Value of Justice
Autor: amil72 • February 23, 2015 • Essay • 500 Words (2 Pages) • 985 Views
Course: Philosophy of Education
Student: Amilcar Umaña
Date: February 5, 2015
JUSTICE
Many philosophers, theologians and sociologists define justice as the proper ordering of people and things. All races and religions include a definition of justice in their codes of law and conduct. Justice is, in fact, the glue that holds societies together. Behind the concept of justice lies the notion of balance - that people get what is right, fair and appropriate. An example of justice is someone being set free from prison after DNA evidence shows they are innocent (LoveToKnow, 2015).
In philosophy, the concept of a proper proportion between a person's deserts (what is merited) and the good and bad things that befall or are allotted to him or her (Webster, 2015). Justice is therefore the maintenance or administration of what is just especially by the impartial adjustment of conflicting claims or the assignment of merited rewards or punishments (LoveToKnow, 2015). In summary justice can be defined as the quality of being just, impartial, or fair.
Plato, one of the earlier and most important philosophers and founder of “The Academy, identifies two conventional definitions of justice (“giving a man’s due” and “doing good to your friends if they are good and doing harm to your enemies if they are bad”) (Şablonu, 2014).
Thrasymachus defines justice or what is right as “what is the interest of the stronger party” (Plato, p. 19) and rejects previous definitions. He also admits that justice is morally better and refers to the things which are done best by people’s souls and states, states and people would reach excellence only by being just and thus following a just way of life (Şablonu, 2014).
Glaucon thinks that people don't practice justice for itself, but only for fear of what would befall upon them if they don't. Socrates on the other hand makes it clear that a real just person does not seek the reputation of being just but an unjust man tries to present himself like a just person to cover his corrupt affaires.
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