To what extent reasoning can provide a reliable basis for a theory of justice is, of course, itself an issue… — Amartya Sen

Rather, it is the firmly ‘open’ outlook, which Smith’s ‘impartial spec tator’ invokes, that may be in some need of reassertion today. It can make a substantial difference to our understanding of the demands of impartiality in moral and political philosophy in the interconnected world in which we live.

To ask how things are going and whether they can be improved is a constant and inescapable part of the pursuit of justice.

Even though in the approach presented here principles of justice will not be defined in terms of institutions, but rather in terms of the lives and freedoms of the people involved, institutions cannot but play a significant instrumental role in the pursuit of justice.