Ma`rifat Eqtesadi

Some contemporary economists and philosophers, such as Sugden, have used Game Theory to explain justice. The present paper explains Sugden’s theory about the emergence and persistence of covenants and his evolutionary conception of economic justice and its critical assessment. Sugden’s theory of natural justice is critically investigated by using the theoretical-analytical method and taking advantage of the teachings of Islam. According to the research findings, "emergence of the covenants in the state of chaos as a means of selection of balance" and the "effect of such covenants on people's perception of justice" are among the principles of Sugden’s theory. Although his analysis has the advantage of paying attention to norms, it is confronted by such problems like "irreducibility of some values like justice to facts '' , “opposition of intuitive and Islamic understanding to sustainability criterion as a constitutive element of fair situation" and "inadequacy of adherence to human-centered approaches for resolving the conflict of interests". Sugden's view of justice bears some similarities to the Islamic views, including Allameh Tabatabaei's view about the formation of social agreements. However, one cannot expect to achieve justice through the covenants arising from the pursuit of self-interest, as Sugden believes. The process of reaching agreements on the norm of justice and resolution of conflict of interests in the implementation phase requires benefiting from the Shari’a.