What is justice?

Translation: quotations from Cicero are quoted in C. D. Yonge's 1853 English translation; quoted in Andrew P. Peabody's 1883-87 English translation; quoted in Francis Foster Barham's 1841 English translation; quoted in Charles Duke Yonge's 1851-52 English translation, not his original words.

1. WHAT HE SAID (the record)

Record ledger

• BELIEF (undated; quoted in C. D. Yonge's 1853 English translation): Cicero believes that justice is a disposition of mind that gives every one his due and protects the union of human society through liberality and equity. He also states that justice is closely related to other virtues such as piety, kindness, liberality, benevolence, and courtesy, and that it requires courage and wisdom to be maintained. "this disposition of mind, giving every one his due, and protecting with liberality and equity this union of human society which I have spoken of, is called justice" [1]
• BELIEF (undated; quoted in Andrew P. Peabody's 1883-87 English translation): Cicero believes that justice should be based on the law of nature and that true law and genuine justice are not adequately represented in human laws, which are only shadows of them. He argues that justice should be guided by reason and that there is a natural fellowship among people. "But of true law and genuine justice we have no real and lifelike representation; their shadow and semblances alone are ours." [2]
• BELIEF (undated; quoted in Francis Foster Barham's 1841 English translation): Cicero argues that justice is not natural or universal, but rather based on fear of punishment. He questions why laws change over time and across societies, concluding that if justice were natural, all people would agree on the same laws. Instead, he claims that laws are not rooted in a sense of justice but in fear, and therefore, there is no natural justice, and men cannot be just by nature. (key quote above) [3]
• BELIEF (undated; quoted in Charles Duke Yonge's 1851-52 English translation): Cicero believes that the law passed by Lucius Flaccus regarding Sylla is the most unjust and unlike a law, as it established a tyrant of the republic by law. He argues that such a law is invidious and lacks justice because it extinguishes laws and establishes tyranny. "Of all laws I think that one is the most unjust, and the most unlike a law, which Lucius Flaccus, the interrex, passed respecting Sylla.—'That everything which he had done should be ratified.'" [4]
• BELIEF (undated; quoted in Francis Foster Barham's 1841 English translation): Cicero believes that justice is not determined by civil laws or the institutions of the people, but by right reason, which is the true rule of all commandments and prohibitions. He argues that laws established by tyrants are not just simply because they are laws, and that real justice must be supported by nature, not just utility. (key quote above) [5]
• BELIEF (undated; quoted in Charles Duke Yonge's 1851-52 English translation): Cicero defines justice as 'a habit of the mind which attributes its proper dignity to everything, preserving a due regard to the general welfare.' He explains that its first principles proceed from nature, and later practices became established by universal custom due to their utility. (key quote above) [6]
• BELIEF (undated; quoted in Francis Foster Barham's 1841 English translation): Cicero believes that justice is connected to law and that law is the highest reason implanted in nature, which prescribes what ought to be done and forbids the contrary. He also suggests that justice may spring from law, depending on how law is defined. "I hardly know if their opinion be not correct, at least, according to their own definition; for 'Law (say they) is the highest reason, implanted in nature, which prescribes those things which ought to be done, and forbids the contrary.'" [7]
• BELIEF (undated; quoted in Francis Foster Barham's 1841 English translation): Cicero believes that law is the just distinction between right and wrong, conformable to nature, and that it serves as the original and principal regulator of all things by which human laws should be measured. "For law is the just distinction between right and wrong, conformable to nature, the original and principal regulator of all things, by which the laws of men should be measured, whether they punish the guilty or protect the innocent." [8]
• BELIEF (undated; quoted in Andrew P. Peabody's 1883-87 English translation): Cicero believes justice is a principle that constitutes the bond of human society and includes two divisions: justice itself, which gives the greatest lustre to virtue, and beneficence or benignity. He argues that the first demand of justice is not to harm another unless provoked, and the second is to use common possessions as common and private possessions as belonging to their owners. He further explains that justice is grounded in good faith, meaning steadfastness and truth in promises and agreements. "Of the remaining three heads, the principle which constitutes the bond of human society and of a virtual community of life has the widest scope. Of this there are two divisions, — justice, in which consists the greatest lustre of virtue, and which those who possess are termed good; and in close alliance with justice, beneficence, which may also be called benignity or liberality." [9]
• BELIEF (undated; quoted in Francis Foster Barham's 1841 English translation): Cicero believed that justice and law are the only secure foundations of all rational societies. He sought to establish the correct principles of justice and law, which he viewed as more than just the regulations of legislators or decisions of judges, but as concepts that inspire sublime veneration. "Indeed the main object of these books, is to prove that justice and law are the only secure foundations of all rational societies." [10]

What cuts against it

• The contrary-evidence entries are already in the record ledger above: [1], [2], [3], [4].

2. HOW IT APPLIES (reasoning; inference is marked)

1. Cicero defines justice as a principle rooted in nature and right reason, which is the true rule of all commandments and prohibitions. (key quote above) [5] (quoted in Francis Foster Barham's 1841 English translation)

2. He argues that justice is not determined by civil laws or the institutions of the people, but by right reason, which is the true rule of all commandments and prohibitions. (key quote above) [5] (quoted in Francis Foster Barham's 1841 English translation)

3. Cicero believes that justice is desirable for its own sake, as it is its own reward and is loved by virtuous men for what it is in itself. "Justice and Right are therefore desirable and amiable in themselves... And for this reason we should entertain the same estimate of all moral virtues." [11] (quoted in Francis Foster Barham's 1841 English translation)

4. He also defines justice as a habit of the mind which attributes its proper dignity to everything, preserving a due regard to the general welfare. (key quote above) [6] (quoted in Charles Duke Yonge's 1851-52 English translation)

5. Cicero argues that justice is essential to the commonwealth and that without a supreme justice, no political government could expect a long duration. He argues that the commonwealth consists in the welfare of the entire people, bound together by the sense of common rights and mutual benefits. [12] (inference)

3. HIS TAKE

Record coverage: PARTIAL

The record is silent on the precise modern legal and philosophical definitions of justice and how they might differ from Cicero's views. However, it does provide a comprehensive view of his belief in justice as a principle rooted in nature and right reason, and as a virtue that is desirable for its own sake and essential to the commonwealth.

Extrapolation: Cicero would likely argue that justice is a principle that is rooted in nature and right reason, and that it is essential to the functioning of a rational society. He would emphasize the importance of justice in maintaining the common good and the welfare of the people.

Competing readings: One reading is that Cicero believed justice is rooted in nature and right reason, and is essential to the commonwealth. Another reading is that he believed justice is not natural or universal, but rather based on fear of punishment, and that laws are not rooted in a sense of justice but in fear. The record itself states both readings, and the evidence supports both.

Confidence: Moderate, as the record provides both a strong support for the belief in justice as rooted in nature and right reason and a contrary belief that justice is based on fear of punishment. The evidence is from old editions and translations, and the record supports more than one reading.