1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:08,320 Aristotle thought that the objective of politics was to help us in order to achieve the common 2 00:00:08,320 --> 00:00:13,240 good of everybody, the collective happiness of a society. 3 00:00:13,240 --> 00:00:17,040 But this is only possible if there is justice in society. 4 00:00:17,040 --> 00:00:21,840 So justice is an essential value for politics. 5 00:00:21,840 --> 00:00:27,880 Have you ever stopped to think what justice means? 6 00:00:27,880 --> 00:00:33,760 We talk about justice frequently, for example when we say this is unfair, this is unjust. 7 00:00:33,760 --> 00:00:36,720 What do we mean when we say that? 8 00:00:36,720 --> 00:00:41,680 Aristotle thought about this and he discovered that justice can have different meanings. 9 00:00:41,680 --> 00:00:45,920 For example, justice can mean legality. 10 00:00:45,920 --> 00:00:51,480 We say sometimes that things are just when they are done according to the law. 11 00:00:51,480 --> 00:00:58,400 But most generally, Aristotle thought, when we talk about justice, we refer to two different 12 00:00:58,400 --> 00:01:04,400 meanings which are the commutative justice and the distributive justice. 13 00:01:04,400 --> 00:01:06,840 What is commutative justice? 14 00:01:06,840 --> 00:01:10,160 Commutative justice refers to dealings. 15 00:01:10,160 --> 00:01:15,040 For example, when we trade, when we sell or buy something. 16 00:01:15,040 --> 00:01:20,440 If I sell something to you, what is it just to receive? 17 00:01:20,440 --> 00:01:26,000 It is just that you give me something that has the same value as the thing I have given to you. 18 00:01:26,000 --> 00:01:35,520 So in dealings, commutative justice applies and it refers to an equality in what we give 19 00:01:35,520 --> 00:01:38,440 and what we get. 20 00:01:38,440 --> 00:01:39,800 But this is not all. 21 00:01:39,800 --> 00:01:43,320 There is also another meaning of justice. 22 00:01:43,320 --> 00:01:49,360 Justice can also be interpreted as distributive justice, which is applied when we distribute 23 00:01:49,360 --> 00:01:51,720 things. 24 00:01:51,720 --> 00:01:55,880 Think about distributing the marks. 25 00:01:55,880 --> 00:02:01,960 The teacher has made an exam and he is giving the class their marks. 26 00:02:01,960 --> 00:02:09,520 Would it be just if the teacher gave everybody 5 points over 10 regardless of their merit 27 00:02:09,520 --> 00:02:11,320 of what they did? 28 00:02:11,320 --> 00:02:12,760 Of course not. 29 00:02:12,760 --> 00:02:18,200 Here what is just is that the teacher gives each person what they deserve and some people 30 00:02:18,200 --> 00:02:23,800 deserve more because they have more merit, their results are better. 31 00:02:23,800 --> 00:02:27,920 Or think about citizens who pay their taxes. 32 00:02:27,920 --> 00:02:33,560 Would it be fair that everybody paid the same amount of money regardless of their wealth? 33 00:02:33,560 --> 00:02:35,400 Of course not. 34 00:02:35,400 --> 00:02:41,240 It is just that people who are rich pay more money than people who are poor. 35 00:02:41,240 --> 00:02:47,960 So when we talk about these kinds of distributions, when we distribute benefits or charges, good 36 00:02:48,000 --> 00:02:52,920 or bad things, we are talking about distributive justice. 37 00:02:52,920 --> 00:03:01,280 Distributive justice refers to give and receive according to your merit or your needs. 38 00:03:01,280 --> 00:03:07,440 Thinking about all these different meanings of justice, justice as legality, or commutative 39 00:03:07,440 --> 00:03:13,600 justice, or distributive justice, how would you define what justice is? 40 00:03:13,600 --> 00:03:15,240 It is not an easy task. 41 00:03:15,240 --> 00:03:22,320 Aristotle thought that, generally speaking, justice could be defined as giving everyone 42 00:03:22,320 --> 00:03:24,120 what they deserve. 43 00:03:24,120 --> 00:03:27,440 But this depends on the situation. 44 00:03:27,440 --> 00:03:32,840 Sometimes giving you what you deserve is marked by the law, sometimes it has to do with dealings 45 00:03:32,840 --> 00:03:38,200 and the important thing here is to be fair in equality, and sometimes it has to be with 46 00:03:38,200 --> 00:03:39,480 distributions.