Since Plato, a just society has been considered an ideal in political theory. Avishai Margalit, on the other hand, argues for the pursuit of a "decent" society, meaning a society whose institutions do not humiliate people. This new ideal is not only more urgent—before good can be created, bad must be prevented—but also, in contrast to the goal of a just society, more realistic and achievable. Margalit develops the understanding of what a decent society is through engagement with philosophical theories and illustrates it with examples of institutional humiliation, such as in the fields of criminal justice or welfare. Margalit's book is one of the significant philosophical engagements with the experiences of the last century and has sparked a broad debate.