The benefit of justice, according to Aristotle, is an individualized virtue based on the character of justice. Nevertheless, it shows itself through good actions and its link to the eudaemonia of the entire downtown. The illuminating theory examines and contrasts the various ethical virtues from logical and etiological viewpoints. While referring to justice as a relational virtue and other moral virtues as simple ones, it supports the idea that justice, according to Aristotle, has a non-individual uniqueness. Justice gives the outer manifestations of virtue preference over other ethical virtues since it is a non-person, individual ethical virtue (Huseby, 2022). However, as per Machiavelli, unjust individuals act unjustly because of their misguided virtues.
Morally, an altruist acts in the best interests of others and has an ulterior objective greater than justice, irrespective of what other people do. Hence, it cannot be lowered too much and compared with egoism since, regardless of how others treat him, an egoist will always circumvent the requirements of justice for the purposes, making one the possessor of a motivation subordinate to that of justice (Cohoe et al., 2022). Justice has two aspects: on the one hand, it is conditioned as the law of interested transaction, and on the other hand, it is unconditioned as a moral discipline (Seligman, 2021). Therefore, there will not be any justice that negates either conditionality or unconditionality since both are fundamental components of justice.
Modern moral philosophers’ conception of justice contains several grave errors. It first lowers the justice virtue by claiming that fairness is the basis for the reciprocal transaction. Machiavelli states that the goal of reciprocal commerce and the human virtue of justice are poles apart. Williams thought that the absence of a proper purpose leads to unjust conduct when understanding Aristotle’s virtue of justice. Williams claimed that fairness or being a just man came before appropriate distribution, a dramatic opposition to Aristotle’s virtue ethics (Demenchonok, 2022). According to Machiavelli, he puts justice in front of a just man, and a just man comes before the goal of mutual exchange when the virtue of fairness is devalued as the justification for commerce (McCarthy, 2017). Therefore, people seek the former to get to know and interact with others. The motivations behind this type of desire vary depending on the situation and the location.
According to Aristotle, justice itself derives from the highest level of society. Since living a morally good life is the ethical community’s shared goal, fairness must be seen as a trait that allows for accomplishing a morally upright existence. Considering Machiavelli virtues, no matter who does what is right—the ruler or the ruled — these things add to the community’s virtuous existence. In today’s society, the upholding of justice is left to national institutions, while just behaviors are entrusted to individuals (Reimer, 2020). Nonetheless, according to Aristotle’s thesis, the early state’s choice of the justice principle seems to be impacted by the people’s representatives’ conditions, which significantly differ from their virtue of fairness.
The world has shifted to prefer Machiavelli’s perspective since his ideas have significantly impacted the Realism school of international relations theory. According to realism, governments engage in full-fledged combat to retain their positions of power rather than trying to be friendly to one another. Politicians must adopt a realistic mindset if they want to survive in a place with no rules. However, Machiavelli’s impact is not limited to foreign relations, and modern politics is a living example of his ideas. Therefore, we still have a chance to go back to Aristotle’s perspective.
In conclusion, when we consider the state of the world now, we may hastily conclude that not much has changed since Machiavelli’s day. While it is true some individuals abide by the law only out of a feeling of moral duty or respect for authorities, for many, the only real incentive to do the right thing is the threat of punishment if they do not. People who favor the death sentence in the US frequently claim that it acts as deterrence and reduces the likelihood that someone will commit a capital offense.
References
Cohoe, C. M. (2022). Knowing in Aristotle part 2: Technē, phronēsis, Sophia, and religious cognitive activities. Philosophy Compass, 17(1), e12799. Web.
Huseby, R. (2022). The limits of libertarianism. Journal of Political Philosophy, 30(2), 230-248. Web.
McCarthy, G. E. (2017). Workplace justice: ethics, virtue, and human freedom. In Marx and Social Justice (pp. 163-191). Brill. Web.
Reimer, K. E. (2020). “Here, it is like you do not have to leave the classroom to solve a problem”: How restorative justice in schools contributes to students’ individual and collective sense of coherence. Social Justice Research, 33(4), 406-427. Web.
Seligman, A. B. (2021). The problem of trust. Princeton University Press. Web.
Demenchonok, E. V. (2022). In Search of Justice through Dialogue: Discourse Ethics and Virtue Ethics. In Peaceful Approaches for a More Peaceful World (pp. 30-79). Brill.