Concept of Justice cS Justice being taken away... what are kingdoms but great robberies? For what arg robberies themselves but little kingdoms! Saint Augustine (354.439) If justice and righteousness perish, human life would no longer have any value in the world. Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) NATURE AND SCOPE OF JUSTICE The term ‘justice’ implies the quality of being ‘just’, right’ or ‘reasonable’. Itis opposed to what is ‘unjust’, ‘wrong’ or ‘unreasonable’. It embodies an ideal which is akin to the ‘absolute truth’ yet it is a dynamic idea because our realization of that ideal and our comprehension of that absolute truth is ‘a continuous process. Our progress in this direction depends upon the development of our socil Consciousness, so that what was regarded as just some centuries ago is not so regarded today. Slavery and serfdom were widely ‘justified’ in ancient and medieval Europe; untouchability was ‘justified” in India till a few decades ago: the inferior status of women was taken for granted all over the world not so long go; racial discrimination was ‘justified’ till recently in some parts of the world But these conditions are now widely regarded as unjust. Our changing outlook about these problems and changing public opinion in favour of human liberty and equality are ample proof of the dynamic character of the idea of justice. Political thinkers since earliest times concept of justice. Howev. under the influence of th has been thoroughly tran given way to the concept have been trying to formulate the cr, with the dawn of modern consciousness, especiallY ie Principles of democracy and socialism, this concert sformed. As a result, the traditional view of justice hss Of social justice, In a nutshell, she problem of justice [ 164)Concept of Justice contemporary world is concerned with dererm, . h determining Hes, benefits, pow na scarcity si 1 situc cation of benefits as wel} as sPHERE OF APPLICATION justice i primarily a problem of mora implemented by a political order, it also b Here it is important to note that the quest rely authoritarian. purely competitive autoritriat aaa Se At belor type—all allocation is made according to the dictates cn ies there is no use of Search forthe new eters aes aen competitive system, all allocation is decided by the frce play of marker pone hence there is no scope of applying any new criteria of allocation. ‘Finally, a typothetical communist system where the rule of ‘allocation according none is supposed to be applied, it will be futile to consider princip ofjustice. If everybody's needs could be met, the probl would automatically disappear. the ice ration of goods, Services, opportuni ‘pligations in society, particulary #° peered with the allo 00 logical criteria for the er and honours as well ition. In other w ords, justice burdens. _ f political philosophy for justice will not be relevant in a Or purely communist regime. in a purely ngs to the traditional type or moder any alternative principles lem of injustice in society Search for justice would, therefore, be relevant only in an open society in a situation of scarcity. In other words, the question of justice would become significant in a situation where there is a widespread demand of social advantazes thatare in short supply, and where the criteria of allocation of these advantages ean be openly discussed and adopted. Moreover, these criteria should be determined in such a manner that they prove to be acceptable to all individuals or categories of the individuals concerned. However, it may be conceded that there can be no final word in this behalf. Hence suitable channels of appeal and even of protest should be provided within the system so that the prevalent criteria could be revised as and when so warranted by reason | Authoritarian System || Authoritarian system refers to a systeny of social organization where everything Js required to conform to an established order, and it is regulated by the person oF group which is recognized as the guardian of that order. [ Open Society Open society refers to a social and political system where there is a ‘ree flow of information regarding public affairs and matters of public importance. Publi Dolicy in such a system represents 3 reconciliation of divers» interests, Poway volders under this system do nat claim that they have found the tna Henee, ‘encourages freedom of expression among citizens anc shows reaanessto | 20opt new ideas. It permits the citizens to crineze te Pressley ore ant Seek restructuring of the existing sitvation by ottaining public suppor” | Sroposed changes. oS ISocial and Political Philosophy 166 scope of Justice into the moral basis of allocation of benefy, (Justice = An i9aUiry TT rdens in society) Search for Justice Not relevant in Open Society | system Purely Authoritarian Sy (Where there is a free fow o¢ {No scope to change the allocation made by the established authority) information so that fauts oy system can be easily detectes where allocation of benfits ang | Purely Competitive Sysem * (No scope to change the allocation burdens is open to alteration; ng made by the market forces) | Hypothetical Communist System where a change in this allocation | can be demanded and expected) {where allocation according to need prevails and there is no scarcity) CLASSICAL THEORIES OF JUSTICE PLATO'S THEORY OF JUSTICE Ttis obvious to us that the modem concept of just s different from its traditional concept. The traditional concept of justice focused on the ‘just man’. It wx Primarily concemed with the virtues befitting a man for enhancing his moral wort It consisted in the performance of his duties attached to his status determined by the prevalent law. social customs and mode of thought. A typical example of the traditional approach to the problem of justice is provided by Plato's they of justice which sought to prescribe the duties of different citizens and requ’ them to develop virtues befitting those duties, As Richard Lewis Nettleship. int Lectures on the Republic of Plato (1962), has elucidated Justice, in Plato's sense, is the power of individual concentration on du Ifa soldier is just in this sense, he is, of course, a brave man; if a man subordinate position is just, he, of course, accepts and maintains authonty. is ‘self controlled’. Justice therefore...is really the condition of the exist ™ of all the virtues; each of them is a particular manifestation of the spt seme ich takes different forms according to a man’s function itCONC EPL Of Justice urbe unstrumental 9 building ap a ja 1 social ore ootely doing tbs appropriate task i 167 Janth ee Feoulls from u Hung well an ily and doing it 0 i208 justice ve tht 8 within the state ‘wet jw aciieve perfect harmony which symba ane ust ke etn the aan as wet he reins of gOvETIMEHL shall rey hat pr ideal sat 1119 the hands 4 satan ae supposed 1 be the ving cabudimente a class of philosopher mMdjacion anal anileary defence shall be entrusted wo the prada ts Maen to the aes respectively. Thus ih Plato's perfect state She Producer and wari the industrial forces would produce but they would n ould nol would protect but they would not rule; the forces fn wh ind se forces of knowledge and scic: a jen wl philosophy would be nonrshed and protecte want, Fhe Story of Philosophy ; 954). a ae Hey would rule (Will the military forces Plato enumerated four cardinal virtues, OF th hese, the first three w ire were the petitting virtues for cach social class whereas justice was the befiiting erlovdet, as shown in the following chart pees Plato’s Theory of Justice Social Class Dorinant Trait Befitting Virtue Philosopher Knowledge Wisdom, Soldiers Emotion Courage Traders Appetite Temperence Virtue befitting the social order Justice tis significant that the ideal form of Hindu caste system, as enunciated by the ancient law-givers, strikes a similar note regarding the nature of diarma which 1s equivalent of justice. However, degeneration of Hindu caste system reduced it to an epitome of injustice. ARISTOTLE’S THEORY OF JUSTICE While Plato’s theory of justice represents the radical view in that it sought to change the existing social order of his times, Aristotle's theory of justice embodic the conservative view as he was in favour of maintaining the existing order, In Aristotle’s view, justice was concerned with the regulation of human relations He held that the identical notion of justice in the minds of people was responsible for binding them together, and this was the reason behind the existence of the state Aristotle identified three types of justice: (a) Distributive Justic: Retributive (also called Corrective, Rectificatory or Remedial) Justices and () Commutative Justice. The legislator should be concerned with distributive jus'ce whereas the judge should be concerned with retributive and commutative justice Distributive justice deals with the allocation of honours « 1d wealth, {ts basic Principle is “treating equals equally 1d unequals unequally”. Aristotle prels d ‘d customary law for deciding as to who ¥ to rely on the prevailing custom am equals or unequals. Retributive justice deals with impositio (by 0 of punishment and paynienSocial and Political Philosophy 168 tien ce ses fll restoration of any 1ss tVOlUMATy sing . damages reactions betwcen individual members ofthe onmany course of transac idual of the vis course of in stice seeks to determine the amount of ¢ Of goods o ho commutative inst Tetum for another sort in voluntary transaction of yy to be rendered i selling. of letting and hiring. its guiding principle should be Full equivateng Aristotle's Theory of Justice Justice 1 cp Distributive Retributive “nee ist 1 L f Concern of ern of the Concern of on the Judges the Judges ‘ee t t Punishment for a Crime Regulation of Allocation of Honours and and Payment of Damages Voluntary Wealth Transactions secs to Full Restoration Full Equilvatence of Merit (as per of Loss Goods and Services to be transacted Customary Law} eet A see aie Whereas the traditional view of justice was largely conservative, the modem view of justice embodies a progressive idea. The traditional view insisted on the individual conforming to a pre-conceived image of society; the modem view of Justice secks to transform Society itself for the realization of certain human values. To be sure, the traditional view of justice has given way to the modern idea of “social justice’. D.D, Raphael, in his Problems of Political Philosophy (1976), has made an important point: “The term ‘social justice’ tends to issue from the mouths of reformers, and to be regarded with suspicion by those who are satisfied with the existing order.” Human Values (ile dealing with others. n this pursuit, considerations vr pene nd profit and || The idea of social justice comprises a force behind social change. Itis preciseConcept of Justice 16! ¢ find fault with the existin; ° r The ideas of liberty and equal or al justice when these principles s, dl eek transformation of the uitions to eliminate injustice in society. In a nutshell, « ot . he of the oppressed and the underprivileged against he iol e f what is due to the indiy; stem. It is an expression of 'o the individual from societ specia “peindividual who is condemned toa wretched and subhn: Tiving because ch suefective system of distribution of advantages ‘accruing from the organized social i. The main problem of social justice is to decide an appropriate allocate, or aeadvantages that are available or that can be secured through the instnanenvai ofthe social organization, existing social social justice’ is the excesses of the social When the modem idea of justice is applied to the various aspects of social ie, we get legal. political and socio-economic notions of justice. These are by no means watertight compartments but constitute the closely connected components ifthe principle of justice. LEGAL JUSTICE Theterm ‘legal justice” is broadly applied in two contexts: law’—here we do not question the moral validity of law but focus on the Principles of administration of justice according to the prevalent law; and (6) ‘law according tojustice’—here we examine the substance of law itself to ensure that it conforms tothe requirements of justice. Alf Ross, in his On Law and Justice (1958), argued that justice consists in an efficient administration of law and that it should not be tested on some imaginary moral values. As Morris Ginsberg, in his On Justice in Society (1965), has elucidated: Ross accepts what may be called the formal principles of justice as a basis of law. The notion of a legal order implies that decisions shall be made not arbitrarily but in accordance with general rules, and that these general rules (whatever they are) shall be correctly (that is what moralists call impartially) applied; that is by criteria defining the class of cases coming under the rule, and not affected by the subjective reactions of the judge. Justice then is Conformity with existing law. . (a) ‘justice according to This view represents an outstanding example of the concept of legal justice 48 ‘Justice according to law’. It does not question whether a particular law itself 'Snght or wrong, on the plea that there is no scientific way of such verification, According to this view, a good law is known by its efficiency in attaining its Purpose, whatever that purpose might be. In this sense, the problem of justice has ®ething to do with the purpose of law; it is solely concerned with the efficacy of SW. Justice in totalitarian societies may be distorted not because of bad laws, but ‘use of the power given to judges to disregard fixed rules. Tigo th other hand, Emest Barker, in his Principles of Social and Political rv (1951), has dwelled on the concept of legal justice as ‘law according tosocial and Political Philosophy 170 a astinetion Between POSH 18” and “pg + Barker draws 0 gity and value from two different soupy jaw derives s ‘y_—the law defined and declared by each come partic pe other hand, natural La’ is a universal i ind lf, on what is just everywhere and at jp ting hey rave valuable whether oF not it be valid, Barker denote verwveen the two aspects of law can be traced in the oe Roman jurisprudence as well aS Christian docting ty F these theories, Barker comes t0 this conclusion: yustice show that k Jaw denotes 4 for its own me! founded on what i ail mankind, on W that this distinctiow theory of Aristotle, tion o| detailed examinat ee distinction, we may say that authority gives validity 4g in a ‘law has validity, and T am tegally obliged ta yet 4, and enforced as law by the authority of the Ie a“ ‘ " Cpa Sreanized community ating ints capacity of 8 State. A law has valge ee ' el it y legally, and not only by an outward und to obey it not only legally. 5 me fat Sea aoralty and by an inward force, if t has the inherent quality oft (Principles of Social and Political Theory; 1951). ct Ifwe make this rustice gives it value it is declared, recogni7e' arker points out that, ideally, nw ought to have both validity and value tng Jaw will be most effective if it conforms to the principle of justice and also has the authority of the state. Of the two views of legal justice, one represented by Ross and the other by Barker, the latter is definitely more sound. Justice in the legal sphere consists only in an efficient administration of law, but it postulates that law itself shoul embody human values according to the prevailing social consciousness. If |yy does not reflect the changing social values, it will turn out to be a dead weight the wheels of social progress, only to be discarded in a violent overthrow, POLITICAL JUSTICE The term ‘political justice’ is sometimes applied in a comprehensive sense wa to embrace the restructuring of the entire fabric of socio-economic and politic! relations, For instance, William Godwin, in his Essay on Property (1793), wad tne term “political justice’ to denote a moral principle whose object was the “general good” and wh'ch was especially invoked to evolve a genuine system of Property. Otto Kirchheimer, in his Political Justice: The Use of Legal Procedin fer Political Ends (195), has conceived of “political justice’ as “the search forat ‘deal in which all mers’ ers will communicate and interact with the body-politi assume its highest perfection’ A more specific usage of the term ‘political justice’, however, refers to he transformation of political institutions, political processes and political neh ‘ceording to the current conceptions of justice. This meat, in the first place, ] cqeatwe freedom refers tO an important aspect of human freedom which regards man a5 a doer and creator. This concept of freedom demands ampie spportuities for development and application of his uniquely human capacities, pecause essence of man’s freedom lies in fully realizing his creative faculties for | the fulfiment of his self-appointed goals. C.B. Macpherson (1911-87), Canadian pottcal philosopher, has argued that in the capitalist market society, owners of fond and capital wield immense power to exploit the manual and intellectual capacties of ordinary citizens. Under this system, the poor are constrained || go sell their capacities according to the needs of the market; they have little opportunity to use these capacities for the fulfilment of their self appointed goals. Thus, capitalist system provides no scope for the poor to enjoy their creative freedom. —— | q.1. Identify the problem of justice in contemporary society. Do you | agree with the view that the search for justice would be relevant | only in an open society? 2.Write short critical notes on : (a) Legal justice; (b) Political justice; and (c) Socio-economic justice. the respective spheres of application of these forms of justice. 4. Discuss the merits and demerits of ‘allocation according to desert’ and ‘allocation according to need’ as the criteria of distributive justice. 5. “Rawls has sought to achieve the goal of substantive justice through | 3, Distinguish between retributive and distributive justice. Identify | | the methodology of procedural justice.” Elucidate and comment. 6.Elaborate the libertarian perspective on justice with special reference to the views of Nozick and Hayek. | 7. Evaluate Amartya Sen’s contribution to contemporary theory of | justice.