Throughout Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle describes ideal leadership. He outlines the character traits good leaders should possess and what those traits look like in a person. Aristotle argues that virtue is a median between two extremes, and the virtuous person will identify and act in accordance with the mean. Aristotle discuses many virtues and explains how they relate to being a good leader. One of these virtues is justice. Aristotle argues that justice is the foundation upon which all other virtues are built. Therefore, is important for leaders to understand the multiple facets of justice: universal, distributive, and criminal.
The first level of justice is universal justice. Universal justice is important for leaders to understand because …show more content…
This type of justice is the most visible and contains two parts. It is important for leaders to understand because it involves creating the rules for people to follow and how they are to behave as well as what to do when those things are not followed. This level of justice has the most direct impact on what people do and how they behave. This type of justice is generally associated with laws, because it involves creating the guidelines for everyday behavior of the population. Aristotle says of corrective justice, “Hence we do not permit a human being to rule, but rather law, because a human being makes this distribution [of things good and bad] for himself and so becomes a tyrant (104).” To Aristotle laws are designed to ensure that the person in charge cannot become a tyrant as well as to keep the general population in check. Leaders should be aware of this and work to ensure that laws are followed without bias. The second part to corrective justice is the enforcement of the rules and laws a leader creates. Aristotle says, “Since the just and the unjust things are as stated, someone acts unjustly or performs a just act when he does these things voluntarily; when he does them involuntarily, he neither acts unjustly nor performs a just act, except incidentally (106).” It is important for leaders to understand that a person cannot be held accountable for laws they are unaware of. This is important because a leader …show more content…
Therefore leaders need to understand all three types and how they connect to each other. Together the three types of justice lay the groundwork for what is considered virtuous behavior. Universal justice allows for the leader to determine what will be valued in the community, distributive justice allows the leader to accurately assess each person’s potential to benefit the community, and corrective justice allows for the leader to create specific laws the people in the community will follow in addition to how violations of those rules will be dealt with. Leaders should be very concerned with the virtue displayed by those they are leading, which makes having a proper understanding of justice detrimental to being a good
The first level of justice is universal justice. Universal justice is important for leaders to understand because …show more content…
This type of justice is the most visible and contains two parts. It is important for leaders to understand because it involves creating the rules for people to follow and how they are to behave as well as what to do when those things are not followed. This level of justice has the most direct impact on what people do and how they behave. This type of justice is generally associated with laws, because it involves creating the guidelines for everyday behavior of the population. Aristotle says of corrective justice, “Hence we do not permit a human being to rule, but rather law, because a human being makes this distribution [of things good and bad] for himself and so becomes a tyrant (104).” To Aristotle laws are designed to ensure that the person in charge cannot become a tyrant as well as to keep the general population in check. Leaders should be aware of this and work to ensure that laws are followed without bias. The second part to corrective justice is the enforcement of the rules and laws a leader creates. Aristotle says, “Since the just and the unjust things are as stated, someone acts unjustly or performs a just act when he does these things voluntarily; when he does them involuntarily, he neither acts unjustly nor performs a just act, except incidentally (106).” It is important for leaders to understand that a person cannot be held accountable for laws they are unaware of. This is important because a leader …show more content…
Therefore leaders need to understand all three types and how they connect to each other. Together the three types of justice lay the groundwork for what is considered virtuous behavior. Universal justice allows for the leader to determine what will be valued in the community, distributive justice allows the leader to accurately assess each person’s potential to benefit the community, and corrective justice allows for the leader to create specific laws the people in the community will follow in addition to how violations of those rules will be dealt with. Leaders should be very concerned with the virtue displayed by those they are leading, which makes having a proper understanding of justice detrimental to being a good