This paper examines whether certain workers have a moral claim to decent wages for work that contributes to the social surplus in a fundamental way. This "fundamental" way refers to work whose fruits other members of society need to live acceptably good lives (not maximally good ones). The paper argues that what is due to this type of worker is based on the nature of the benefit that her labor produces for others in society and on the returned value that such labor should, by virtue of fair play considerations, command. The core of the argument in the paper is that such benefit is connected to an important dimension of human freedom, which is enabled by the absence of necessity to toil to secure subsistence in society. The paper also dwells on questions related to whose responsibility it should be to guarantee decent pay for contributions to society.

中文翻译：

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正义与贡献：生活工资的狭隘论点

本文探讨了某些工人是否有道义上的要求，要求他们的工作能够从根本上促进社会剩余，获得体面的工资。这种“基本”方式指的是社会其他成员需要其成果才能过上可接受的美好生活（而不是最大限度的美好生活）的工作。该论文认为，这种类型的工人应得的待遇是基于她的劳动为社会中其他人产生的利益的性质，以及基于公平竞争的考虑，这种劳动应该获得的回报价值。本文论点的核心是，这种利益与人类自由的一个重要方面相关，而人类自由的实现是由于无需为确保社会生存而劳作。