Justice is an abstract concept, which sometimes is very ambiguous and confusing. The article articulates this dilemma to concretize by dealing with particular experiences and issues to more abstract languages.  It does this in order help us conceptualize the meaning of Justice. It began with the antithesis. Thinking of injustice is the best way to think of justice. In other word, justice is best reflected upon in its absence. For instance, if a worker is paid unfairly, or one worker is paid higher than the other for the same job, and such experience invokes strong feeling of anger, rage, bitterness etc. Fairness is fundamental to justice but is the only the moral claim, equality is another component of justice.

            To treat people equally has two levels; one is to treat equally or fairly to like situations similarly and unlike situations differently. The like situations may be in a class discussion where teacher must be pair to all students by giving them equal opportunity to speak, but in unlike situation like making assignment, teacher can not give equal grade to both students who did their work and those who do not. There is a third level from the biblical tradition, a distinct and determined idea of protecting the poor and vulnerable.

            From these levels there are three categories of justice: commutative justice which refers to relations between individual in private (one to one) transactions; distributive justice refers to how government ought to disperse social benefits and social burdens to individuals; and legal justice refers to the individual’s obligation to the society. Legal has been lately seen as social justice where a person is obliged to society under the codified laws. Because of the complexity of the human relation these three categories missed their significance when people refer justice or injustice only within economic relationship. But there are many relationships that have nothing to do with materialism like friend can treat each other with or without justice. Thus, there is a need for another category of justice, interpersonal justice.

            According to the Catholic Bishops conference, “social justice implies that persons have an obligation to be active and productive participants in the life of society and society has the duty to enable them to participate in this way.” This meaning has two dimensions. First it talks about people in relation to society. People have obligation to contribute to the well being of the society and second talks of society has the obligation to uphold this by removing any such as discriminations that hinder people’s participation.

            When we refer above to the three levels we see that communal justice refers to responsibility of persons or co operate bodies to society. Communities have legitimate expectations for individuals and groups to promote common good and well being of all people. Social justice speaks up for the well being of the people and defends the poor and powerless in the society. 

            The categories of the justice are then:

Interpersonal justice – our responsibilities to others with whom we are in close inter-personal relationship such as friends and family. Commutative –our responsibilities based on professional relationship like employment, or business partners. Communal justice – the responsibilities of individuals, groups, and organizations to the society and seek to promote the common good. Distributive justice – the responsibility of the society through the government to allocate its resources and spreads its burden fairly. Social justice- the responsibility of the persons to promote the well being of the vulnerable like the poor, sick and the powerless.

The starting point to begin a consideration of justice would on be inter-personal justice especially on relationship or friendship. Friendship is a condition for human flourishing and as such it is a moral category and needs amoral reflection. Justice is an essential part of friendship. How justice could be a necessary part of friendship? It is when a friend tells some else something you told him or her in confidence or lends him something and he never returns it but gives it to someone else. Justice in a friendship and giving to other what is due is bond, a kind of moral glue that holds the relationship together. An element of relationship that is characterized by deep commitment is love. This love is none other than an “affective affirmation, which is responsive and unitive. A just or true love demands that we love the reality of the other person. The sign of love one has for other is that s/he does the deeds of love insofar as they are called for and possible.” We love them for who they are. One fails to show this love if he gives love only to show his character. Justice determines what is to be done to repair relationship.

In the justices, two imperatives are worth looking at are responsibility and rights.

They may not derive from Christian ethics but has connections to the overall moral and ethical discussion. Responsibility refers to one as moral accountability and the court of law functions to determine this. Two it refers to as character as one is responsible to drive another man’s wife to a function etc. The problem with responsibility is that in today’s world of individualism, people demand moral autonomy. No one wants to be told what to do and one decides what is morally best for him.

            Right is the ethical response to injustices. Moral rights claims are resulting from legitimate expectation of relationship. Children have the rights to shelter or education and that must not be determined by their relationship to their parents, even in the case when these parents are poor or are disable to make these right accessible to them. The distributive justice has the responsibility to see those rights are met. In the modern liberal thought, the discussion of rights is growing while the discussion on responsibility is diminishing.  

In the moral issue of justice, all three ethical models are inter-related or overlap each other when we use them. Individuals have rights but these rights must be accountable for its actions. In matters of justice, individuals and community have the duty not only to exercise their rights but must be responsible for the use of these rights. The equality and fairness can be better reflected in the treatment of the powerless, poor and vulnerable which the Christian ethic strongly emphasized.