Fairness and a Sustainable Society: Why Do We Care for the Education of Future Generations?

Regarding education as "the social" rather than an intentional action between individuals, this paper discusses the fair way of its distribution. Fairness is presumed to be relevant to the distribution of resources for education not only among people belonging to the same generation in the same society, but also among people belonging to different generations and different societies. To keep society sustainable and to leave a sustainable society to future generations, it is not sufficient to keep resources intact. It is also necessary to leave a fair way, i.e. the fair way of sharing burdens and benefits, for future generations. The educational significance of John Rawls' difference and just savings principles is elucidated in contrast to Robert Nozick's account of the entitlement of property. The main conclusion of the paper is that, if we see education as "the social", we cannot design fair education without concern for the welfare of those who are living in different societies and are not yet born. (Contains 1 note.)