The word ‘justice’ is probably one of the words that have thousands of meanings and interpretations due to its subjective nature. According to Plato, an ideal or just society was laid out by having a structured society (Kumar, 2017). There are three classes of people in an ideal society; producers (farmers, artisans), auxiliaries (warriors) and guardians (rulers). His conception was that a society is just when relations between these three classes are right.
Confucius, who lived in a war-torn society, was greatly concerned in the improvement of government and society. He was convinced that the problem with government and society was a lack of virtue. He considered sincerity, minimal desire of material things and loyalty as some of the qualities of a virtuous person (Qin, 2008).
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The concept of social contract theory explains that in the beginning man lived in the state of nature. They had no government or law to govern them. According to Jean Jacques Rousseau’s theory, as time passed and population increased, the means by which people satisfied their needs changed ( Rousseau and May, 2002 ). This leads to division, inequality and greed, for this purpose they surrendered their rights not to a single individual but the community as a whole, which he termed as the “general will”
Classical and social contract approaches which brought about the existence of organized governments and political authority, have greatly contributed to justice in the society as individuals are obligated to follow certain rules and laws (Mitchell, 2014). However, justice varies in different societies and governments due to inequalities in the distribution of resources and human entitlements. For example, a child born in Sweden has a life expectancy at birth of 79.9 years while a child born in Sierra Leone has a life expectancy at birth of 38.9 years. Nevertheless, where the rule of law exists as encapsulated in the social contract theory is indeed the starting point for any state that intends to be considered just.
References
Kumar, A. (2017). Plato’s Theory of Ideal State: A Theoretical and Hollow Concept in the Ancient Western Philosophy. International Journal for Excogitation Education and Research , 1 (1), 61-66.
Mitchell, B. (2014). Roots of Wisdom: A Tapestry of Philosophical Traditions . Cengage Learning.
Qin, G. (2008). The thinking way of Confucianism and the rule of law. J. Pol. & L. , 1 , 68
Rousseau, J. J., & May, G. (2002). The social contract: And, the first and second discourses . Yale University Press
