Justice: Exploring Definitions, Personal Views, and References

This homework assignment delves into the multifaceted concept of justice. It begins by exploring the challenges in defining justice, referencing different perspectives and the evolution of its meaning. The assignment highlights that justice is viewed differently across various contexts including social, political, and economic spheres. The student then offers a personal reflection on their understanding of justice, emphasizing the balance between fairness and goodness and its role in protecting marginalized groups. The student acknowledges the influence of education, personal experiences, and reading materials in shaping their views on justice. The assignment concludes with a reference to the works used. The assignment seeks to understand the evolution of the definition of justice and its relevance in a modern world.

WHAT IS JUSTICE? - 2 PARTS 1
What is justice? - 2 parts
Name
Institution
Date

WHAT IS JUSTICE? - 2 PARTS 2
According to the readings, can justice be clearly defined? Why or why not?
Justice cannot be clearly defined as proven in the readings; this is because justice has been
defined differently by different people; there is no uniform definition of justice as it changes
from time to time in different societies. To some individuals, justice is all about rights being
balanced and liberty accorded to everyone equally while to some it is a balance between
being fair and righteous. Justice has been defined in different contexts including social view,
political view, religious view, economical view and from personal perspective. There is no
definition of justice that has been settled on so far has it keeps on changing from time to time.
The definition of justice has also developed a trend of reflecting the current modern world
abandoning the ancient time definitions (Thornton 2018). Justice is defined from ancient
roman perspective but time has taken definitions of this nature and more definitions are
coming in as scholars cannot agree on one uniform definition of justice.
Nolo’s plain English dictionary defines justice as a concept of fairness and righteousness
while to some justice is just a word. Controversy has surrounded the definition of the word
justice as some people are not satisfied with the definition of other scholars hence criticizing
the same. Socrates has not defined the meaning of justice but discusses it with his fellow
philosophers. In legal justice context, everyone is equal before the law. To some extent
justice is related to morality as it also covers what is good and fair. Some definitions
contradict each other as the reality of what justice is seems to be different from the justice
talked about and defined by scholars. Everyone has their own view of what justice is and it’s
close to impossibility that the universe will ever settle on one definition of justice as this term
is diverse.

WHAT IS JUSTICE? - 2 PARTS 3
Write a second paragraph with your own personal reflection describing your view of
what justice is?
I would define justice as a balance between being good and fair. Justice is for all and not
only a few chosen people. Though the reality of what we go through is far much different
when we talk of justice. Justice is a tool used to protect the marginalized groups in the society
from their oppressors. Justice covers a lot of perspectives and aspects within the society and
its definition cannot be covered just in one sentence. Therefore, I agree that the definition of
justice is quite diverse ranging from religious view, political view and economical view.
Justice upholds the rights of the weak in the society and it’s the same justice that ensures that
wrong doers are punished. Justice should be accorded to everyone without considering their
colour, background, religion, race inter alia. As human beings we are the drivers of justice at
the same time the same human beings oppress the poor leading to injustice. This leaves us
with the question of who should uphold justice and I think everyone naturally have the
responsibility of upholding justice.
Some of my views match the formal academic definitions given that I acknowledge that
the definition of justice is diverse. While of my views are personal from experience in life
and shaping me to think differently when I talk about justice.
A lot of things have shaped my view of what justice is, from education, reading materials
online and personal experience in life has completely influenced how I think of justice.
Sometimes justice is just too far from reality but clear on paper. The definition of justice will
always keep on changing.

WHAT IS JUSTICE? - 2 PARTS 4
References
Thornton, F. (2018). Why Justice? What Justice? Oxford Scholarship Online.
doi:10.1093/oso/9780198824817.003.0004