The Parts of Justice

The parts of justice are: (a) the different types or kinds of justice; (b) the directives involved in justice itself as quasi-integral elements; (c) the virtues connected with justice; these are called its potential parts. Now, thereare two kinds or species of justice, namely, commutative justice and distributive justice. Commutative justice isthe justice that should exist between man and man; it regulates the”give and take” of persons with persons. Distributivejustice is the justice which is to be exercised by the community(state; government) towards the individual members of the community.

Distributive justice is administered according to”the proportion of equality” so that the person of higher merit or higher state receives more than the person of lesser meritor lower state. Thus, a greater honor and emolument is owed to the mayor than to a councilman. But commutative justice (the justice ofman to man) is administered by the rule of fact, regardless of the merit or place of the persons concerned. And so the mayor, and the councilman, and the simple citizen, must each pay a debt of five dollars with five dollars. Hence, we discern a difference in the mean or measure of the two species ofjustice.

There is also a difference in the matter with which thetwo kinds of justice are respectively concerned. Distributivejustice looks to the just bestowal of goods or honors;commutative justice looks to the just exchange of goods between parties.

There is a thing called counter passion, whichis “tit for tat” or “an eye for an eye.” It means striking back when struck. It means”getting even.” Now, while there is a place for counter passion incommutative justice (its terms are expressed in law as restitution,fines, imprisonment, penalty), there is no place for it indistributive justice.