Proudhon's philosophy of justice

Abstract

Proudhon's place in the history of modern socialism is somewhat ambiguous. In his dislike of collectivist theories he sometimes comes very near the liberal standpoint. His own programme is to 'mediate' between socialism and its critics. Unlike the positivists and the traditionalists of his time he is very close to the 'natural law' position. Even though his approach to metaphysics is strongly influenced by contemporary positivism, he makes justice the central conception of his philosophy. Using 'justice' in a very wide sense, Proudhon takes it to mean a general principle governing the universe. In a more legitimate sense he wants to equate it with equality. Taking in the beginning equality to mean strict equality in 'right' he refines it gradually to mean 'commutative justice', which he takes to mean 'equality of exchanges'. It is on this principle of 'commutative justice' that he based his anarchist and federalist theories. Proudhon bases justice on human dignity and conscience and is opposed to all theories which directly or indirectly find its sanction in some super-human principle. Yet justice in it's final form is for him 'absolute, immutable, eternal'. Proudhon realizes that a society based on equality runs the danger of losing liberty. But he hopes that a practical application of his dialectical principle of 'balance' between opposite forces would harmonize commutative justice with liberty. He believed that the key to economic reform lies in the reform of credit and exchange, and not in the regulation of production.