Single Idea 5151

[catalogued under 23. Ethics / C. Virtue Theory / 3. Virtues / c. Justice]

Full Idea

It is the way that we behave in our dealings with other people that makes us just or unjust.

Gist of Idea

Justice concerns our behaviour in dealing with other people

Source

Aristotle (Nicomachean Ethics [c.334 BCE], 1103b16)

Book Reference

Aristotle: 'Ethics (Nicomachean)', ed/tr. ThomsonJ A K/TredennickH [Penguin 1976], p.92


A Reaction

This makes clear that 'justice' for the Greeks concerns what we think of as basic morality, rather than legal distribution of pleasure or pain. It will be the Greek word 'dikaiosuné', which is the main topic of Plato's 'Republic'.