Abstract: Hume holds that justice is nothing but a kind of social agreement andthat respect for individual property rights are a sort of virtue. He put forwardthree principles of justice, that is, the principle of permanent property rights, that of property take-over, and that of keeping promises. Meanwhile, Hume underscores the role of the government in carrying out the three principles. Hume'sthoughts concerning economic justice reflects to a certain degree the general features of the market economy, which may give us some important hints as to howto do research into economic justice in contemporary China.

Key words: justice, man-made virtues, property rights, government

摘要： 休谟从分析人类获取生活资料的方式入手,认为正义是一种社会契约,是尊重个人财产权的人为美德;他提出了正义的三大法则,即财产稳定地占有的法则、根据同意转移所有物的法则、履行许诺的法则,并强调政府在落实经济正义三大法则过程中的作用。休谟的经济正义思想反映了市场经济的某些一般特征,对于今天我们研究中国社会的经济正义问题仍有不可替代的借鉴价值。

关键词: 正义, 人为美德, 财产权, 政府