Value Post: Justice

Justice

So Justice is probably one of the most important principles you can know, especially when dealing with value-oriented topics. In many value resolutions you will encounter phrases like “This House believes that (something) is just”. Whenever you talk about Justice, but especially in cases like this it’s important to have some way of talking about degrees of Justice, or in other words of weighing how much/little you have in a given scenario. A good way to do this is to be at least familiar with some definitions of Justice. So here are a couple of good ones. I used the first two a lot in high school as they offer good standards of evaluation, are fairly simple, and come from two credible sources. The other two sets of definitions are useful, (if fairly similar to the first two) and accessible online. Hopefully once I get access to some my old dictionaries I can add to this list, but this is a start.

Aristotle

-giving each his due

John Rawls

- Fairness

The American Heritage Dictionary

-The quality of being just; fairness.

-The principle of moral rightness; equity.

-Conformity to moral rightness in action or attitude; righteousness.

-The upholding of what is just, especially fair treatment and due reward in accordance with honor, standards, or law.

Merriam Webster Free Online Dictionary

-the maintenance or administration of what is just especially by the impartial adjustment of conflicting claims or the assignment of merited rewards or punishments

-the administration of law; especially: the establishment or determination of rights according to the rules of law or equity

-the quality of being just, impartial, or fair

-the principle or ideal of just dealing or right action