Justice vs. Revenge

Thoughts?

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sola gratia

Yes, Justice and Revenge are thoughts.


eudaimonia,

Mark

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Can't one have both?

Is there a difference?

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sola gratia

My 2 cents:

Justice is restitution. If a someone has been harmed, justice is the victim being made whole, as much as possible, by the victimizer.

Revenge is retribution. It's a victimizer being subject to some retaliation for what was done to the victim.

Depending on the situation, the same action may or may not accomplish both. But justice should be the primary goal.

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You know you got to go through hell
before you get to heaven...

--Steve Miller, "Jet Airliner"

Justice is a vague topic, you can incorporate revenge into it, and have a system based around "an eye for an eye". That being said, I think that a good justice system should be designed around the idea of trying to reform people where possible, and to encourage people to not commit crimes in the first place.

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Sarcasm is obviously the lowest form of wit.

I like how you've phrased this, but it prompts 3 additional comments/questions:

1) You left out reforming the victimizer. Does justice include reform (as Sith mentioned)?
2) Our legal system is primarily about punishing the victimizer (with some token nods toward reform). Should the legal system put more emphasis on restitution? For example, in a criminal case the only result is the punishment. If the victim wants more, they have to bring an additional civil suit (think OJ). Even then, the reward is usually just money. There is nothing about making the victim "whole."
3) Does justice involve forgiveness on the part of the victim?

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sola gratia

Doesn't justice attempt to be rational, whereas revenge is based on uncalculated emotion?

Justice is doing what is rational to make things objectively right, whereas revenge seems more subjective and unthought out.

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"I wonder if I've been changed in the night? Let me think. Was I the same when I got up this morning? I almost think I can remember feeling a little different. But if I'm not the same, the next question is 'Who in the world am I?' Ah, that's the great puzzle!"

I think that in modern terms "emotion" has become synonomous with "uncontrolled." Is some sympathy or righteous anger on the part of a judge acceptable? IOW, should justice consider emotion or ignore it?

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sola gratia

I think justice is concerned with the present and future, whereas revenge is concerned with the past.

I understand justice in a Rawlian sense as a kind of fairness within a social system. That is not something that can be achieved for the past, which is unchangable.
Revenge is always concerned about a deed in the past, repercussions on future eventes are at best incidental.

So if someone wants to "bring person X to justice" for past deeds, I would say he is in fact after revenge, not justice.