Why Is Fairness Important?

Why is fairness important?

First off, let it be said that everyone has their own concept of what is and what is not fair. Approach any amount of people about a moral situation and odds are there will be as many different answers as there were people asked. With that in mind, there is no one perfect guideline for what is fair in every situation. Life is too varied to accurately predict all of the millions of little details that make up every situation in our lives. We do have some guidelines for fairness however, holy books for example. These are the quintessential examples of how one thing can mean different things to different people. The same quote can be used for multiple conflicting arguments because holy books, like anything else in life, are up for interpretation.

As Americans, we have been taught that fairness is a natural right of all people. From day one we hear talk about how America is great because we have such a focus on fairness, justice, liberty, freedom, and many other ambiguous but positive concepts. Whether America truly tries its hardest to make all its decisions with as large of an emphasis on these concepts as we are told or not can be debated. One thing that is clear however is that because of the public perception of how important fairness is in America, many Americans personally believe strongly that fairness is important. However, this is by no means strictly an American concept.

With the human race in general, there seems to be a common perception that there is a value that needs to be put on the ideas of fairness and justice, even if we dont always agree in exactly what ways. The human race consistently seems to value these concepts throughout our history, no matter what the culture. We admire those who give to the less fortunate. We harbor bad feeling towards those that we see as selfish. There is some part of humanity that naturally reflects these values. Why? It is difficult to say for sure why exactly people started valuing these moral concepts. Most likely because it helps mankind to better function together as a society if we all work together and value each other.

Why is fairness important? At the end of the day it is important because for whatever reason, we as a people throughout history and into modern times have and continue to put a value on it.