The are certain words in the English language that are extremely difficult to define therefore to give them meaning, is to enter a fierce debate among thinkers. How does one define a word that is so abstract and whose definition and purpose varies so extensively from nation to nation, language to language, and person to person? One can only hope to grasp the concept of such words, before another person comes up with a slightly more adequate definition than the one currently leading the pack. The reason the definition these words vary as much as they do is simply because their meanings are bottom-line based on opinion. One of these such words is justice. However, many would agree that justice requires a form of equilibrium where every bad action has a reaction, people follow agreed upon rules and laws that are absent of bias towards any particular group, and that these rules as well as justice itself must be moral-based whether religious or natural.
Concepts of justice are as old as civilization itself due to the fact that to get along with each other we need boundaries and rules to know who is right and wrong in doing something. The meaning of words like justice have multiple definitions based solely on who you ask, which would make it highly unlikely to ask to different philosophers the definition to the word justice and receive the same or even a vaguely similar response. Some of the more recognizable historical figures who pursued a definition to the word “justice” are Thomas Jefferson justifying the English colonies’ reasons for separating from Great Britain, Henry David Thoreau in justifying not paying a tax for a cause he did not support, and even Martin Luther King Jr. in justifying breaking unjust laws in his fight for A...
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...you wouldn’t want done onto you.” If people keep that in mind at all hours of the day than justice prevails but if they do not then it simply fails.
In conclusion, justice is to know what is right and what is wrong, and consequently taking action when things are wrong. Sadly, this seems naïve at this time because some wrongs continue to go unpunished and people usually put self-interest before the right thing. Justice is one of the things that humans always claim to want as well as things like freedom but can never be wholly accomplished. Thus, it seems that being unbiased and fair to one another is not in human nature or at least not in the majority. Our current societies need to change, for as Aristotle once said “Moral excellence comes about as a result of habit. We become just by doing just acts, temperate by doing temperate acts, brave by doing brave acts.”
Before discussing justice in the epic, it is important to establish the meaning of the term. For our present purpose, justice will specifically apply to the social system of moral checks and balances. Acts that are valued in society are rewarded materially or emotionally. Acts that are devalued lead to punishment. Also, recipients of unmerited punishment receive compensation for their injuries.
By definition justice means the quality of being just or fair. The issue then stands, is justice fair for everyone? Justice is the administration of law, the act of determining rights and assigning rewards or punishments, "justice deferred is justice denied.” The terms of Justice is brought up in Henry David Thoreau’s writing, “Civil Disobedience.”
Justice is defined in many different ways, one referring to a form of judgment that provides order in a situation. Justice offers a fair punishment that fits the offense. The term holds a positive connotation, in contrast to the word injustice.
It is important to acknowledge that Justice protects our possession and our rights as humans. Without justice, it would be more likely for destruction to occur than that of benevolence in a society. Glaucon and Hume philosophy of justice aligns with each other, in the sense that justice is a contract created to prevent people from killing each other. I agree that the sole purpose of justice is its utility to the public. Although, I cannot help thinking what would happen if I possessed the power to be unjust without ever suffering consequences.
Moral rightness and fairness are two alternate ways of saying justice. Justice is defined in a legal dictionary on law.com as “a scheme or system of law in which every person receives his/ her/its due from the system, including all rights, both natural and legal.” There are many different opinions on the law and justice systems in America, many of which are not particularly positive. Law.com also states, one problem can be found in the attorneys, judges, and legislators, as they tend to get caught up more in the procedure than actually achieving justice for the people. While others say that our law system is not interested in finding out the truth, but more criticisms can also be seen in Herman Melville’s story, “Bartleby, the Scrivener.” Melville
Also Plato and Thucydides incorporate the concept that justice is helping one's friends and harming one's enemies. Polemarchus, in The Republics, states that he agrees with Simonides' maxim that it is "just to give each what is owed," (Plato, 331e). This leads to Polemarchus' assertion that that justice is doing good to friends...
Justice is described as “a moral concept that is difficult to define, but in essence it means to treat people in ways consistent with
Also, that justice is a certain type of specialization, meaning that performing a particular task that is a person’s own, not of someone else’s. Plato (2007), Polemarchus argues with Socrates in book I that, “Justice was to do good to a friend and harm to an enemy” (335b p.13). Plato (2007) he then responds, “It is not the function of the just man to harm either his friends or anyone else, but of his opposite the unjust man” (335d p.14). His views of justice are related to contemporary culture, because when someone does something that they are supposed to do, they receive credit or a reward for it, but if the opposite of that is performed, by not doing the particular task that is asked, they are then rewarded but with punishments. Also, that justice is doing the right thing in a society. Justice of contemporary culture does not diverge from the views offered in The Republic and Socrates views are adequate, because if a task is not performed the way it needs to be, and is supposed to be a person should not be rewarded for it. Additionally, that an individual should be just not
What is Justice? Justice, as said by Dictionary.com, is the administering of deserved punishment by what is just by law. Can justice be served to everyone who has committed a crime? Two serial killers from South Carolina, Donald “Pee Wee” Gaskins (a caucasian) and Henry Louis Wallace (an African American) have killed a plethora of people. Their actions have caused justice to be equally served to them, despite the color of their skin.
It is a middle ground between the best and the worst. The inclination of all is to do injustice without paying any price for that action, the worst is to suffer injustice without being able to take revenge (37). It follows then that justice becomes a mean between these two extreme scenarios. Most people will tend to value justice not because it is a good in itself but because they do not have the ability to do injustice without negative consequences. An individual that does possess the ability to practice injustice without consequence will therefore never willingly enter into agreement not to do injustice for the simple proclamation of not to suffer it. For a man such as this, that would be truly mad.
Justice. What is justice? In this world where many people look out only for themselves, justice can be considered the happiness of oneself. But because selfish men do not always decide our standards in society, to find a definition, society should look at the opinions of many. Just as in the modern society to which we live, where everyone feels justice has a different meaning, the society of Plato also struggled with the same problem. In this paper, I will look into the Republic, one of the books of Plato that resides heavily on defining an answer to the meaning of Justice, and try to find an absolute definition. I will also give my opinion on what I personally think justice is.
Last but not least, injustice does not provide the most good for the most number of people. Just acts spawn other just acts just like unjust acts spawn other unjust acts. If everyone behaved unjustly, mankind would return to a state of nature (everyone is for themselves) which would be very unprofitable for the unjust individual due to a decreased likelihood of survival. An action is clearly unprofitable for the unjust individual if it would eventually create a hostile environment for him. Hence, one should set an example for others by living a just life which would create a better environment for him as well as for others.
In this essay, I will detail why justice requires that people are given what they deserve through the scope of punishment, reward, and need. In the case of punishment, justice must be upheld, and to be just, one must be fair. It appears intuitively clear that it would be unjust to punish someone who stole a packet of gum from a grocery store with a death
Without the understanding of what really happened in an event or place and time justice is not being sought out and can’t be dealt to those that need it. We all have felt wronged, at one time or another, in one form or another and I feel that is why we all have a common interest in seeking justice.
The meaning to justice is behaving and acting to what is consequently good or fair. The act of justice is based upon equality being that people should get what they deserve. The Bible says in Deuteronomy 32:4 “He is the Rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is he.” We see here in this verse that God is merciful and in all He does he is just in his discipline. As sinners we fall short of Gods glory and because of this when we commit our wrong doings such as adultery, lying, coveting, thieving, murdering, and worshiping false idols, etc is when we are judged for our sins and according to what God finds just is how we will be persecuted. Justice is an attribute that is showed to us everyday because of His sanctity. Man cannot understand justice if they don’t understand sin, we can try and hide from God or prolong our recognition to our actions because we know Go...