Robert Nozick - Notes on 'An Entitlement Theory'.

I. The Entitlement theory

Distributive Justice not a neutral term. Presumption of giving out a supply of something via the principle of a mechanism

Should redistribution take place?

" There is no central distribution, no person or group entitled to control all the resources, jointly deciding how they are to be doled out. what each person gets, he gets from others who give to him in exchange for something, or as a gift."

" We shall speak of peoples holdings; a principle of justice in holdings describes (part of) what justice tells us (requires) about holdings."

Justice consists of 3 major topics:

1: The Original Aquisition of Holdings - How unheld things come to be held, the things that come to be held by these processes, the extent of what comes to be held by a particular person, and so on. The principle of Justice in Aquisition

2: The Transfer of Holdings - From one person to another.  What processes may a person transfer holdings to another? How may a person aquire a holding from another who holds it? ie: voluntary exchange, gift, fraud etc. The principle of Justice in Transfer.

The complete principle of distributive justice would say simply that a distribution is just if everyone is entitled to the holdings they possess under the distribution.

Justice in holdings is historical; it depends on what has actually happened.
Justice in holdings arises from principles of justice in aquistion and justice in transfer

Stealing, fraud, enslavement, siezure of product whic prevents one living as they choose, or forcible exclusion from competition in exchanges are not permissible modes of transition from one situation to another.

Some acquisitions are not  sanctioned by the principle of justice in aquisition.

Existence of past injustice bears out the third topic:
3: Rectification of Injustice in Holdings - If past injustice has shaped present holdings in various ways, some identifiable and some not, What now, if anything, ought to be done to rectify these injustices?What obligations do the performers of  injustice have toward those whose position is worse than it would have been had the injustice not been done? Or, than it would have been had compensation been paid promptly?

This principle uses historical information about previous situations and injustices done in them (as defined by the first two principles of justice and rights against interference), and information about the actual course of events that flowed from the injustices, until the present, and it yields a description of holdings in society.

The general outlines of the theory of justice in holdings are that the holdings of a person are just if he is entitled to them by the principle of rectification of injustice. If each persons holdings are just, the the total set (distribution) of holdings is just.