Private Law Theory

Abstract
In this chapter, I advance an interpretation of Aristotle’s division of particular justice into distributive and corrective justice. I do so by relying on two closely connected arguments. First, I argue that, properly understood, distributive justice regulates the fair allocation of common goods among the members of a polity based on principles of worth, whereas corrective justice directs the fair exchange of goods among the members of the polity based on principles of private property. Second, I argue that Aristotle’s clarification of the distinction between distributive and corrective justice matters politically and that it does so for reasons that pertain to the existence and stability of political communities. Both arguments are based on a joint reading of Aristotle’s Ethics and Politics.

€

Andrei Poama, A Distinction with a Difference: Aristotle’s Division of Particular Justice and Its Practical Significance, in Emma Cohen de Lara and René Brouwer, Aristotle’s Practical Philosophy: On the Relationship between His Ethics and Politics, Springer, 2017 edition, ISBN 3319648241.

First posted 2018-01-13 09:35:58