Theoretical Unification in Justice and Beyond

Abstract

The goal of scientific work is to understand more and more by less and less. In this effort, theoretical unification plays a large part. There are two main types of theoretical unification - unification of different theories of the same field of phenomena and unification of theories of different fields of phenomena. Both types are usually a surprise; even when vigorously pursued, their form, when they finally appear, may differ radically from preconceptions. This paper examines a series of twenty-one unification surprises in the study of justice and beyond, sixteen in the study of justice and five in the unification of three fundamental sociobehavioral forces - justice, status, and power - and the subsequent unification of the three sociobehavioral forces with identity and with happiness.

Keywords: fairness, comparison, status, power, identity, happiness, impartiality, inequality, loss aversion, inequality aversion

JEL Classification: C02, D1, D31, D6, D8, I3, J31