The Nature Of Justice

Paper Summary:

This paper compares ancient Roman politician and philosopher Marcus Tullus Cicero's philosophy on the nature of justice with that of modern philosophers, John Rawls and Martha Nussbaum. The paper looks at Rawls' and Nussbaum's theories of justice and expands upon their social contract theory to examine how to better preserve justice in a modern nation, balance the rights of the majority and the minority and create a more economically balanced society.

From the Paper:

"Nussbaum's fundamentally distinct nature as a thinker is in her stress on women as a category. Even in traditional societies, they cannot be viewed as fundamentally distinct from men. Individual women can choose to live in a traditional manner but this does not mean that the state can justify limiting gender equality because the majority of women might wish to do so. Thus, again like Rawls, she believes that strict utilitarianism or democracy is not feasible. But Nussbaum does not limit her discussion redistributing the economic resources of the nation like Rawls; she also focuses on the nation's political resources or human rights."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Cicero, Marcus Tullius. "The Defense of Injustice." From A World of Ideas. Edited by Lee A. Jacobus. 7th edition. New York: St. Martin's Press, 2006.
• Rawls, John. "A Theory of Justice." From A World of Ideas. Edited by Lee A. Jacobus. 7th edition. New York: St. Martin's Press, 2006.
• Nussbaum, Martha C. "The Central Human Functional Capabilities." From A World of Ideas. Edited by Lee A. Jacobus. 7th edition. New York: St. Martin's Press, 2006.

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