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In philosophy, justice is the concept of proportionality between a person’s merits and the things that occur to them, either good or bad. The starting point of almost all major Western accounts on justice has its roots in Aristotle’s discussion on the virtue of justice. According to Aristotle, the critical element of justice is the ability to treat similar cases alike to shorten the time for gaining justice (Cammack 178). In his philosophical theories, teachings, and discussions, Aristotle distinguishes between the justice in wealth and goods distribution and reparation justice. An example is a retributive justice, the punishing of someone for the wrongs that they have done. This notion of justice is important since that in a just state, a central concept of political philosophy emerges.
The political philosophy was invented in the antiquity era by Plato and reinvented by Aristotle. It encompassed the origin reflections of the existing political institutions, and its concepts were used in the interpretation of concepts such as justice and equality. In ancient Greece, justice was viewed differently as explained in Plato’s Republic, “the viewing of justice as harmony can lead to interesting ideas of the behavior of individuals and the organization of the state.” (Geuss 221). For an individual, this means that they should be able to balance the three parts of the soul; the spirit, reason, and desire. A just individual will do their activity in the right place, and all their dealings will be fair. For the city, this meant there would be a totalitarian system that controls the daily life of the people. This system ensured that every individual was in their place and would work harmoniously.
Conflicts in the antiquity age were addressed through the idea of justice. Poets and philosophers conceived this idea of justice as the civic structures that are beneficial to all. Justice, therefore, depended on treating equals equally. The trial and execution of Socrates was a puzzle to many since it happened in a society that enjoyed freedom and democracy (Pownall 353). Five hundred jurors determined his trial, and he was found guilty hence his punishment was death. The same political philosophy sentenced him that he had taught during his lifetime. The story of Odysseus was that of justice. When he found out that his wife was being pressured to marry since he had gone to war for a long time, it was resolved by a bow contest. This shows the people treated justice through equal treatment. Finally, Odysseus was able to conquer the love of his wife by killing all the other suitors.
Western philosophers, in general, regarded justice as the fundamentals of all virtues. In the medieval ages, when the Christian thinkers sought to develop their philosophies with the building blocks of the ancient narratives. Augustine fused Plato’s theory with Christian thought to help in the development of the Aristotelian philosophy. Augustine tries to reconcile his beliefs on free will with the belief that humans should be responsible for their actions. In the Augustine’s City of God, the two cities that exist are distinguished by two loves, the love of God and self-love (Mommsen 305). Salvation, therefore, requires the perseverance and the grace acquired from the two loves. Thus, through virtue and obedience to God will justice and peace prevail. The rise of Christianity led to the rise of medieval philosophers who were bound by religion. This is due to the rise of the Roman Empire during that age. Augustine was a supporter of the just wars as them being morally permissible for the establishment of a just peace.
Works Cited
Geuss, R. “Thucydides, Nietzsche, and Williams,” in his Outside Ethics, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2005 pp. 219–233.
Mommsen, Theodor E. “St. Augustine and the Christian Idea of Progress: The Background of the City of God*.” Augustine and Modern Law, May 2017, pp. 299–327.
Cammack, D. “Aristotle on the Virtue of the Multitude” Political Theory, 41: 2013, 175–202.
Pownall, Frances. “Socrates’ Trial and Execution in Xenophon’s Hellenica.” Mouseion 15.3 (2018): 347-368.