A Thirst for Justice: On the Origin of Justice in Human Intuition Public

Abstract

Abstract
A Thirst for Justice:
On the Origin of Justice in Human Intuition
By Jacob W. Wooten

For thousands of years philosophers have sought to understand natural laws. Where do they come from and how are we to use them in practice? What relationship should these laws have to civic laws? And perhaps the most divisive question, from whom or what do they derive their power? In this paper I shall outline how true justice cannot be a product of civic laws. If we wish justice to be a universally applicable virtue, then it should follow from a set of universally applicable laws. These natural laws exist as a part of human nature and thus can be representative of true justice, expressed through human intuition. In the face of flawed civic laws, individuals must be able to look past these imperfect guidelines and call upon our natural sense of justice, inherent to all human beings. This paper uses two primary case examples to demonstrate the natural inclination for human beings to do just that: the murder of Kitty Genovese and the actions of Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann. We must remember that civic laws are not collectively exhaustive, and if we wish to be truly just, there are cases where we must act on natural laws that predate even the earliest society.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents
Introduction............................................................................................................1
I. Plato's Republic and the Origin of Civic Justice............................................................14
II. St. Augustine and the Superiority of Divine Law.........................................................27
III. On the Banality of Evil and the Weaknesses of Civic Justice........................................33
IV. Justice as Fairness and the Triumph of Ethical Intuitionism..........................................37
Works Cited............................................................................................................46

About this Honors Thesis

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School	Emory College
Department	Philosophy
Degree	BA
Submission	Honors Thesis
Language	English
Research Field	Philosophy
Mot-clé	Justice
Committee Chair / Thesis Advisor	Zupko, Jack, Emory University
Committee Members	Patterson, Richard, Emory University Killaly, Brad L, Emory University

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