Origin and Nature of Justice: Plato, Aristotle, Hume, and Kant
This essay examines the origin and nature of justice through the philosophical perspectives of four major thinkers: Plato, Aristotle, Hume, and Kant. Plato views justice as harmony of the soul and the proper functioning of all parts of society. Aristotle defines justice in terms of lawfulness and fairness, distinguishing between moral and distributive dimensions. Hume treats justice as an artificial virtue grounded in human convention and the protection of property rights. Kant, by contrast, grounds justice in the moral autonomy of rational agents, independent of social utility or empirical observation. Together, these perspectives illuminate the depth and complexity of one of philosophy's most enduring concepts.
- Introduction: Justice as a central philosophical concept introduced
- Plato's Concept of Justice as Harmony: Justice as soul harmony and societal function
- Aristotle's Conception of Justice as Lawfulness and Fairness: Justice as lawfulness, fairness, and the mean
- Hume's Artificial Virtue: Justice as Convention: Justice as artificial virtue rooted in human convention
- Kant's Justice and Moral Autonomy: Justice grounded in rational autonomy, not social utility
- Conclusion: Comparative synthesis of all four philosophers' views
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What makes this paper effective
- The paper moves chronologically through major philosophical traditions, giving the reader a clear historical arc from ancient Greek thought to Enlightenment philosophy.
- Each philosopher's position is introduced with a clear thesis statement before elaboration, making the comparative structure easy to follow.
- The conclusion concisely restates each thinker's core definition, reinforcing the paper's comparative purpose without introducing new material.
Key academic technique demonstrated
The paper demonstrates effective use of comparative philosophical analysis. Rather than treating each thinker in isolation, it implicitly contrasts their positions—for instance, showing how Kant deliberately departs from Hume's utility-based justification of justice. This technique allows the essay to build cumulative understanding rather than presenting four disconnected summaries.
Structure breakdown
The essay opens with a brief introduction establishing justice as a central philosophical concept and previewing the four thinkers to be discussed. Four body sections follow, each dedicated to one philosopher in roughly chronological order: Plato, Aristotle, Hume, and Kant. Hume receives the most extended treatment, including a critical assessment of weaknesses in his account. The conclusion synthesizes each position in a single comparative paragraph, mirroring the introduction's framing.
Introduction
Justice is one of the oldest prevailing conceptions in human thought and has been deliberated upon by numerous philosophers throughout history. It has been one of the most significant issues in the history of philosophy. Justice, as a Greek concept, was considered to be the virtue of the soul and of action. Essentially, the term just is used to define an individual who typically partakes in what is deemed morally right and is inclined to giving everyone what is due to him or her. The main objective of this essay is to discuss extensively the origin and nature of justice from the philosophical perspectives of key philosophers: Plato, Aristotle, Hume, and Kant.
Plato's Concept of Justice as Harmony
In his philosophy, Plato places a great deal of significance on the notion of justice. Plato argued that justice can be deemed a quality of the soul, in virtue of which human beings set aside unreasonable yearnings to satisfy every desire and to seek self-serving gratification from every object, instead committing themselves to a single function for the general benefit (Scott, 2015). From Plato's perspective, justice can be understood as harmony. Plato argues that a just state is attained when every individual undertakes his or her own role, and every part functions with an aim toward the good of the whole. In a just society, the rulers, the military, and the working people all perform what they are meant to do (Bhandari, 1998).
Furthermore, in a just society, the rulers possess wisdom, the soldiers display bravery, and those who produce material goods exercise self-control and are not overcome by their desire for gain. Plato specifies that a human being comprises three key elements: reason, spirit, and appetite. A person is considered just when every part of his or her soul performs its functions without interfering with those of the other elements. Reason, for instance, ought to rule in the best interests of the whole soul, guided by wisdom and prudence. When all three elements agree that reason alone ought to rule, justice is considered to exist within the individual (Bhandari, 1998).
Aristotle's Conception of Justice as Lawfulness and Fairness
Aristotle asserts that justice consists in what is lawful and fair, with fairness encompassing impartial distributions and the rectification of what is inequitable. Aristotle employs the term "just" in a way that carries two distinct meanings. First, it is primarily used to describe conduct that is in agreement with the law — that is, conduct in conformity with whatever constitutes an authoritative instrument of social and moral control. Taking this into consideration, justice alludes to a moral inclination that renders human beings disposed to do just things, which impels them to act justly and to desire what is just. It refers primarily to the application of or compliance with particular authoritative rules of human behavior and should, as a result, be called the virtue of moral justice (Chroust and Osborn, 1942).
In its second meaning, Aristotle also defines justice as equality, or more precisely, as fairness. Aristotle claims that an individual whose behavior is unjust — who acts in contradiction to certain moral principles and therefore lacks virtue — is not necessarily an unjust person in every respect. Justice with regard to equality encompasses external aspects in the sense that it is neither too little nor too great. The just, therefore, is the ideal measure between the two extremes of deficiency and excess (Chroust and Osborn, 1942).
Conclusion
This essay has examined the origin and nature of justice from four major philosophical perspectives. With regard to Plato, justice is a virtue that establishes sensible order, with every part performing its appropriate role and not interfering with the proper functioning of the other parts. From Aristotle's philosophical perspective, justice consists in what is deemed lawful and fair, with fairness taking into account equitable distributions and the correction of what is inequitable. For Hume, justice fundamentally serves public utility by safeguarding property. Lastly, for Kant, justice is a virtue whereby persons respect the freedom of others — their autonomy as well as their dignity — by not interfering with their voluntary actions, provided that those actions do not violate the rights of others.
References
Bhandari, D. R. (1998). Plato's concept of justice: An analysis. Ancient Philosophy.
Chroust, A. H., & Osborn, D. L. (1941). Aristotle's conception of justice. Notre Dame Law, 17, 129.
Harris, J. A. (2010). Hume on the moral obligation to justice. Hume Studies, 36(1), 25–50.
Harrison, J. (1980). Hume's theory of justice. Oxford Scholarship Online.
Reidy, D. A. (1993). Does Hume have a theory of justice? Auslegung, 19(1), 63–74.
Scott, D. (2015). Levels of argument: A comparative study of Plato's Republic and Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics. Oxford University Press.
Smith, G. H. (2016). Immanuel Kant's theory of justice. Libertarianism.org. Retrieved from https://www.libertarianism.org/columns/immanuel-kants-theory-justice
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