"It's not that I'm against social justice, it's that I say it has no meaning!"

The video above is a nice snippet of FA Hayek's view of "social justice". Hayek wrote that, "To discover the meaning of what is called 'social justice' has been one of my chief preoccupations for more than 10 years. I have failed in this endeavour — or rather, have reached the conclusion that, with reference to society of free men, the phrase has no meaning whatever." Just so.

Libertarian academic John Tomasi disagrees and, indeed, has attempted to reconcile Hayek's ideas with the principle of "social justice" in a new book, Free Market Fairness, which has been remarkably well-received. I'm sceptical, but am looking forward to (maybe) having my mind changed: Tomasi will be speaking on his ideas at the ASI on May the 3rd. The event is open to all, so come along and see what he's got to say.