“应得”是当代分配正义的重要概念，也有着悠久的历史。 古希腊时代亚里士多德等人语境中的 “应得”对应的英文词汇是 ｍｅｒｉｔ ，这与现代社会强调的“应得”（ ｄｅｓｅｒｖｅ ）有很多不同。 前者指基于德性来应得公共职务，后者是基于理性个体的行动应得社会基本益品。 “应得”从古代 ｍｅｒｉｔ 到近现代 ｄｅｓｅｒｖｅ 的范式转型与启蒙运动息息相关。 二十世纪以来，约翰·罗尔斯等人对“应得”和“反应得”的区分再次深化了对这一问题的思考。 当代“应得”的讨论还突破传统的问题域，在“代际应得”和“全球应得”等论域实现了新拓展。

As an important concept in contemporary distributive justice, “desert” has a long history. “Desert” in Aristotle and other thinkers in ancient Greece is similar to “merit” in modern English, referring to public positions based on virtue. On the contrary, “desert” in modern society means the deserving primary social goods according to the action of a rational individual. The paradigm transformation from ancient “merit” to modern “deserve” is closely related to the Enlightenment. In the 20th century, further discussion has been carried out with the distinction between “desert” and “anti-desert” made by John Rawls and other thinkers. Contemporary discussion on “desert” has also extended to intergenerational desert and global desert.