It being Advent, I find myself moved once more to muse upon matters philosophical, examining the Eight Virtues of the Ultima series and comparing these against real-world philosophy and theology. This year, I’d like to focus on the Virtue of Justice, which I don’t think I’ve given much attention to in years past.

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Thomist theologian James Chastek wrote — or shared; it’s not clear — a parable on his blog some years back:

A certain Queen was thrown from her city — in part because her ministers became lax, in part because of the envy of those who desired her power. In place of the Queen, a mob was put in place, which would say now one thing, now another.

Certain ministers, however, stayed faithful to the Queen, and sought to treat her well. And so these ministers went to the castle of the ruling mob, and stole some of the food which the mob fed on.

But when they brought the food before the queen, the queen looked at them with scorn. “I have no need for the scraps of a mob” she said, “I was not a queen by chance or human luck, but because I justly and truly order all who follow me. I have no interest in food stolen from slaves, but you are truly subjects who need justice. Follow me, and you will be well, and all seeing your life will follow you.”

And so the ministers followed her, first one, and then another. And the new city of the Queen grew and grew, until it was twice the size it was before.

What is Justice?

Justice, in Ultima lore, is the devotion to Truth, tempered by Love. It is the wisdom that perceives what is right and what is wrong in human action.

This is a reasonable starting point, but to fully understand Justice, we need to take note of the focal point of this definition: perception. Justice is intrinsically outward-facing: as a virtue, it is concerned with giving right operation to others (or, if you prefer, giving to each person what is their legitimate due). In its exercise, it confers good not only on the one who acts justly, but on those who are acted upon; good flows out of one unto a multitude.

“Justice without force is impotent. Force without justice is tyranny.” The Shrine of Justice in Ultima 6 warns us thusly, and it isn’t wrong as far as this explanation goes. But force is only a part of it. Virtues can be easily fallen away from in favour of other things which in and of themselves may be good, but which can be turned toward evil if they actually supplant the Virtue that, properly speaking, they are meant to supplement. In the case of Justice, it is the good of rights — e.g. human rights — which can co-opt the virtue in this way.

Properly considered, rights are the object of Justice, and in keeping with the understanding that Justice flows outward unto a multitude, we should really understand rights as being things had by others, rather than simply considering them as things which we possess ourselves. We should consider rights in light of how they can make someone else just, and lead them (and ourselves) toward being good, happy, virtuous, and fully-authenticated persons.

Which is not to say that we do not also possess rights, but it is important to ground our understanding of what rights we possess not in the context of our own possession of them, but in the context of them being possessed by others…by everyone. What rights I would claim for myself, I must first understand and be willing to acknowledge as being possessed by others; otherwise, I am being unjust, and desirous of tyranny.

The queen in the parable refused the stolen food out of this understanding. No doubt she was hungry, as anyone driven into exile would no doubt struggle with at some point. And certainly, as a human person, she did possess a natural right to have her basic needs satisfied, a right which the mob no doubt sought to deprive her of. But equally, she herself was not willing to deny the mob their rights in turn, by partaking of the stolen food, and in fact was scornful of her ministers for depriving others of their rights so that their queen might exercise hers.

Anyway, I hope you found this first attempt at bringing my periodic Meditations on Virtue into the podcast format enjoyable (and even enlightening), and I hope that you’ll continue to journey with me through the Advent season, as we continue to look at the Virtue of Justice.