On the other hand, since the idea of equality--the second element of justice--has its source in the mathematical proportions of things; and since property, or the unequal distribution of wealth among laborers, destroys the necessary balance between labor, production, and consumption,--property must be impossible.
All men, then, are associated; all are entitled to the same justice; all are equal.

Does it follow that the preferences of love and friendship are unjust?
This requires explanation.

I have already supposed the case of a man in peril, I being in a position to help him.

Now, I suppose myself appealed to at the same time by two men exposed to danger.
Am I not allowed--am I not commanded even--to rush first to the aid of him who is endeared to me by ties of blood, friendship, acquaintance, or esteem, at the risk of leaving the other to perish?
Yes.

And why?
Because within universal society there exist for each of us as many special societies as there are individuals; and we are bound, by the principle of sociability itself, to fulfil the obligations which these impose upon us, according to the intimacy of our relations with them.
Therefore we must give our father, mother, children, friends, relatives, &c., the preference over all others.