Aquinas Social Justice

Humans, by nature, are social creatures and because of this the concept of justice and an individual’s responsibility in society was formed. Throughout the centuries, numerous theories and meanings regarding the definition of justice have been created. Different conduits for the same basic concept have been argued, refuted, and elaborated on in order to effectively grasp the essence of what justice really is. However, most concepts deal with how the individual in a society practices justice. Whether it is Aquinas and his belief that justice is part of natural law, Hobbes and his view that justice is a social construct, Martin Luther King Jr. and his views on social justice, or Rawls with his views of justice and fairness, they all have implications

God then, plays an active role in what justice is viewed as and this natural law makes people aware of justice. For example, God views the act of stealing as unjust and the fact that a person has to think in order to act and comprehend the act as unjust makes the idea both constant and perpetual. Therefore, every individual is subject to a responsibility towards justice since every person, at some point in their lives, will make a voluntary decision on what they believe is just or unjust. The choice then becomes the concept of Justice and thus is represented in Aquinas’ work as a cardinal

lived in a time where injustice plagued American society. This led to his strong views on justice and the responsibility of individuals to obtain justice. King states in his letter from Birmingham jail that “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere” which implies that individuals need to take an active role in procuring justice. Thus each person has the responsibility to each other and themselves to maintain justice. Due to King’s efforts, the segregation and unequal treatment of African Americans in the United States came to an end and he stands as a great example of an individual exhibiting their responsibility towards