Justice

Many difficult debates have been waged fought over the concept of justice, because defining exactly what justice means is a complex task. Various philosophers and legal theorists have approached the notion of justice from different perspectives over the course of human history. Justice is conceptualized by some in terms of equality: Everyone should get or have the same amount, regardless of how much they produce. Some define justice in terms of equity: People should get benefits in proportion to what they contributed to producing them. The greater the quality and quantity of production, the more an individual should be rewarded. The converse of this is also argued; punishment should be meted out in proportion to the harm done. This is the idea of “just deserts,” and it gives rise to the doctrine of “an eye for an eye.” Still another definition of justice focuses not on outcome but on process. Outcomes are just if they were obtained by a fair or impartial process. If this last view is adopted, then the question becomes, What is a fair process? The answer can be that it yields equal outcomes, or equitable outcomes, that it is predictable, or that it is accessible to all, or a combination of those factors. Other answers might be that it follows traditions or precedents, or that it is based on rational cost-benefit analysis. All of these answers are correct, depending on how one defines justice. Problems develop when one party to a conflict defines it one way, and the other party defines it in another way. These debates are by no means new. They have been going on for thousands of years, and will surely continue.

A different conceptualization, which brings in the concept of criminal justice, is equally problematic. Each nation has its own criminal justice system, but these systems often conflict with internationally acknowledged principles of human rights. Some would argue that these differences are part of that nation's culture and should be respected; others would argue that its government is unjust. Even within the same nation, viewpoints about the nature of justice can be at odds. The official stance on justice in the United States is a legalistic one: All citizens are entitled to equal treatment under the law, regardless of any personal characteristic. Generally, philosophers discuss justice as it applies to criminal justice as retributive justice, the question of how and why those who violate the law are to be punished. This is distinguished from distributive justice, the question of the fair distribution of benefits and obligations to everyone in a society.