Full Idea
The liberal conception of justice …excludes the essence of justice: desert.
Gist of Idea
Liberal justice ignores desert, which is the essence of justice
Source
John Kekes (Against Liberalism [1997], Pref)
Book Reference
Kekes,John: 'Against Liberalism' [Cornell 1997], p.-3
A Reaction
Certainly our normal concept of justice includes such thoughts as 'serves him right'. The trouble with the Kekes view is his society is continually morally judging people, and most people's grounds for that are fairly irrational. It's why we have courts.