What is justice?

by Joe Greene

As I was reading the various political articles in synergy I was struck by everyone talking about justice. One person thought that defending our national safety was “just” while another thought that violence of any kind can’t be “just’. Various logical reasons for both positions were given for why one thing was “just” and another was not.

What is justice? What makes something just or unjust? Do we pile reasons and arguments on a scale and whichever side the scale tips towards makes something “just”? When we talk about justice, we are really talking about the concept of right and wrong. When something is just, when justice is had – there is an assumption that the “right” thing was done. When someone says that there is no justice in killing people because they killed people there is a moral assumption of a right and wrong. The whole concept of justice demands a concept of right and wrong to assess if “justice” was achieved.

Here is the problem. In a society like America where there is freedom of thought, speech, and religion (officially anyway) there are a myriad of people (myself included) claiming that this thing or that thing is not right, is not just. We make these assertions based on our worldview. Our worldview is our basic assumptions about God, humans, morality and the way the world works. Buddhism is a worldview. Islam is a worldview. Communism is a worldview. Secularism is a worldview. Postmodernism is a worldview. Most of us have a worldview that takes pieces of various worldviews to make our own. But usually our worldview would find the most affinity with a major worldview so that we could consider ourselves as “Muslims” or “leftists” etc.

So back to the problem. What is American justice, that is the execution of right and wrong, based on? Whose world view? By default it has been on popular opinion. In fact the current American worldview functions on popular opinion. That is what elections are about, but it also what our concept of justice has been about. An example can be found in the Synergy articles, “Where is your line in the sand” by Steve and Cary’s rebuttal “What I feel isn’t important”. It is obvious that Cary’s worldview is, as a whole, different from most Americans. However, she did a very “American worldview” thing when she agreed with Steve that the killing of thousands at the World Trade Center was wrong but that the question of how America is responding is also wrong. You may be saying, “Yea, so what?” She and Steve were combining their popular opinion to agree on what is just, or right. They and 99% of the world agrees that the acts of September 11 were wrong, that despite what Osama Bin Laden says, this act was not a form of justice. Because we all agree, we confidently assert that this action is wrong and unjust. 99% of the world verses 1%. That is the American way, that is justice American style. What is right, what is fair, is based on popular opinion. The American worldview, with its holding up of freedom as the highest virtue requires justice to be administered via public opinion. If everyone has the right and freedom to believe what he or she wants and all worldviews are equally valid (Islam, Buddhism, naturalism, Christianity) then no worldview can be excluded. We just have to count up the votes. What about when public opinion is split 60/40. What is right then? How is justice achieved then? We are not so confident in our “justice” in issues like abortion or the death penalty because public opinion is not so overwhelming.

Do you see my point? Justice is a function of our assumptions, our worldview, concerning right and wrong. If every worldview or belief system is equally valid, which we as Americans tend to believe, then there is no true justice. Only justice that we agree upon for the moment. Perhaps there would be a day when killing innocent civilians to win a conflict would be looked upon as right, as a form of justice, in popular opinion. Oh yes, that has already happened. As recently as 50 years ago when America dropped two bombs on Japanese civilians.

Is there then, such a thing as true justice - lasting justice if you hold the view that every worldview is equally valid? Is there any comfort in such a changeable form of justice?

...............Go to: Joe's Page...............Synergy Essays
...............Synergy Home...................Feedback

Read Where is Your Line in the Sand? by Steve
Read What I Feel Isn't Important by Cary