Aristotle's teleological theory of distributive justice holds that determining who deserves a good, office, or honor requires first identifying the telos (purpose or characteristic end) of the social practice distributing it, since justice consists in fitting persons to roles according to the virtues that practice is meant to honor. This account, situated within political philosophy and ethics, contrasts with deontological or contractualist theories (e.g., Kantian and Rawlsian liberalism) that separate justice and rights from any particular conception of the good, and it further holds that civic virtue is acquired only through the practice of political deliberation, not through abstract instruction.
Aristotle's teleological theory of distributive justice holds that determining who deserves a good, office, or honor requires first identifying the telos (purpose or characteristic end) of the social…