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Chapter 8 - Justice

from Part IV - Virtues of Indirect Caring

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 July 2025

Robert C. Roberts
Affiliation:
Baylor University, Texas
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Summary

In acts that are properly acts of justice (rather than, say, compassion or generosity), what is good for people is sought under the mediating description what is due them. The virtue of justice is the generalized concern that people get what is due them. Objective justice is the property of states of affairs, actions, institutions, and personal relationships in which people tend to get what is due them. So the virtue of justice is the concern that such objects have that property. When is some good or evil due a person? It is due on at least eight kinds of basis: desert, status, need, current possession, agreement, legality, parity, and freedom. We appeal to these conditions in justifying justice claims. The person who has the virtue of justice is one who is consistently and intelligently concerned that states of affairs, actions, institutions, and personal relationships be objectively just.

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  • Justice
  • Robert C. Roberts, Baylor University, Texas
  • Book: Attention to Virtues
  • Online publication: 25 July 2025
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009570916.013
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  • Justice
  • Robert C. Roberts, Baylor University, Texas
  • Book: Attention to Virtues
  • Online publication: 25 July 2025
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009570916.013
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Justice
  • Robert C. Roberts, Baylor University, Texas
  • Book: Attention to Virtues
  • Online publication: 25 July 2025
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009570916.013
Available formats
×