Justice

One of my college visits to Baylor presented me with the opportunity to apply for a faculty scholarship. The application included a essay responding to the prompt “what question would you like to answer during your time at Baylor?” In what I still consider the essay of which I am most proud, I responded that I would seek to answer the question: “What is true justice?” For this reason I have always loved the fifth chapter of the Nicomachean Ethics. Aristotle offers many important contributions to the concept of justice, but one that I would like to focus on in particular is the concept of arithmetic vs. proportional justice. There must be, argues Aristotle, a balance between the amount of goods and honor that each individual in the polis receives. However, Aristotle goes beyond the simple notion that each individual should receive the same amount of these two critical goods—that being arithmetic equality. Rather, Aristotle suggests that this mundane form of equality is similarly unpalatable as some people receiving more than they deserve. A better solution is referred to as proportional justice, one where each individual receives an amount of goods and honor proportional to their inherent contributions to society. I appreciate that Aristotle recognizes this subtlety within the concept of justice. It is not just for each person to receive the same amount of honor. Rather justice mandates, in my opinion, that those who work for others receive proportionately more honor; it also mandates that those who produce more for society should receive proportionately more goods. This concept of justice lends itself to the free market system that is prevalent in today’s modernized societies and our own country. As a final note, it is imperative to consider that proportional justice requires a balance that people receive some meaningful amount of goods and honor, even if it is proportionately less than the amount received by others.