Justice as Repair

Abstract One standard story in political philosophy says that reparation is best viewed as supplementary to an ahistorical project of distributive justice. Once we figure out the forward-looking ideal, the argument goes, we can then focus on the necessary reparative interventions to transition us to that ideal state. I argue that this approach is mistaken. Not only do past injustices present barriers to achieving the distributive ideal—they also alter our conception of what counts as perfect justice from a forward-looking standpoint. I offer an alternative approach—justice as repair—that views reparation as a fundamental ideal in the concept of justice and analyze the concept of justice from that perspective.