Justice Takes Priority Of Virtue

The subject of this article focuses on "the quarrel of the ancients and the moderns" of Europe in Scotland in 18th century,intending to think about the meaning of virtue and justice in evaluating the system and keeping the social order,especially the basic role of system that based on the principle of justice for the modern commercial community.The above study is mainly based on the comparison of Hume's view between virtue and justice,while his comparison had its own special environment or context.This context not only continued the other European countries,but also had its own characteristics.Only after clarifying the context of this discourse,can we compare Hume's view of virtue and justice.To this end,this article investigates the "context of Hume" and the "thought of Hume".First,for the "context of Hume",this article examines the context that mainly includes the Republicanism,the Natural Jurisprudence and the Scottish Moral Philosophy and Political Economy in the controversy of Scottish Enlightenment,as well as the special social background of Scotland in 18th century.Second,for the "thought of Hume",this article analyzes Hume's text which is based on the above history of thought.I find that he made a critical absorption of the above three intellectual traditions,and gain the awareness of Hume's view of virtue and justice.Finally,this article will focus on the issue of system construction and social order.In Hume's thought,the importance of systems that constructed by virtue and by justice are different for the social order.Basing on the previous study,this article puts forward its own point of view:In the sense of system construction and maintenance of social order,justice takes priority of virtue.Especially for the business community in modern times,justice is more decisive.Therefore,only in a justice-based society can we achieve the desire of virtue.