Download Views of Justice

Views of Justice
Aristotle

“Render unto each his due”
 Retributive:
fair treatment of crimes (and good deeds)
 Distributive: fair allocation of goods
 Other types: restorative, corrective

Grounding values
 Fairness,
equity
 Proportion
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Grounding source: Reason
Utilitarianism

“The greatest good for the greatest number”
 Founder:

John Stuart Mill (1861)
Grounding value
 Maximization
of happiness/utility
 Greatest social good

Grounding source
 Human
laws, reason
Biblical foundations

Jewish scriptures: Justice (mishpat, tsedekah) used 280+ times
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Torah (esp. Exodus, Leviticus, Deuteronomy)
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Mishpat: comes from root for “to judge”
Tsedekah: often translated as “righteousness”
Two terms go together; if it isn’t just, it isn’t right
Deut. 16:18-20: “You shall appoint judges and officials throughout your tribes, in
all your towns that the Lord your God is giving you, and they shall render just
decisions for the people. You must not distort justice; you must not show
partiality; and you must not accept bribes, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise
and subverts the cause of those who are in the right. Justice, and only justice,
you shall pursue, so that you may live and occupy the land that the Lord your
God is giving you.”
Prophets

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Concern for marginalized: widow, poor, orphan
Injustice equated with neglect of covenant with God

Keeping ritual is not enough; God desires justice (Isa. 1; 58)
Justice for Jewish characters

Ezra Dinn’s sermon on Gen 19, Sodom
and Gomorrah (p. 285)
New Haman, wealthy cities refuse to share, inhospitable
to stranger
 law used to victimize stranger


“Jewish Hero” Rabbi Akiva (337, 343, 346)
 How
did he “pursue justice”?
 Why did Davita identify with him?
Questions
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Why and how does Davita get criticized at the
yeshiva? (329)
How does Potok develop views of gender in
Judaism?
How does Channah develop in relation to
Davita? (314)
What do you think Davita does after the novel
ends? What should she do?
 What
 What
does her speech mean: to her? To you?
does the harp mean?