Philosophical Thought

The Ancient Question, a New Answer; a Reflection on Rousseau’s Rearticulation of Aristotle on the Question of Justice

Document Type : Original Research

Author

M.M. Salmani

Department of Political Science, Faculty of Law and Political Science, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran

https://doi.org/10.58209/jpt.5.3.365
Abstract
Justice has long been one of the cornerstones of political philosophy, especially in relation to the interplay between the individual, power, and civic order. This study focuses on two pivotal historical moments in the formation of the concept of justice—Aristotle’s thought within the classical Greek tradition and Rousseau’s theory at the heart of the Enlightenment project. It seeks to examine the ontological, anthropological, and teleological foundations of justice in the works of these two thinkers. The central question is how justice, for Aristotle and Rousseau, is defined in relation to key concepts such as virtue, equality, citizenship, and the common good. It also asks whether, despite the philosophical and political differences in their respective contexts, a conceptual dialogue can be established between them regarding distributive justice. The findings suggest that despite fundamental differences, both thinkers view justice not merely as a distributive mechanism, but as a moral and political foundation of collective order—an order in which the realization of citizenship and the common good is inconceivable without justice.

Keywords

Aristotle
Civility
Citizenship
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Justice
Subjects
- Akhavan B (2018). A comparative examination of the concept of justice in the political philosophy of Plato and Aristotle. Journal of Legal Studies. 10(3):1-27. [Persian]
- Aristotle (1970). Politics. Enayat H, translator. Tehran: Pocket Books Co. in Collaboration with Franklin Publications.
- Aristotle (2021). Ethics. Mashayekhi R, translator. Tehran: NEGAH. [Persian]
- Bell D (2004). Environmental justice and Rawls’ difference principle. Environmental Ethics. 26(3):287-306.
- Cassirer E (1999). The problem of Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Shams-Avari H, translator. Tehran: MARKAZ. [Persian]
- Dunn J (1968). Justice and the interpretation of Locke’s political theory. Political Studies. 16(1):68-87.
- Fleischacker S (2018). A short history of distributive justice. Amini M, translator. Tehran: MARKAZ. [Persian]
- Fraser N (2008). Abnormal justice. Critical Inquiry. 34(3):393-422.
- Gheaus A (2016). Hikers in flip‐flops: Luck egalitarianism, democratic equality and the distribuenda of justice. Journal of Applied Philosophy. 35(1):54-69.
- Hamedi A (2014). The concept of justice in Greek philosophy (Plato and Aristotle). Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences. 5(27):1163-1167.
- Javidi M (2020). Social contract theory of Jean-Jacques Rousseau through a methodological approach. Journal of Religious Thought. 19(73):39-64. [Persian]
- Khalili MN (2021). The concept of justice. Economic Jurisprudence Association. 10(9):61-102. [Persian]
- MacIntyre A (2023). After virtue. Shahriari H, Shomali MA, translators. Tehran: SAMT. [Persian]
- Maurya SK (2021). The concept of justice in reference with philosophies of Plato and Aristotle: A critical study. Journal of Liberty and International Affairs. 7(3):250-266.
- McManus M (2022). Liberalism vs the Aristotelian universe. New York: Liberal Currents.
- Mullen E, Skitka LJ (2006). Exploring the psychological underpinnings of the moral mandate effect: Motivated reasoning, group differentiation, or anger?. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 90(4):629-643.
- Plato (2018). The republic. Rouhani F, translator. Tehran: ELMI FARHANGI. [Persian]
- Rousseau JJ (1962). The social contract. Zirakzadeh Gh, translator. Tehran: CHEHR & CHAP ETTELAAT. [Persian]
- Rousseau JJ (2007). Discourse on inequality. Raghfar H, Javdani H, translators. Tehran: Institute of Higher Education and Research in Management and Planning. [Persian]
- Shokri M (2015). Rhetoric tradition and democracy: Isocrates’ role in ancient Greek political idea. Start point of western political philosophy. STUDIA HUMANA. 4(3):14-36.
- Weirich P (1992). Rousseau on equality. History of Philosophy Quarterly. 9(2):191-198.
- Zuckert CH (2014). Aristotelian virtue ethics and modern liberal democracy. Review of Metaphysics. 68(1):61-91.
Philosophical Thought
Volume 5, Issue 3 - Serial Number 19
Summer 2025
Summer 2025
Pages 365-383

  • Receive Date 05 May 2025
  • Accept Date 29 July 2025
  • Publish Date 06 September 2025