The demand that every person have access to the resources needed to actualize their fundamental form of reality in all three dimensions (cf. Bexten 2017, p. 312 ff.). Distributive justice (iustitia distributiva) is not a mere economic principle but an immediate consequence of the Personalist Norm. Because every person possesses an unconditional dignity, they have a right to the material and immaterial preconditions of their personal life.
Thomas Aquinas distinguishes distributive justice from commutative justice (iustitia commutativa): while the latter regulates equality in exchange relations between individuals, distributive justice concerns the relation of the community to its members. The common good demands that the goods of the community be distributed such that every person finds the conditions for a life worthy of a human being.
In the personal-ontological perspective, distributive justice goes beyond purely material distribution. The person needs not only food and shelter, but also access to education, culture, and community. Only thus can the person unfold in the first (substantial being), second (actual enactment), and third dimension (moral perfection) of their personhood. Intergenerational justice extends this principle to the relation between generations. Future persons, too, have a right to the conditions of personal life.
The just wage is a concrete expression of distributive justice: it must correspond to the dignity of the working person and enable them and their family to live a life worthy of a human being.
Educational resource
An educational resource is a necessary condition for the actualization of the Second Dimension of personhood — the dimension of rational awareness and free will. As an immaterial resource, it belongs to those goods to which every person has a claim by virtue of their dignity. The principle of equality and the principle of need demand that educational resources be distributed justly, so that all persons can unfold their rationality and capacity for cognition.
Ontological classification: Superordinate concept: Immaterial Resource
Immaterial resource
An immaterial resource is a non-corporeal good such as education, information, or social participation, relevant to the actualization of the dimensions of personhood. As a subclass of the resource, it stands in complement to the material resource. Educational resources are a special form of immaterial resource and a necessary condition for the actualization of the Second Dimension (rational awareness, free will). Access to immaterial resources is a matter of distributive justice, for without it the person cannot unfold their spiritual potencies.
Ontological classification:
- subclass of: Resource
- has subclass: Educational Resource
Vital resource
Vital resources are food, water, shelter, and medical care — they form the necessary condition for the First Dimension of personhood (biological existence). Without access to these goods, the person cannot maintain their bodily existence, and thereby the foundation of all further dimensions falls away. The distribution structure of a society must therefore ensure that every person has access to these resources. A deprivation of vital resources is a fundamental violation of the dignity of the person.
Ontological classification:
- subclass of: Resource
Material resource
A material resource is a material good such as food, water, or shelter. As a subclass of the resource, it pertains to the corporeal-bodily dimension of personhood. Material resources are a precondition for the actualization of the First Dimension (biological existence) and thus a basic condition of all further dimensions. The natural resource base (air, water, soil, climate) is modeled as a subclass of the material resource, which grounds the ecological responsibility of the person.
Ontological classification:
- subclass of: Resource
- has subclass: Natural Resource Base
Resource
A resource is a material or immaterial good relevant to the actualization of the dimensions of personhood. The ontology distinguishes material resources (food, water, shelter), immaterial resources (education, information, social participation), and vital resources (necessary condition for biological existence). In the person there is grounded a claim, grounded in dignity, to access to the resources necessary for the actualization of their dimensions. The distribution structure of a society determines how resources are distributed among persons.
Ontological classification:
- subclass of: Entity
- has subclasses: Material Resource, Immaterial Resource, Vital Resource
Distribution structure
A distribution structure is an institutional order that determines how resources are distributed among persons. It is guided by a principle of justice and can enable or block a person’s access to the actualization of a dimension of personhood. An unjust distribution structure that blocks access to vital or immaterial resources is a form of structural oblivion of the person. The dignity of the person demands that distribution structures enable the actualization of all dimensions for every person.
Ontological classification:
- subclass of: Institution
- relations: distributesAccordingTo (principle of justice), blocksAccessTo (dimension)
Sources: Generated by querying the Personhood ontology.
Further sources:
- Thomas Aquinas: Summa Theologiae, II-II, q. 61, a. 1—2 (iustitia distributiva: distribution according to proportionality).
- Aristotle: Nicomachean Ethics, V, 3—5 (distributive and corrective justice).
Ontological classification:
- Superordinate concept: Personalist Norm
- Subordinate concepts: Just Wage, Intergenerational Justice
Chapter assignment: Chapter 5: Oblivion of the Person (German)