Ethical Analysis On Social Assistance System

Social assistance activities have existed since ancient times, which have a long history. However, modern social assistance which is an important system of caring for the disadvantaged is a product of modernity society. Social assistance is also an ethical social public system, which it can't do without the support and defense of moral and ethics. Or rather, the ideas of moral and ethics are the soul of social assistance. Setting up the modern social assistance which is accorded with the socialist basic ethical principles and harmonious society, we need not only the construction of instrumental rationality, and are more in need of the support of value rationality. We need not only criticize and succeed to the resource of traditional morality and ethics, and are more in need of rethinking and getting over the value of western modernity to social assistance.This article has a rethinking profoundly of value rationality to social assistance in the metaphysical aspects of philosophy and ethics. The core problem of this article is the basic of the moral and political legitimacy to social assistance system. Social assistance is a piece of conception which its intension and extension is dynamic and historical. The potential objects of social assistance are all members of society and the practical objects are the disadvantaged groups. The relation of rights and obligations of social assistance is not particular but universalism. The right of social assistance is a universal and minimal human right of morality, not a prerogative. In ancient traditional society of Chinese and Western, there is abundant moral resource of social assistance. The traditional social assistance of Chinese is a mode of "ethical assistance", which core of value is the political ethics named by "policy of benevolence" and "rule of virtue" of Confucianism. The traditional social assistance of Western is a mode of "religious assistance", which the moral basis is the thinking of "universal fraternity" of Christianity. The traditional ethics of social assistance of Chinese and Western has the same framework of virtue ethics that is based on the kindheartedness, which accord with the ethics order of the patriarchal clan system, and there are not the view of ethical spirit of right. The modern transformation of social assistance is a road of charity to justice.The key study of this article is to research the legitimacy of social assistance concerning the benefits of disadvantaged groups. Nowadays the main arguments about the legitimacy of social assistance exist between the John Rawls' theory of justice as fairness, Robert Nozick's theory of entitlement justice in new liberalism and the theory of pluralism distributive justice by communalism on behalf of Michael Walzer and David Miller. The John Rawls' theory of egalitarianism distributive justice has strong equal tendency, which the "difference principle" asks for maximum benefits and extreme economic equal to disadvantaged groups. With the reflections on value rationality of capitalism modernity, John Rawls' theory of distributive justice is the morality basis of social assistance. Robert Nozick's theory of entitlement justice is a kind of market justice, which it is in conformity with marketing logic but not history logic. As a result, the theory of entitlement justice must pay no attention to the profits of the disadvantaged groups consequentially, and then it has a thorough negative to the legitimacy of social assistance. The value of distributive justice of our country is based on the basic moral principle of socialist collectivism. The main value is:The first is "the justice of base line", which the value principles of social assistance, such as principle of need, principle of equality and principle of share, are accord with the essence of socialism. The second is "the justice of compensation", which it is accord with the history and national conditions of our country that social assistance system compensate the profits of the disadvantaged groups. The third is "intergenerational justice", which social assistance system can prevent to the circulation of "weakness" between generations of the disadvantaged groups.Thinking on the human existence, social assistance system has more essential people-oriented ethical concerning. Social assistance system can safeguard human's dignity, right and positive liberty, and can bring about total and free development of people. The subjects of duty of social assistance system are polyphyletic, and government is a matter-of-course subject of duty. But we say that the duty of government is a kind of unlimited and limited combination. We must take precautions that social assistance system may bring about moral hazard problems, such as dependence of social assistance, "poverty trap", and so on. Moral hazards aversion can lead to moral creation. The moral creation can promote the development of individual virtue and the advance of social ethics. More importantly, building the ethical ecology of justice and charity of social assistance system can realize the system justice as well as bring about the sublimation of individual virtue. The ethical ecology of justice and charity of social assistance system can push forward the well-ordered development and moral development of harmonious society of socialism, and finally, all members of society can make for happy life from existence of base line.