by Donna Burgess

Created on: May 18, 2009   Last Updated: May 19, 2009

Merit and Just Deserts

Do you remember as a child being told by your parents, Who said life is fair? Well, it turns out that they were not very far from the truth. Fairness on a deeper and more philosophical level is the concept of merit and dessert, and we face it on a daily basis. Louis Pojman's article Merit: Why Do We Value It? considers the idea of one getting what one deserves. From good deeds spring rewards; from the bad comes punishment. I agree with him completely. The thought is deeply entrenched in nearly every religion, and throughout history, countless great minds have examined the idea. The Greek poet Simonides defined justice as rendering each person his due. Merit and dessert goes hand-in-hand with justice, but justice is too often wrongly distributed. Undeserved merit is a common and frustrating fact. We have all seen the mediocre celebrities who rake in millions of dollars while individuals that are more talented struggle financially with work that is seen or heard by only a few. We may know of student-athletes who can barely read beyond an elementary level that are offered scholarships while more academically-qualified students are left without opportunity for college or are burdened with student loan payments long after graduation. These unqualified people and so many others like them are handed over special consideration based upon natural lottery of looks or physical ability.

The idea of merit and desert is apparent in many religions. According to Pojman, in the Hindu and Buddhist faiths, karma is a means of just reward through succeeding reincarnations. The text, Whatsoever person sows that shall he also reap, is prominent in the Judeo-Christian writings. And the Hebrew Bible, reminds us that the wicked are condemned, like the chaff which the wind drives away, and he who sows sparingly will reap sparingly (1999, p. 90). The convention of every faith is based upon the most common of all virtues...the Golden Rule. One's actions are always returned to them, good or bad.

John Rawls once stated, No one deserves his greater natural capacity nor merits a more favorable starting place in society. The natural distribution of talents is neither just nor unjust; nor is it unjust that men are born into society at some particular position. These are simply natural facts. What is just and unjust is the way that institutions deal with these facts (Spagnoli, 2008). Rawls is correct. However, undeserved merit and accolades occur

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