Virtuous Allegations

Last night I was chatting with my good friend Dandelion and in the conversation we started talking about her Introduction to Philosophy course. It's a hybrid online course and only 8 weeks long. Kinda short, and hard to grasp certain things in that time frame, but she happens to be one of those super intelligent, I-work-in-a-coffee-shop, gorgeous types, so of course it works for her. Out of mere curiosity (cause I'm nerdy like that) I asked to check out a few of the thirty, yes I said 30, assignments she is to complete before Sunday. They're just one page, quick synopsis' of ones personal opinion - or philosophy - of a given subject.

So I'm scrolling through the typical topics - humor, ignorance, politics, morals, etc.. -
and I run across a prompt involving justice. Quite the intriguing subject if you ask me. I mean, aside from the obvious connotations of old men sitting on raised benches wearing white, curled wigs and banging gavels, the word has some real meaning that truly affects all of us. Justice isn't just punishing the bad guys and rewarding the good guys. How can it be that simple when we can't even tell who the good guys and bad guys are? Every person has the potential for good AND evil.

Not to mention, aside from our ideas about law administration, justice involves the well being of humans in general, the distribution of monetary wealth and prosperity. I mean, is it more just to follow the traditional application of justice and say "To each his own" and whatever one personally works for and earns belongs to him, and those not willing or unable to earn a significant amount lose out? Or is it more just to take more from those who earn more to give to those who have none. Either way, someone is wronged, left out, or hurting. Then again, this is a very individual way to look at the term. Every society has a history of someone coming forward claiming the communitarian ideal of everyone working for equal shares is more appropriate. Ahem - communism, anyone? And there are some who would argue this is the ideal, regardless of how history has shown us it works. The fact is, no matter how compassionate or sympathetic one is, it is human instinct to protect loved ones before countrymen, and to protect themselves before family, even! How can forcing one to contradict their instincts truly be the answer? It can't.

Justice is in essence a virtue rather than a tool of ethics. Whether derived from the people who bring about societies, or from the institutions created by them, justice is a value taken for granted by some and vainly forever sought after by others.

Ethical arguments have no real answer, of course, and I'm not trying to reach one, just ranting. But food for thought is always appreciated, as is the occasional comment or rebuttal.