After the tread on, “Is morality just something trivial…?â€, I’ve been asking myself what is the relationship between Justice and Morality? As its impossible to have Justice without some knowledge of what is Right and Wrong.
The outcome of the above-mentioned tread would seem as follows: “Morality, is only needed wherever there is more then a single person. A person living on a deserted island would have no moral issues with other people. But Morality is more then this; it’s needed in governing conduct in all relationships with other ‘objects’ (these objects could be plants, animals, ecosystem, etc). So, wherever there is interaction between a human and another living thing, morality is involved in guiding acceptable and fair behaviour.â€
But what is “Acceptable and fair behaviour,†it could be put that it’s Just behaviour. But what is Just, or should I say Justice?
Justice is normally made up of: The removal of an injustice, followed by punishment equalling the level of the crime committed, and compensation (if applicable) for damages incurred. At first glance this looks a very easy equation to workout. But justice is so complex an issue that it’s impossible to please everybody, as some will always feel they have been treated unfairly, no matter the outcome. I have a couple of lawyer friends and anytime I ask them, how do they see Justice relating to Laws of the State they jokingly reply, “Law brings order, never justice.†I find this a very cynical attitude, but I’m inclined to agree with them, especially when you look at the outcome of some court cases, your left wondering was Justice done.
Most would agree that crime is stopped by the fear of punishment. So if the punishment doesn’t fit the crime it will encourage more crime. Is it possible to have justice once a crime is committed?
Morality only works perfectly in a society were there’s no immorality. When people in society are immoral it can undermine other peoples belief that a moral way of life is the correct way to live. An example, “It’s morally right to give money to help the poor people in society. But if the poor people are going to spend that money on drink or drugs, then giving them money becomes immoral. Or if people are pretending to be poor to extort money from moral people.†This is just one example of how morality can be corrupted and made useless or even immoral by a situation that involves immorality of another. While it’s the right thing to do, it ends up not fulfilling its original intention and so is ineffective.
Is Justice infected by the same problem? Is Justice an idea that only works in an ideal world? Because when people become unjust the Law system of Justice can never rebalance the scales’ of Justice. For crimes like car theft or burglary it’s quite easy to calculate damages and the compensation. But for any of the bigger more serious crimes like murder, sexual abuse, rape. It becomes impossible to compensate people for all the hurt and pain caused by these types of crimes. In effect justice is completely ineffectual with finding any real or moral justice. At an intellectual level I can understand why some Countries have the death penalty for these crimes. But at a moral level is a life for a life Just? I personally believe it’s not. But this is mostly because I don’t believe there is such a thing as Justice beyond the ideal.
When a crime is committed against us the normal reaction is to want revenge. Yet we live in a civil society so are unable to take the law into our own hands. We must use the Law system that’s in place, for better or worse. But as I’ve already said some people don’t find justice in the outcome of the judicial system. Can a person who’s sexually abused or raped ever find Justice? What happens to the hope for Justice with these people? Most I’m sure will be filled with anger and pain, possible hatred for both the system and the person who committed the crime.
This has left me wondering if the reason for forgiveness is to help cope with all the injustice in the world. Could this be the real reason behind what Forgiveness is all about? Forgiveness is not about letting another person get away with it, but to help people emotionally recover from all the injustices they suffer in the world? This may sound overly religious or sentimental, but I don’t believe that there is such a thing as Justice only forgiveness. With forgiveness we can let go of the pain and hurt caused. Put it in the past were it belongs and go on with the rest of our lives, to the best of our ability. While the scar of injustice will always be there, only in forgiveness can we hope to have it healed.
Any thoughts?
Pax Vitae