The Standard of Justice

INTRODUCTION

learn to do good;
seek justice,
correct oppression;
bring justice to the fatherless,
plead the widow’s cause.
(Isaiah 1:17)

“What kind of thing do you say that godliness and ungodliness are,” Socrates asks Euthyphro.[i] This is another way of asking, “What is the standard of just living?” Who defines justice, and how can we know what actions make up a just society? How do we justly prosecute unjust actions? Socrates and Euthyphro debate …