Aristotle's Qualities Of An Unjust Man

In book #5 Aristotle begins by clarifying that “just” is an inherent quality of a person’s mind and character. A person’s actions and wishes all must reflect the qualities of a person who is just for them to possess the virtue of justice. However, Aristotle states that a person’s temperament can only be understood by looking at its opposites. By this he means in order for a true understanding of whether or not a person is just you must look at an unjust person’s qualities along with a person who possess just qualities whenever you are discussing a person who has justice as a virtue. Aristotle further emphasizes his argument by stating that an unjust man is considered to be not only someone that breaks laws but also someone that is greedy and unfair. Since these are qualities of an unjust man …show more content…
A just man acts for what is improper or immoral for someone else. The worst man is the one whose evil habits not only affect himself but also his friends and family. This comparison by Aristotle leads up to his clarification that the difference between the whole virtue and justice is that justice is defined in relation to something but virtue alone doesn’t have qualifications. Aristotle also follows up with another of perspective of how to look at justice in a specific sense; by stating that in a specific sense justice is concerned with honor, property, safety and similar things. Compared to justice in a larger sense that is concerned with the virtue as a whole. Justice can also be looked at in a narrow sense as a mean between two extremes of unfairness. The final kind of justice Aristotle talks about is corrective justice. Corrective justice is the mean between a gain and a loss in an exchange which violates what is voluntary and it’s the possession of equal amounts before and after the