Tension Of Justice

Western thinkers deliberate on the issue of justice through closely connecting the justice with the political, nation, society and individual, which then forms two major concepts of justice:the right justice theory and the obligation justice theory. The camp of the right justice theory are as follow: Solon, Ancient Greek Sophists, Epicurus, Nature law thinkers, Social contract theorists Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, Kant, Pope, modern liberalist Rawls, Nozick, Dworkin, and Hayek, etc; the camp of the right justice theory are as follow roughly:Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Augustine and Aquinas, Hume and Hegel, utilitarian Bentham, Mill, Community activists McIntyre, Sander, Taylor, Walzer, etc. There are significant differences between the two concepts of justice:the right justice theory focusing on individual view and right consciousness, advocating the spirit of freedom, emphasis on individual prior to community; the obligation justice theory focuses on holism concept and responsibility consciousness, advocating the spirit of ethics, emphasis on community prior to individual. On the field of value theory, the right justice theory stands for the right priority, but the obligation justice theory lays stress on the obligation priority; on the field of Methodology, the starting point of the right justice theory is individual, individual first, community second, and the obligation justice theory is community, community first, individual second.This article proposes that the ideal justice theory be synthesis of the two theories by combing, inspecting and screening the two justice theories, and more over by examining the themes, characteristics, and various schools of ideas as well as the overall development trend. Which is prior between the two theories? We cannot give a general answer, but we can only say that our choice depend on the circumstances in the event of a conflict. We need keep a certain tension between the right and the obligation, and should not simply give priority like the past justice theories. On axiology, we should achieve the balance of individual right and public interest, the balance of right and obligation; on methodology, we should take individual standard as basis and social standard oriented.