On Aristotle's Theory Of Justice

As an important topic of Aristotle's practical philosophy,justice is discussed in depth by Aristotle in the Nichomachean Ethics and Politics from two dimensions of virtuous characters and moral principles.Based on an in-depth analysis on the two works,this paper details Aristotle's doctrine of justice from the following four aspects:the metaphysical foundation,the concrete content and deduction of internal logics,the essence of the theory and its meanings in political philosophy.As Aristotle describes,the metaphysical foundation is based on the common rules of natural teleology and natural sociality.Taking natural teleology and human politics as the basis point,justice points directly to the Supreme Good of human beings ——Eudaimonia.Aristotle deduces the doctrine from a specific moral virtue to the complete virtue,a sum of all virtues,which is closely linked to observance of law,and finally builds a series of code of conduct which is practiced out by means of polis orders and personal principles.“Mean”,the essence of the theory is highlighted in virtuous characters and moral principles,demonstrating the rational spirit inherent in Aristotle's doctrine of justice.And Mean determines that justice is bound to point to the telos of everything——God.Meanwhile,if the natural basis of city life must be governed by divinity,a great divergence will certainly occur between natural justice and conventional justice.Since the great divergence is reconciled in Aristotle's works,Aristotle makes a significant influence on modern political theory,which in turn makes the Aristotelianism to return to the contemporary studies of Ethics.