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JUSTICE AS A VALUE AND VIRTUE

Dimitris K. Bakas

We all thirst for justice.! But what is this much desired good? Justice is the behavior towards our fellow human beings of the same community that satisfies moral sentiment.. Classical definition, originating from Aristotle, with a logical form, but the content is unclear. How can we imagine the "common feeling"  What must our behavior satisfy to be fair, when everything changes in society and in people?

Justice is virtueIt is best approached with faith, as a emergence from the harmonious composition of logic and emotion  guided by moral goodThese three spiritual dimensions, as individual virtues, only,  intertwinedas they take shape holiness

Of the four cardinal virtues, justice is, without a doubt, the only one that is  absolutely good! Η wisdomThe abstinence and its courage are virtues when they are put at the service of good and are associated with corresponding values, which constitute their motivations. However, when they are put at the service of evil it's just simple skills, aptitudes!

Η Justice is always good, since it is identical with the goodwillThe righteous one performs the his duty, since justice itself is necessary and indeed is  debt Justice is the foundation of all virtues. It is a prerequisite for every value and a requirement of all humanity. However, this does not mean that it is a substitute for happiness! We would call this a miracle!  But without justice there is no definitely, happiness to people.

Justice is understood in two ways: as compliance with legal law and as equality or proportion, as equal (fair) distribution. A just person is one who does not violate the law and does not harm the legitimate interests of others. He takes what is his due and assumes full responsibility for the damage he causes. All justice is based on this double respect: of legitimacy with regard to the State   and equality with regard to individuals.

Ο law is not justice in itself, this brings us to the second meaning. The justice no longer as legal fact(legality), but as value( equality with leniency) in other words as virtueAristotle speaks of indulgence , where lenient means fair, reasonable, not insistent on the strict letter of the law. Just according to unwritten laws!

 Distinct examples: The justice of Antigone against the justice of Creon. The Socrates who was unjustly convicted, refused salvation by fleeing and preferred to die respecting the lawsAn identification of justice with loyaltySocrates' heroism would become criminal if he sacrificed another to the laws. innocent except for himself. Respect for the laws yes. But not at the cost of the life of an innocent. Ethics comes first.

Πobviously must coincide laws and justice. This is the concern of every citizen. Justice does not belong to any party. Parties do not usually have morality as their first goal! Thus, justice is not ensured by parties, but byby the persons who make them upWe all have it. moral duty to defend it. The Justice does not exist as a value unless there are just (virtuous) citizens to defend it..

Unfortunately the hardest thing in the world is to determine Who is the righteous one?! Of course, he is not just who respects the laws formally. Kant said that he is just who respects the moral lawBut again the problem shifts: what will it say? moral law; Disagreements between just people always exist and signal the absence of justice. Rather, it is not justice that makes the righteous, but the righteous that makes justice!

 Justice emerges from the relationships of just people. Legality alone does not constitute justice, nor is equality everything. The law answers approximately, as do judges and juries. Both laws and judges are needed because the Justice does not provide answers on its own.Pascal gives a solution: "There are only two kinds of people, the righteous who consider themselves sinners and the sinners who consider themselves righteous." Unfortunately, however, we don't know when we belong to which category! We only learn it when we have moved on to the next one!

Justice is the virtue of order. A kind of balancing, fair and honest exchange. A profitable transaction. However, in order for this to be fair, it must be done between equals and not be imposed by other factors (power, property, etc.). Equality, which is essential to justice, is not equality of objects of transaction but equality of subjects.

  Justice is beneficial only to its recipient, to the one who benefits from its administration. But, virtue is only for the one who practices it or bestows itJustice is a more deeply generous transaction. Should one turn against one's own interests? Certainly not. But one must put justice first. above his interests.

Justice without power is powerless and power without justice is tyrannical.. Usually it is not the fairest who prevail but the strongest.. Justice only for the powerful would be unjust. In short, equality of persons and not of powers.

There is no justice. without a healthy society. This is visible in our modern era! But there is no justice in absolute loneliness.. "Friends, we do not need justice. The just, however, need friendship" (Aristotle). It goes without saying that Justice is contained in friendship., since The sweetest demands of friendship exceed justice.

The desirable is  laws and justice go hand in handBut justice cannot be included entirely in the necessarily general provisions of a legislation, which is why at its peak it is the indulgence! A correction of the law, which allows us to adapt the generality of the law to the changing complexity of circumstances and to the undeniable uniqueness of each specific case.

 "Leniency is he who is just regardless of the written law." There is no justice without mercy and magnanimity, which means forgiving, not denying punishment but having overcome hatred and anger.  Indulgence It is also not understood without wisdom, without courage and without faith, but also without generosity and without tolerance.! From this it is presumed that justice is correctly characterized by Aristotle as a general and complete Virtue.  That is, it contains all the others, which is why he considered it "the most perfect of all virtues"!

What is one after all? righteous man? He is always someone who puts his strength at the service of justice and rights and believes that, all people are equal to each other despite the inequalities created by reality or the countless artifices. Then it is founded a class that is certainly not ideal,  but Without it, a class would never be satisfactory.

 The world resists, as does man. So we must resist. And first of all, we must resist the injustice that characterizes us, the injustice that is an element of ourselves. That's why the fight for justice there is no endWe will simply be able to say that we are at a point where we are trying to conquer it!

The Law is of great importance for the social and moral developmentIt defines obligations and rights, opens up scope within which the moral personality freely.  Without these margins, one would not be able to breathe morally..

 Over and PFrom this cycle of Law begins the moral life itself. By covering the minimum of obligations, excess, abundance begins. of our personality! A psychic excess, an overflow of soul. The spiritual sphere of pure Virtue!

 Blessed are those "hungry" for justice who will never be satisfied by seeking the identification of the "legal" and the "moral"!( continue to the next)

                                                                        Dimitris K. Bakas

                                                                           May 21, 2021