Justice

About a month ago, my brother pointed me to one of the "The Persian Letters" by Baron de Montesquieu. Wikipedia lists it as Letter 84 but it is actually Letter 83. My brother came across the letter in a book called the Portable Enlightment Reader and sent it to me in response to a post I did regarding everything happening for a reason. Specifically, I was struggling with the concept of free will and why people would want to choose to be good. The letter explains why God must be just (or good) and why people, despite having the choice to be just or unjust, should want to be just.

When I didn't immediately see the relevance of the letter, my brother sent me the following "study questions":

• In the second paragraph, what does "justice" mean? Why is it a "true relation" between things? What does it mean to be "just"?


• In the third and fourth paragraphs, what is the fundamental comment here on man? Why do men act unjustly? Why don't they naturally act justly?


• In the fifth paragraph, why can God not be unjust? How does this relate to your definition of being "just" from the second paragraph?


• In the sixth paragraph, why should men want to be just (or be like God) irrespective of whether they believe in God or not?

During a recent flight to Alaska (for a friend's wedding), I finally got a chance to look back at this material and think about the questions above. In terms of defining justice, the Golden Rule came to mind. It's essentially a matter of fairness and treating others as you would want them to treat you. A Google search brings back a number of results. One that I think is very relevant is an entry in Wikipedia on Justice (virtue). Specifically, it says:

In the Catholic religion, Justice is one of the four cardinal virtues. It is the moderation between selfishness and selflessness; treating all people equally to oneself and to each other ... It is closely related, in Christianity, to the practice of charity, because it regulates the relationships with others. It is a cardinal virtue, which is to say "pivotal" because it regulates all such relationships, and is sometimes deemed the most important of the cardinal virtues ... Justice between two individuals is known as individual, particular, or commutative justice -- "commutative" because it is particularly concerned with contracts and exchange.

As the third and fourth paragraphs of the letter point out, men often "act unjustly because it is their interest to do so ... no one is a villain gratis; there is always a determining motive, and that motive is always an interested one." Certainly, men act in self-interest all the time - seeking short-term advantage rather than long-term rewards (in this life or the next). God, on the other hand, does not operate in this fashion - seeking only for man to do right by eachother and to Him.

The letter goes on to say that "justice is eternal and independent of human conditions. And, if it were dependent on them, it would be a truth so terrible that we would be compelled to hide it from ourselves". While men act in their own self-interest, it is not in their self-interest to create a state of affairs where people are in "continual terror ... [moving] among men as among lions ... and [never feeling] sure for an instant of our property, our honour, [or] our lives." We don't randomly kill others - both because it's wrong but also because we would want others to have significant pause before seriously considering randomly killing us.

At a higher level, I find it interesting that I've never really thought about what "justice" means before. I just take it for granted. Makes me wonder what other fundamental concepts I need to dust off and revisit in this context.