Equity, Equality, and Need: What Determines Which Value Will Be Used as the Basis of Distributive Justice?

The concept of justice is discussed, and the thesis is advanced that “equity” is only one of the many values which may underlie a given system of justice. Hypotheses about the conditions which determine which values will be employed as the basis of distributive justice in a group are proposed, with discussion centered about the values of “equity,” “equality,” and “need” and the conditions which lead a group to emphasize one rather than another value.