Aquinas on Justice
"Justice is a habit whereby a man renders to each one his due by a constant and perpetual will" (Saint Thomas Aquinas)
Hello, and welcome to the next edition of the Thomistic Tuesday series!
We continue our miniseries on the four cardinal virtues. Today, let us consider the second of the cardinal virtues: justice.
The concept of justice has a long and complex history, dating back to ancient civilizations. We have evidence of this from several ancient legal codes that are still extant today and date back thousands of years, e.g., the Code of Ur-Nammu, the oldest known surviving legal code (you can learn more by watching the video below). Ancient Greek philosophers later theorized this concept, most notably Plato and Aristotle. In his work The Republic, Plato expounds on the various facets of societal justice, presenting them as extensions of the concept of justice within an individual. According to Plato's perspective, the essence of justice in a person can be aptly described as the harmony of their soul.
In his treatise Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle describes justice as a virtue that is cultivated through habit, ultimately leading to the development of a just, virtuous character in an individual. Saint Thomas Aquinas expounds on this concept in his Summa Theologica. As explained last week, when deciding whether a habit is a virtue, we must consider the good actions it leads to. Justice is a virtue because one who practices it respects the rights of others in their actions. In this light, we can also describe justice as “... the constant and perpetual will to render each his due” (Institutes of Justinian I).
The rest of Aquinas’ treatise on justice in the Summa is mostly Aristotelian. He discusses the virtues associated with justice:
Religion (worship of a deity);
Piety (respect shown to a deity);
Observance (respect shown towards superiors); and
Epikeia (the practical discretion in applying the law).
He also explains that justice differs from other virtues in that it perfects the individual in relation to others, whereas it perfects the individual in relation to himself/herself. Because of this, the desire to do justice matters more than just making laws.
It is this other aspect of justice that shows why justice and mercy ALWAYS go together.
To illustrate this, Aquinas invites us to reflect on how we came to exist. Clearly, we did not create ourselves. Aquinas explains that God, who alone is just (Luke 18:19), created us BECAUSE of his mercy and goodness. His mercy is the foundation of human existence because it created it in the first place, i.e. first cause. Because of this, mercy typically goes beyond what strict justice demands, fulfilling it differently.
Consider this example: A poor man who steals food from the supermarket because he is hungry. Strict justice demands that he make repayment for it. But if a bystander saw this and offered to pay for the stolen food, then this is mercy in action. Justice was not set aside—repayment was made—but it is fulfilled in this bystander’s merciful act helping one in need.
“If you, LORD, kept a record of sins, Lord, who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness, so that we can, with reverence, serve you” (Ps 130:3-4).