Comments on: The Virtuous Life: Justice

By: Jonathan

Jonathan — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 20:32:29 +0000

This has been an interesting series. I applaud your efforts to resurrect the real manliness in modern men.
About stepping in: Most of this worlds evil is done by those with good intentions. (Or, “the road to hell is paved with good intentions”.) We can practice justice by not initiating force against anyone. We can not protect people, especially from their own stupidity by using force. We CAN however persuade them to choose of their own free will to make smart choices and thereby avoid most of life’s evils. On the other hand, in some cases, we can use force to help those who specifically choose to ask for our protection.
If you want to participate in a charitable effort, try the FIRST Foundation (usfirst.org). That is where I help my community. It is probably the most important and effective non-profit I have ever seen. They have partners all over the world doing the same projects (firstlegoleague.org).

By: [转] Benjamin Franklin’s List of 13 Virtues - As the deer

[转] Benjamin Franklin’s List of 13 Virtues - As the deer — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 19:58:43 +0000

[...] Justice: Wrong none by doing injuries, or omitting the benefits that are your duty. What is justice? For millennia philosophers have debated this question. Justice, like beauty or goodness, is an ethereal and hard to define concept. Catholic theologian and philosopher St. Thomas Aquinas put it quite succinctly when he defined justice as the constant and perpetual will to render to everyone his due. [...]

By: Nova

Nova — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 04:26:30 +0000

I would just add the warning/reminder that stepping in is NOT always the best thing to do when you see a woman being publically mistreated. It is hard to judge what action to take, because you don’t know that your interference won’t cause the woman even worse repercussions when they’re next in private.

Instead if you are interested in mitigating violence against women I would recommend focussing on its root causes and doing things like: talking about physical/sexual violence amongst your other male friends; calling your friends out on it when you think or know they’re perpetrating some kind of violence; not letting it slide when other men use denigrating language against women; raise your sons to be respectful and appreciative of women; etc.

By: Brett

Brett — Tue, 20 May 2008 17:14:38 +0000

@Kieron-I think it’s a gut call. It depends on the amount of violence and the intensity of what is going on. If the dude who’s doing the harassing has escalated into a the violence into a full on beating or if he looks like you might be able to take him if it should come to that, or if it seems that if you don’t intervene immediately the victim is going to die or be caused serious harm, than its best to step in. If these things are not the case, it is probably best to call the police. At any rate, the thing to do would be to try to defuse the situation, not get involved in a fistfight.

By: Kieron

Kieron — Tue, 20 May 2008 12:30:27 +0000

Hey,

How should a man apply justice when they see a person who’s getting a beating on the street? Get involved? Call the police?