Justice has become a very widespread concept in our time and has been used in protests,

social media posts, government critics, and even in everyday language. It has come to a point
where people of today tend to seek justice over almost all things tying justice with the concepts of
equity and fairness. People are now raising issues so as to acquire justice in every aspect of our
global society today. Equity in society has become a major point of focus. The #MeToo and
#BlackLivesMatter movements are just two examples of social justice in action in the United
States, but there are many more (What Are Social Justice Issues?, 2021). However, to truly
understand the concepts of justice, we should try to look at how it is viewed in different
perspectives.

Aristotle argues that justice is a concept that is made up of what is lawful and fair. He
supports the idea of equitable distribution and correcting inequitable circumstances. He also
distinguish justice as justice in reparation, as, for example, in punishing someone for a wrong he
has done or retributive justice (Duignan, 2013). This definition of justice goes with the thought of
giving people based on what they need rather than giving them equal portions. An example of this
is the picture of three men trying to look over a fence, each with different heights, and given a
certain number of crates to step on, on the basis of their height so that all three may look over the
fence simultaneously. The definition also goes with how the justice system works in the sense that
a person charged with a case is punished to an extent that is grounded on the wrong he has done.

Another definition of justice, to some degree, contradicts that of Aristotle’s. While

Aristotle’s justice is inclined more on the social side, this definition of justice focuses on the
personal level. Justice is how we form and justify our beliefs, as well as in practical morality,
informing our private and public behavior (Bloomfield, 2018). Bloomfield argues that justice
begins with ourselves in order for us to be just in society. We need to question ourselves to become
honest and non-deceptive. This definition of justice is entwined more on the concept of morality.
It relates justice as somewhat a guide in order for us to be aware of what actions are to be done in
certain situations and what decisions to make in order to achieve what is righteous.

In my own opinion, justice can be both social and personal thereby making justice a
combination of the definitions written hereof. To my way of thinking, if we could become just
within ourselves and what we do, we could apply justice towards society. No matter the position
we have in the system, if justice is at our core, we would always be in search for justice and give
to people the things that is right for them as well as being in pursuit of correcting injustices even
in the scale of our daily situations.

References

Bloomfield, P. (2018, October 10). What ‘Justice’ Really Means. Retrieved from The New York
Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/10/opinion/justice-moral-epistemic-
principles.html

Duignan, B. (2013, May 13). Justice. Retrieved from Britannica:

https://www.britannica.com/topic/justice-social-concept
What Are Social Justice Issues? (2021). Retrieved from Maryville University:
https://online.maryville.edu/blog/what-are-social-justice-issues/