Justice Options

[brooklyneast05]

help me out

what is justice, and why should we be just?





i realize this is kind of broad. i'm hoping we can just narrow it down as we go and decide what specifics we wanna talk about.

[fameONE]

Justice is retribution. It is fair and proper closure to wrongdoing. Who really decides what is just and what isn't?

Scenario:

Man A lived in fear of alleged crime boss; Man B. Man A alerted the authorities of Man B. When Man B found out, he immediately made plans to kill Man A. So, Man A, premeditated, killed Man B. Man B was charged with murder in the first degree and is spending the rest of his life behind bars.

Is that justice?

[Kontroll]

Justice is retribution. It is fair and proper closure to wrongdoing. Who really decides what is just and what isn't?

Scenario:

Man A lived in fear of alleged crime boss; Man B. Man A alerted the authorities of Man B. When Man B found out, he immediately made plans to kill Man A. So, Man A, premeditated, killed Man B. Man B was charged with murder in the first degree and is spending the rest of his life behind bars.

Is that justice?

Isn't Man B dead? But yes, Man A's actions were justified in the sense that he was defending himself. Though the law would probably not look so kindly upon him, he was still defending himself.

You know if you really want to get a good idea of justice, read The Republic by Plato.

Returning debts owed, and helping friends while harming enemies are commonsense definitions of justice that, Socrates shows, are inadequate in exceptional situations, and thus lack rigidity demanded of a definition. Yet he does not completely reject them for each expresses a common sense notion of justice which Socrates will incorporate into his discussion of the just regime.