Why we should we be just 

When we act unjustly, we believe that we stand to gain something by acting unjustly. But we have already seen that we can gain nothing from others, least of all by withholding what is due to them. Anything good, we need to get from ourselves. It is a part of our rationality (therefore according to nature) to appreciate our relationships to others and to act accordingly. 

When we act unjustly and take what doesn’t belong to us or do not give others what is due to them, we act as though we lack something that can be obtained by taking what doesn’t belong to us or what is due to others. 

Let not your mind run on what you lack as much as on what you have already. 

Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 

Justice makes our lives flow well 

The foundation of justice (especially as Cicero explained it) is that we wrong no one and promote public good. This means we should not harm anyone and should give everyone their due, even the most powerless in society, without expecting any reward in return. 

How does this help us? Since there is nothing to be gained from being unjust and externals are nothing to us, there is no reason to be unjust. By being unjust, we can only damage the social fabric of which we are a part; we can only reinforce the belief that, by taking what doesn’t belong to us, by not being fair to others, we can gain something for ourselves. We have already seen how unwise it is to believe that our happiness can come from others. 

Our interdependence with other people and other countries, especially in these modern times, is undeniable. Even if we ignore natural affection, there is still a case for understanding that we are indeed interdependent. Why we should consider ourselves as a part of the social fabric is illustrated by this story. 

You walk into a room and see a group of people sitting around the table looking hungry and miserable. They are all starving, although there is plenty of food on the table. The problem is they are unable to feed themselves because they all have spoons that can reach the food but are too long to reach their mouths. You walk into another room that looks exactly the same. But the people here are well fed, and they are happy and are conversing with each other. The difference? In this room, people are feeding each other, even though they can’t feed themselves. We will probably never be in a situation like this, but in modern life our interdependence is undeniable. 

When we act unjustly, we fail to see the resources we have within ourselves that could solve all our problems. Instead, we assume that, by being unjust, we could solve our problems or gain something that will increase our happiness, which can never be. Even if by being unjust we gain something temporarily, the advantages may not last long. Our unjust behavior may work against our long-term interests. Using our first skill of practical wisdom we see that such behavior will take us away from our goal of “a life that runs smoothly.” And we see that justice is an important tool in making our life flow well. 

I find delight in keeping my reasoning mind clear. By not turning away from human beings and what happens to them. By seeing and accepting everything with kindness, dealing with them as they deserve. 

Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 8.43 (Chuck Chakrapani, Stoic Meditations, 8.43) 

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This is the thirteenth excerpt from our 10-week course on Stoicism. The book covering all course material, readings ,and exercises is available from https://amzn.to/2Ck0fje 

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