Final answer:
Equity theory historically focused on distributive justice, a moral framework aiming for fair distribution of resources and influenced by thinkers like John Rawls.
Step-by-step explanation:
Historically, equity theory focused on distributive justice. Distributive justice is a moral framework that involves a set of principles ensuring fairness in the distribution of wealth, goods, and services. Its purpose is to create the most equitable distribution possible within a society. The central debate within distributive justice revolves around what constitutes fairness, whether it is through allocation based on need or personal freedom, and how to address initial social and economic disparities.
One of the seminal works on distributive justice is John Rawls' Theory of Justice, which proposes principles that have significantly influenced contemporary thought on the subject. Among those principles, Rawls' Difference Principle and the egalitarian approach promote equitable distributions to support the moral ideal that all people have equal worth and thus should have equal access to certain levels of goods and services.