Socrates Vs. Plato Essay, Research Paper

Throughout the years, philosophers have discussed the true meaning of justice. What does it really mean and does anyone really and truly know the meaning of the word? Two main philosophers that have debated these questions and talked of their own views of the word are Aristotle and Socrates. These two men don’t necessarily have different views of the word but rather express their views in different ways.

Aristotle and Socrates are two philosophers who commonly wrote about justice. Their opinions of justice were in some ways the same but the way they went about describing their view was different. Aristotle’s views are the same Socrates’ because Socrates is Aristotle’s mentor. Aristotle looked up to Socrates and agreed with his views but wanted his own identity. He wanted to show that he wasn’t an exact replica of Socrates but rather that Socrates just had an influence over his views. Both philosophers believed that justice was the ability to be a just person.

Aristotle’s stated that, “ justice is complete virtue to the highest degree because it is the complete exercise of complete virtue.” This meaning implies that one has to look at justice in an ultimate degree and not just look at it on an ordinary level. He believes that without being completely virtuous one cannot obtain complete justice. Also, Aristotle believes that justice is a state of character. This means that he thinks justice should be a part of someone and something that the person develops throughout the years. Also that a just person must behave to the best advantage of any social or political association. Which means that a just person must act in a way that will help out any friendship or religious association. Without helping a person or a group, one would indeed be hurting them in a way that maybe they can’t even see. By helping the association, the person is improving their own status and the other person’s livelihood. Therefore, he is saying that justice is a universal virtue with sovereignty over all others. This means that without wisdom, courage and moderation, justice would be not be possible to achieve. To be a just man, one needs to be courageous, have wisdom and be a moderate person. A just person needs all aspects of being a good person. Aristotle also believes that justice encompasses not only one’s own good but also of those with whom one associates. This means that one must surround himself with good and just people to be considered just themselves. Without having just people in your life, you as a person are acting like an unjust person because you are associating yourself with people who are unjust. Aristotle describes four different types or components of justice. They are distributive, rectificatory, reciprocity and complete justice. Distributive justice talks about the geometric proportion. It means that justice is what keeps a person’s proportion of the proceeds equal to their merit involved in the transaction. If they are unjust they have violated the proportion which means they have affected the transaction. Rectificatory justice is the justice that fixes the situation when an unjust transaction has taken place. This is when they try to make all parties equal so no one has an advantage over others. Proportional Reciprocity is the easiest way for fair exchange to happen. The reason that it is considered proportional is because it is affected by other factors. All the things exchanged must be of equal value or they will not be exchanged.

Socrates definition of justice is “ one who is just does not allow any part of himself to do the work of another part or allow the various classes within him to meddle with each other.” This means that a person is just if they stay on task and stay within themselves. It also means that he can’t allow clashing amongst his inner self. Also