A Comparative Examination of the Concept of Justice in the Political Philosophy of Plato and Aristotle

Given the importance of the concept of justice in the existing legal systems of the world and its overwhelming influence on the Islamic philosophy, this research seeks to genealogize the concept of justice in the writings of Aristotle and Plato and critique the basic arguments made by these two giant thinkers. The basic assumption of this research is that in the view of Plato, justice is an inherently individual enterprise which ultimately enters into the public space of society. In his theory, governance is the art of the wise. On the other hand, Aristotle defines justice as a virtue which gives one what he deserves. Aristotle is of the belief that the virtue of everything lies in observing the boundaries of moderation. Aristotle further argues that moderation is in nature of things and nature itself is unequal and justice is the continuation of these inequalities. Instead of giving a generalized definition of justice like Plato, Aristotle applies more caution to the concept of justice. This arises from the inductive and experimental approach of Aristotle and his general avoidance of generalization.