John Vespasian explains that Aristotle presented his theory of justice in “Nicomachean Ethics.” He distinguished between two types of justice. On the one hand, distributive justice, and on the other hand, reparation or rectification justice. Distributive justice deals with the distribution of tangible goods or jobs, and intangible honours. The purpose of this type of justice is to ensure that each person receives what he has earned (“what he deserves”). Aristotle was rather vague about the criteria for distribution, or about the person who has to perform the distribution. Is the distributive justice based on merit (“earned”) or is it based on personal needs? If it is the latter, why is it just to take away from person A (who has earned it) and give it to person B (who has not earned it)? This crucial question remains unanswered in “Nicomachean Ethics” and in other works by Aristotle. He does mention that distributive justice should be carried out with “proportionality” but fails to indicate the parameters for such proportionality. The second type of justice aims at performing reparations or rectifications. Its purpose is to make amends or rectify wrongs and settle disputes. The results of this type of justice is that the guilty party shall pay compensation to the injured party; or that the guilty party shall be punished for the committed crime. Here is the link to the original article: https://johnvespasian.com/aristotles-theory-of-justice/

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