Chapter 8: JusticeThe Problem of Justice

Introducing Philosophy, 10th editionRobert C. Solomon, Kathleen Higgins,

and Clancy Martin

Introducing Justice

1) Retributive justice: “getting even.”Getting retribution for a crime is making the criminal suffer or pay an amount appropriate to the severity of the crime

2) But justice concerns the running of a society as a whole in day-to-day civil matters as well: it includes things like the distribution of wealth in our society, the distribution of privileges and power, enjoyment of society’s cultural gifts, and questions of status

Two Ancient Theories of Justice

• Plato: Everyone has his or her “place”

• Aristotle: Individuals are due certain rewards for their labor

Plato (427-347 B.C.E.)

• Born into a family of wealth and political power

• In Athens, fell under the influence of Socrates and turned his talents to philosophy

• Conceived of a “philosopher-king,” the ideal wise ruler, who certainly did not exist in Athens

• Disillusioned by Socrates’ execution and devoted his life to continuing his work

• Set up the Academy for this purpose and spent the rest of his life teaching there

• First set down his reminiscences of Socrates’ life and death: using the dialogue form, with Socrates as his mouthpiece, he extended Socrates’ thought into entirely new areas, notably metaphysics and the theory of knowledge

• Plato incorporated a theory of morality into his metaphysics and politics, particularly in The Republic

• Saw ethics as part of politics and the good life for the individual in terms of the strength and harmony of the society

• In The Republic, Plato argues against the various views of selfishness and hedonism that would interfere

• Virtue, he argues, is the harmony of the individual soul as well as the harmony of the individual within the society

• Because we have nothing from Socrates himself, it is difficult to know how much is original Plato and how much is transcribed Socrates

• Predicate: that which is asserted or denied of a thing, which refers to a property of things; familiar predicates would be “is red,” “is an animal”

Plato on Justice

• Justice in the state is precisely the same as justice in the individual, that is, a harmony between the various parts for the good of the whole

• But this means that the concerns of the individual may take a clearly secondary role to the interests of society

• In Plato’s universe, everyone has his or her “place,” and justice means that all people act and are treated accordingly

• Plato’s rigid hierarchy of social classes and insistence on the inequality of people might offend us

• It is important to note that equality is a view that must be argued for

Aristotle (384-322 B.C.E.)

• One of the greatest Western philosophers, born in northern Greece (Stagira); father was the physician to Philip, king of Macedonia

• Aristotle was to tutor Philip’s son, Alexander the Great

• For eighteen years he was a student in Plato’s Academy, where he learned and then parted from Plato’s views

• Turned to the study of biology, and many of his theories ruled Western science until the Renaissance

• With Alexander until 335 B.C.E., when he returned to Athens to set up his own school, the Lyceum

• After Alexander’s death, the anti-Macedonian sentiment in Athens forced Aristotle to flee

• Virtually created the sciences of logic and linguistics, developed extravagant theories in physics and astronomy, and made significant contributions to metaphysics, ethics, politics, and aesthetics

• Metaphysics is still a basic text on the subject

• Nicomachean Ethics codified ancient Greek morality; stresses individual virtue and excellence

• The best life of all is the life of contemplation, the life of a philosopher, for it is the most self-contained and the “closest to the gods”

• Such contemplation must be together with the pleasures of life, honor, wealth, and virtuous action

Aristotle on Justice

• Aristotle gives an unabashed defense of slavery, not only on the grounds that slaves are efficient and good for society as a whole but also because those who are slaves are “naturally” meant to be slaves and would be unhappy and unable to cope if they were granted freedom and made citizens

• For Aristotle as for Plato, different people have different roles, and to treat unequals equally is as unjust as it is to treat equals unequally

• We are taught to believe that everybody is an equal

• Distributive justice—the fair distribution of wealth and goods among the members of a society—comes from Aristotle: individuals are due certain rewards for their labor

• Despite his elitism, Aristotle saw quite clearly that the poorer and less powerful members of a society are those most in need of the protection that a just society provides

• Aristotle made the distinction between justice that rights certain wrongs (in crimes and bad business deals) and the general concern of justice for a well-balanced society