Lecture Notes: Aristotle's Theory of Justice

Main Concepts

Funding Acknowledgment

• Funding for the program.
• Additional funding provided by other sources.

Aristotle vs. Modern Theories of Justice

• Departure from Kant and Rawls’ theories of justice and rights.
• Aristotle’s belief in justice as giving people what they deserve.

Justice and Virtue

• Central Idea: Justice involves reasoning about the purposes (Telos) of social institutions and practices.
• Equality: Justice requires giving equal things to equal persons but depends on the purpose of what is being distributed.

Example of Flutes

• Best flute players should get the best flutes, honoring their excellence and virtue.

Teleological Reasoning in Social Institutions

• Difficult to avoid teleological reasoning in ethics, justice, and moral arguments.
• Two Examples: Distribution of political offices and the debate about golf (Casey Martin incident).

Aristotle’s Account of Politics

Distributive Justice

• Aristotle focuses on offices and honors rather than just wealth and opportunity.
• Political Authority: Should be distributed based on the purpose of politics.

Purpose of Politics

• Politics: Aims at forming good character and cultivating virtue among citizens.
• Good Life: The end of the state; not just economic exchange or security but the cultivation of the good life.
• Modern theorists (Kant and Rawls) differ by focusing on freedom and respecting individual choices.

Political Life and Virtue

• Nature of Human Beings: Fully realized through participation in a polis, utilizing the capacity for language to deliberate moral matters.
• Virtue: Acquired through practice, not just precepts from books. Requires engagement in politics.
• Participation in Politics: Necessary for a good life, honoring civic virtues like those of Pericles.
• Honorific Dimension: Politics also exists to honor those with civic excellence and practical wisdom.

Casey Martin and the Golf Cart Debate

Supreme Court Case Analysis

• Examines if PGA should allow golf carts for disabled players like Casey Martin under the ADA.
• Debates about whether walking is essential to golf (arguments for and against).
• Parallels with Aristotle’s theory linking justice with purpose and honorific recognition.

Critique and Defense of Aristotle

Defense of Slavery

• Conditions: Slavery must be necessary and fitting for the person's nature.
• Recognizes some slaves in Athens were wrongly enslaved; necessary laborers for citizens to engage in politics.

Teleological Justice vs. Individual Rights

• Critique: Could teleology ignore personal freedoms, fitting roles, and individual choices?
• Response: Importance of fitting persons to their natural roles vs. freedom to choose one's roles.

Freedom and Role Assignment

• Modern Perspective: Justice should be neutral to individual conceptions of good and purposes of life.
• Contemporary Challenge: Does justice aligned with teleology leave room for freedom?

Upcoming Discussion

• Investigate priority of right vs. good.
• Investigate conceptions of freedom in relation to roles.

Additional Notes

• Encouragement to join online discussions and fill knowledge gaps via online resources.