and a
keen self-awareness was vital for participation in social and political life. Care of the self,
then, became a focal point for individual freedom, positive relationships with others, and,
potentially, ethical participation in politics.31
According to him in order to know ourselves, we must first understand what constitutes
caring for ourselves. It is both a mind-set and a practice, constant throughout ones life, in
which the individual takes charge of his own identity and sense of self. This self-care occurs
at the bodily, mental and spiritual level.
Care of the self, for soul, mind and body, is much more complex than eating healthy and
avoiding stress, as Foucault explains: It is a matter of acts and pleasures, not of desire. It is a
matter of the formation of the self through techniques of living, not of repression through
prohibition and law.32
THE GOVERNANCE PART
According to Foucault, power exists everywhere, in every human relationship. The
individual, oppressed or not, and conscious of it or not, always participates in what Foucault
calls power relations. For Foucault, power relations exist when all parties involved have
certain degrees of both individual freedom and power over the others. When an individual
loses his freedom in this power relation, then Foucault calls this a state of domination. In
this light, practicing care of the self allows one to adjust and control power over both oneself
and others.33
AUTHORS CONTRIBUTION

30 Batters, Stephanie M., "Care of the Self and the Will to Freedom: Michel Foucault,
Critique and Ethics" (2011). p231.,http://digitalcommons.uri.edu/srhonorsprog/231
31 Ibid
32 Supra Note30
33 Supra Note30
16

From the above theories, the author would like to make her own contribution as an addition
to this idea. It is difficult to deny that there is no inherent characteristic which is exclusive to
self. This is well evident from the choices that self makes which differentiates it from
other selves. Even though the basic aspirations and nature of every self is similar, but there
is an element which makes it very distinct. Hence the communitarian view of no self idea
independent of its community is not acceptable. The author would like to put forth the idea
that community emerges from self, and the cohesive element within each community is the
harmony between the selves. The authors view is perhaps a mixture of the communitarian,
libertarian and the utilitarian idea. Regarding self-ownership, the authors view is that an
individual owns his self and not his body. Thus viewing body and self as two separate
entities independent of each other.

CONCLUSION

17

The idea of a self plays a central role in Western philosophy as well as in the Indian and other
major traditions. Three main types of views of the self can be discerned. One moves from
Kants conception of rationally autonomous self, another from the so-called homoeconomicus theory, of Aristotelian descent.34 Both those types of views theorize the
independency of the first person from its biological and social environment. Against those, a
perspective that sees the self as organically developing within a certain environment has been
proposed by the communitarians.
In ethics and political philosophy, the self is the key concept to explain freedom of the will as
well as individual responsibility. Theories of justice, and for that matter, ethics, have typically
founded their claims on one or another conception of human purposes and ends.
The self s composition and boundaries are the largely unintended by-products of individual
actions and collective practices, including those of law and morality, whose primary
orientation is not the creation of a self but the accomplishment of some individual or
collective goals.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

34 http://philosophy.about.com/od/Philosophical-Theories-Ideas/a/The-Self.htm, Last visited

on 19th March, 2016
18

BOOKS

John Finnis, Intention and Identity-Collected Essays: Volume II, Oxford University
Press

Plato, The Dialogues of Plato translated into English with Analyses and Introductions
by Benjamin Jowett, 3rd ed, Oxford University Press, 1892.

Hume, A Treatise of Human Nature, Selby-Bigge & Nidditch (ed.), Oxford:

Clarendon, 1985, Book I, section 6, Of Personal Identity, p.251-263.

M.D.A.Freeman, Lloyds Introduction to Jurisprudence, Sweet & Maxwell

publications.

John Stuart Mill, On Liberty, Batoche Books Kitchener, 2001

John Rawls, Justice As Fairness- A restatement, Universal Law Publications.

Sydney Shoemaker, Self-Reference and Self-Awareness, in the Journal of

Philosophy, p.555-567; reprinted in Quassim Cassam (ed.).

SelfKnowledge, Oxford University Press, 1994, p.80-93, esp. p.81-85.

John Rawls, A Theory of Justice, Universal Law Publishing Co.Pvt.Ltd

Michael J. Sandel, Public Philosophy, Harvard University Press.

Michael J Sandel, Justice, Harvard Press.

Julius Stone, The Province and Function of Law, Universal Law Publications.

ARTICLES

D. C. Mathur ,The Concept of Self in the Upanishads: An Alternative Interpretation

,Philosophy and Phenomenological Research, Vol. 32, pp. 390-396, International
Phenomenological Society Stable.

Death in Ancient Egypt, a summary of the funerary customs of Ancient Egypt.

Patricia Kitcher, Kant on Self-Consciousness ,The Philosophical Review, Vol. 108,

No. 3 , pp. 345-386 ,Duke University Press on behalf of Philosophical Review Stable

Meir Dan-Cohen, Authority of the Self, The, 43 Ariz. St. L.J. 1159 (2011),Available
at: http://scholarship.law.berkeley.edu/facpubs/1809

Dr Clare Chambers, Political Liberalism, Communitarianism and Multiculturalism

Lecture 1: A Theory of Justice and the unencumbered self

19

John. Friedman, A critique on Communitarianism, Canadian Journal of Philosophy,

Vol. 17, No. 1 (Mar., 1987), pp. 227-234

Batters, Stephanie M., "Care of the Self and the Will to Freedom: Michel Foucault,
Critique and Ethics" (2011). p231.,http://digitalcommons.uri.edu/srhonorsprog/231

WEBSITES

http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/libertarianism/

http://www.libertarianism.org/media/free-thoughts-podcast/episode-3-robert-nozicksanarchy-state-utopia

http://www.jstor.org

http://philosophy.about.com/od/Philosophical-Theories-Ideas/a/The-Self.htm,
visited on 19th March, 2016

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