The Psychology of Justice

Justice is the cardinal virtue of the social man.It has been extolled as the queen of all virtues, compared with which " neither the evening nor the morning star is so admirable."Paulsen describing it says: " Justice, as a moral habit, is that tendency of the will and mode of conduct which refrains from disturbing the lives and interests of others, and, as far as possible, hinders such interference on the part of others " (42, p. 599).The just man is the man who respects arid jealously guards his own rights as well as those of others.Taken in this broad sense, justice, universal justice, as Aristotle called it, covers almost the whole field of social morality.T o describe and analyze the sentiment of justice in all its multitudinous aspects, fascinating as is the task, is obviously beyond the scope of the present treatise.It was unavoidable that in my study much of this large vital theme should be left untouched.In not a few instances I have had to rest content with merely suggesting lines of thought yet to be worked out.In treating of the subject I have largely followed the rubrics indicated by the accompanying syllabus of the questionnaire prepared by Dr. G. Stanley Hall.