STUDY GUIDE
INTRODUCTION TO
ARISTOTLE'S ETHICS
HOW TO LEAD A GOOD LIFE
LECTURE 7
JUSTICE
OUTLINE
0:00-1:43—Introduction to Justice
• Justice is the most public of the moral virtues.
• Justice consists in giving what is owed: not only to oneself, but to others as well
1:44-12:26—Justice in the Complete Sense
• There are four virtues that encompass all the others: magnanimity, practical judgment, justice, and
friendship.
• Justice, in the complete sense, is comprehensive and requires a right ordering of the soul. In this
broader sense, justice includes:
religion—because we owe service and praise to God.
politics—because we owe our city allegiance, protection, and respect for its laws,
friendship—because we owe our friend what is best for him.
• In order to fulfill these duties, we must be courageous, moderate, generous, etc.
12:27—17:37—Justice in the Narrow Sense
• In the narrow sense, justice is concerned with restoration.
o In this way, justice can be seen in the activity of criminal and civil courts. It involves setting
things right when a wrong has been committed.
This work of restoration reveals the ugly side of human affairs, and Aristotle lists a series
of principles in Book V for the proper handling of these matters.
This activity is vital because if one member of community acts unjustly, then the entire
community suffers.
17:38-27:14—Justice and the Political Community
• Aristotle writes that justice, in the complete sense, seems to be "the greatest of the virtues, and
'neither evening's nor dawn's light is so wondrous.'"
Good laws are essential to a just society because they form the character of the citizens.
Good laws do not merely correct wrongs, but propel citizens towards the virtues.
• Justice involves others by its very nature. Thus, a good city requires the practice of justice by a
substantial majority of its citizens.
KEY PASSAGES
This sort of justice, then, is complete virtue, though not simply but in relation to someone else. And for
this reason, it often seems that justice is the greatest of the virtues, and 'neither evening's nor dawn's
light is so wondrous,' and we say proverbially 'in justice all virtue is together in one.' And it especially is
complete virtue because it is the putting to use of complete virtue, and is complete because the one
who has it is also capable of putting it to use in relation to someone else, and not just by oneself, for
many people are able to put virtue to use among those at home but unable to do so in situations that
involve someone else.
Ethics, Book V, Chapter 1, p. 81
So it is evident that there is another sort of injustice besides the complete sort, which is present in a
part of it, having the same name because its definition is in the same general class. For both have
their power in relation to another person, but the one is concerned with honor or money or safety, or
some one thing if we had a name that includes all these, and is for the pleasure that comes from gain,
while the other is concerned with everything that a serious person is serious about.
Ethics, Book V, Chapter 2, p. 82
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
How does complete justice involve the other virtues? For example, how might we do a courageous
deed that is also a just deed, if justice is oriented towards other people?
According to Aristotle, how does one determine the proper punishment for an act of injustice? What
are the aims of punishment in a just system? What are the limits?
NOTES
