Author, Simon.
Published, June 18, 2008.

There are some major theorists and philosophers who maintain certain theories of Justice. I will soon explore Thomas Hobbes, and John Rawls. Both of these men have very influential theories of Justice. Before any of that should be delved into, one should explore where justice comes from. Where does justice originate?

The two main schools of thought here are ‘natural law’ and ’social law’ (or ’social convention’). Social Law, as a whole, assumes that there is no justice inherent in humans, and humans only learn justice by what they are surrounded by. Therefore, humans learn justice by being social; they learn it by being part of a society. Essentially, children would learn from their parents and larger community what is right and wrong. An Australian child would learn that it is wrong to steal chocolate from the milk bar because, one day they may have innocently tried to remove something from a shelf in a shop and were reprimanded by their parents or another adult. The child has learned that stealing is wrong; they learn that is it unjust to steal. So, along this line, the child learns and develops what behaviour is acceptable and just, according to the society they live in. According to this law, a child who grows up on an isolated desert island would have absolutely no sense of justice. They would, perhaps, learn justice from the creatures that surround it, like some sort of Tarzan. However, it would have learned no justice from any society.

Natural Law is essentially theistic; the idea being that a higher power, a creator God if you will, has placed in each human creature a sense of justice. Therefore, a child who grows up on a desert island alone, much like the previous child, would certainly have an inherent sense of justice. The justice would not be learnt; it would be natural. The child would, if discovered and taken in by some pirates who happened to sailed by, learn the justice of the pirate society as well. This theory essentially combines both natural and social law. Every human has an implanted, inherent sense of justice, as well as the ability and capacity to learn justice within a society.

There is a very brief examination of the two main theories behind where our sense of justice emerges from. Many people have given these topics much more extended treatments. It is interesting, however, to brush over them again, and see what one makes of it. What do you think? I believe I am a product of natural law, but that I am also influenced by the society that I keep. There is much more we could explore here, I but I feel this is a good start.