Philosophy: What Is Justice?

Below is a short sample of the essay Philosophy: What Is Justice?. If you sign up you could be reading the rest of this essay in under two minutes. Registered users should login to view the essay.

Philosophy: What Is Justice?

What Justice?
Can there be justice for all? To answer this question I must first define what justice is. Justice is the quality of being just, impartial or fair in your dealings with others according to Merriam Websters Collegiate Dictionary. Keeping that definition in mind, I now must turn to the Voices of Wisdom in order to find an example of a situation in which all parties feel that they are being treated justly. After examining examples such as: Euthanasia, discrimination based on sexual orientation, and equal opportunity offered within the book, it becomes clear to me that there is in fact no possible way for there to be justice for all because everyones judgement is in some way or another clouded by their own self interests.
Euthanasia, people can decide exactly how they want to live but should we as a society allow them the right to decide exactly how they want to die? On the one hand you have the question is it just to kill someone or allow them to die when help is available? The obvious answer is no of course not. This is a prime example of why there can be no justice for all, because on the other hand you have the question is it fair to force someone to live through unbearable pain in anticipation of an agonizing death? The obvious answer to that question is also no. This is where our self-interests come into play. It is in the patients own self interests to die because it will ease her pain, but is not in mine to alleviate her of her life because death is final and irreversible, and because euthanasia contains within it the possibility that [I] will work against [my] own interest if [I] practice it or allow it to be practiced on [others]. (J. Gay-Williams, pp.185). This is why our own self-interests unavoidably will not allow us to have a just society.
A society is only as equitable as the treatment accorded its most vulnerable members. Therefore, discrimination against anyone based on his or her sexual orientation is a clear and incurable symptom of an unjust society. For example, should someones sexual orientation be grounds for restricting their rights? (Daniel C. Palm) The impartial answer would of course be no, everyone should be treated the same. But we still hear the chant No gays or lesbians in the military. This is because it is in the self interests of the heterosexual people in the military have homosexuals in the military. The injustice of this idea becomes crystal clear when we examine ...

The complete article is about 832 words and 3.33 pages long.

To continue reading the complete article, subscribe below and get free instant unlimited access.

Once you have registered for an Account, No refunds can be issued.
Please make sure you look over the site before you purchase an account!!!