The Cardinal Virtues: Justice
Finding a the right measure
This article is based on Mortimer Adler’s article on “Justice” in The Great Ideas.
Definition of Justice
Justice is the constant and firm will to give their due to both God and neighbor.
Similar virtues: Kindness
Associated Vices: Wrath & Injustice
Humans have an innate sense of justice, especially when it involves them. This can be seen in the youngest child, who demands justice on their behalf, while taking a toy from another child if given the opportunity. The idea of justice and fairness is one of the core themes that runs through the human story, as illustrated through The Great Books.
One of the iconic quotes in the western world involves the Athenians pressing the Melians, as recorded by Thucydides: “The right, as the world goes, is only in question between equals of power, whereas the stronger do whatever they can and the weaker suffer whatever they must.”
But is there something deeper than just strong versus weak? Is there any justice outside of the natural world?
The Natural Law
The early Homeric plays put the will of the gods at the highest place in terms of justice and injustice. Even at the end of the Iliad (**Spoiler Alert**), the great Achilles only gives Hector’s body back to his family after a convincing plea (and gold) from Hector’s father, and the direct intervention of Zeus & Apollo.
Later in Greek literature we begin to see other views of justice, and perhaps even laws deeper than the gods. Antigone will meet her fate after burying her disgraced brother, Polynices, against the will of their uncle, King Creon. Antigone will make the plea that there are some laws that even the gods (and kings) are subject to, such as respect for the dead. The gods will give signs that Antigone is correct, although a Greek tragedy would not be a tragedy without some misinterpreted sign from the gods.
This idea of a natural law that even the gods are subject to will be a recurring theme throughout much of the subsequent literature.
The Political Law
Going back to our Antigone example, King Creon’s idea of justice is rooted wholly in the political will. Thebes had just experienced a civil war, where Antigone’s brother, Polynices, attempted to take the throne of Creon. Creon attempted to reestablish order in Thebes by denying the burial of Polynices, allowing the “birds & the dogs” to have their way with it. But, from Creon’s perspective, this was due to his sense of political justice, in trying to reestablish order to a city torn apart by turmoil and unrest.
Where is the balance between the mistreatment of the individual for the good of the society?
Plato’s Republic is an attempt to answer this question. After seeing Socrates’ unjust execution, Plato attempts to reestablish the idea of justice through the wisdom of rulers, not the whims of the mob. Ironically, Plato sees the establishment of a philosophical aristocracy, rooted in wisdom and innate sense of justice, as the answer to societal injustice.
Aristotle will make a similar statement, trying to find the balance between the two. Aristotle bases justice both in the political and the natural, but defined as “Justice is the bond of men in states, for the administration of justice, which is the determination of what is just, in the principle of order in political society.” The idea of justice as being in the political realm instead of the moral will continue into the modern world.
Thomas Hobbes will attempt to dispose of the natural law, basing all justice on the political will. He writes “Where there is no Commonwealth, there is nothing unjust. So that the nature of justice consists in keeping of valid covenants; but the validity of covenants begins not but with the constitution of a civil power sufficient to compel men to keep them.” Hobbes would go on to say that without government, there is no contract between individuals; but only through the establishment of rights can the individual “render to each man what is his due.”
The Logos
The political idea of justice is antithetical to the religious view of justice. In writing the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson makes deistic argument that: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
Here Jefferson is saying that the government (King George) is not the source of human rights, but rather the Creator. There is plenty to be said of deism and the injustice in the American system, but the idea of a Creator-inspired law reiterates the sense of justice from the mere political to the divine.
Unlike Antigone, who argued that there are some laws even the gods are subject to, the Christian view is that justice is not restraining God, or even endowed by God, but rather is God. The idea of the Logos, the Greek-inspired life-force that permeates all of man, is the inherent justice that is the nature of God. In this sense, one cannot know God and treat others unjustly. God is love, God is peace, and God is justice, all combined into one.
Associated Vices
The two associated vices for justice are Wrath & Injustice.
Wrath: Uncontrolled anger, rage, or hatred against an innocent person.
Injustice: Punishment of the underserving.
Wrath is one of the core examples from The Great Books. The Iliad begins with the rage of Achilles, and ends the funeral following the desecration of Hector’s body. This is not to say that Achilles was wrong in killing Hector, but it is the uncontrolled nature of the desecration that Homer is illustrating, which finally caused the gods to intervene.
The other aspect of injustice is also present in these stories. The raping and pillaging of cities is repeatedly told through these books. The injustice of wives and children are illustrated repeatedly through these stories, and it is not until the Just War tradition arises in the Medieval period of Europe, that we dampen the injustice of war.
Conclusion
As we can see, the source of justice is a wedge between political and personal philosophies. If the political is the source of justice, then as Machiavelli would argue, The Prince has the authority to unjustly treat some, for the greater stability of the whole.
This same argument is made in modern philosophy, with thinkers such as Sam Harris excusing the injustice of some, for the reduced suffering of the whole. Unfortunately for an atheist like Harris, who gets to define justice?
This is where the political theory of justice begins to fall short. If the people of a country establish Sharia law, who then is to say that they are incorrect? Modern western politicians would say that forcing dress codes and restricting movement of women is unjust, but on what grounds? Who is the final arbiter?
As we see, without an external measure of justice, there is no foundation to a just society. Something, or someone, has to be the measuring stick. Without an external measure of justice, the strong will always do what they will, and the weak will be left to do what they must.