第44章

conclusionwhichIanticipatedinBooki。chap。v。:thatinthisonedepartmentofourmoralconsciousnesstheideaofFreeWillseemsinvolvedinapeculiarwayinthemoralideasofCommonSense，sinceifitiseliminatedtheimportantnotionsofDesertorMeritandJusticerequirematerialmodification。[2]

Atthesametime，thedifferencebetweenDeterministandLibertarianJusticecanhardlyhaveanypracticaleffect。Forinanycaseitdoesnotseempossibletoseparateinpracticethatpartofaman’sachievementwhichisduestrictlytohisfreechoicefromthatpartwhichisduetotheoriginalgiftofnatureandtofavouringcircumstances:sothatwemustnecessarilyleavetoprovidencetherealisationofwhatweconceiveasthetheoreticalidealofJustice，andcontentourselveswithtryingtorewardvoluntaryactionsinproportiontotheworthoftheservicesintentionallyrenderedbythem。

If，then，wetakeastheprincipleofidealjustice，sofarasthiscanbepracticallyaimedatinhumansociety，therequitalofvoluntaryservicesinproportiontotheirworth，itremainsto，consideronwhatprincipleorprinciplesthecomparativeworthofdifferentservicesistoberationallyestimated。Thereisnodoubtthatwecommonlyassumesuchanestimatetobepossible；forwecontinuallyspeakofthe`fair’

or`proper’priceofanykindofservicesassomethinggenerallyknown，andcondemnthedemandformorethanthisasextortionate。ItmaybesaidthatthenotionofFairnessorEquitywhichweordinarilyapplyinsuchjudgmentsistobedistinguishedfromthatofJustice；EquitybeinginfactoftencontrastedwithstrictJustice，andconceivedascapableofcomingintocollisionwithit。Andthisispartlytrue:butIthinkthewiderandnolessusualsenseofthetermJustice，inwhichitincludesEquityorFairness，istheonlyonethatcanbeconvenientlyadoptedinanethicaltreatise:forinanycasewhereEquitycomesintoconflictwithstrictjustice，itsdictatesareheldtobeinahighersensejust，andwhatoughttobeultimatelycarriedintoeffectinthecaseconsidered——thoughnot，perhaps，bytheadministratorsoflaw。ItreatEquity，therefore，asaspeciesofJustice；thoughnotingthattheformertermismoreordinarilyusedincaseswherethedefinitenessattainableisrecognisedassomewhatlessthaninordinarycasesofrightfulclaimsarisingoutoflaworcontract。

Onwhatprinciple，then，canwedeterminethe``fair’’or``equitable’’

priceofservices？Whenweexaminethecommonjudgmentsofpracticalpersonsinwhichthisjudgmentoccurs，wefind，Ithink，thatthe`fair’insuchcasesisascertainedbyareferencetoanalogyandcustom，andthatanyserviceisconsideredtobe`fairlyworth’whatisusuallygivenforservicesofthekind。HencethiselementofthenotionofJusticemayseem，afterall，toresolveitselfintothatdiscussedin§；2:andinsomestatesofsocietyitcertainlyappearsthatthepaymenttobegivenforservicesisascompletelyfixedbyusageasanyothercustomaryduty，sothatitwouldbeacleardisappointmentofnormalexpectationtodeviatefromthisusage。ButprobablynooneinamoderncivilisedcommunitywouldmaintaininitsfullbreadththisidentificationoftheJustwiththeUsualpriceofservices:andsofarasthejudgmentsofpracticalpersonsmayseemtoimplythis，Ithinkitmustbeadmittedthattheyaresuperficialormerelyinadvertent，andignoretheestablishedmodeofdeterminingthemarketpricesofcommoditiesbyfreecompetitionofproducersandtraders。

Forwheresuchcompetitionoperatesthemarketvaluerisesandfalls，andisdifferentatdifferentplacesandtimes；sothatnoproperlyinstructedpersoncanexpectanyfixityinit，orcomplainofinjusticemerelyonaccountofthevariationsinit。

Canwethensaythat`marketvalue’(asdeterminedbyfreecompetition)correspondstoournotionofwhatisideallyjust？

Thisisaquestionofmuchinterest，becausethisisobviouslythemodeofdeterminingtheremunerationofservicesthatwouldbeuniversalinasocietyconstructedontheprinciplepreviouslydiscussed，ofsecuringthegreatestpossibleFreedomtoallmembersofthecommunity。Itshouldbeobservedthatthis，whichwemaycalltheIndividualisticIdeal，isthetypetowhichmoderncivilisedcommunitieshave，untillately，beentendingtoapproximate:anditisthereforeveryimportanttoknowwhetheritisonewhichcompletelysatisfiesthedemandsofmorality；andwhetherFreedom，ifnotanabsoluteendorFirstPrincipleofabstractJustice，isstilltobesoughtasthebestmeanstotherealisationofajustsocialorderbythegeneralrequitalofDesert。

Atfirstsightitseemsplausibletourgethatthe`marketvalue’representstheestimatesetuponanythingbymankindgenerally，andthereforegivesusexactlythat`commonsense’

judgmentrespectingvaluewhichwearenowtryingtofind。Butonexaminationitseemslikelythatthemajorityofmenarenotproperlyqualifiedtodecideonthevalueofmanyimportantkindsofservices，fromimperfectknowledgeoftheirnatureandeffects；sothat，asfarastheseareconcerned，thetruejudgmentwillnotberepresentedinthemarket-place。Eveninthecaseofthingswhichamani