亚里士多德正义观可能的问题及回应:守法即正义?

Possible Problems and Responses in Aristotle's Justice: a Case Study of Law-Abiding Justice

正义是古希腊重要的德性概念,在《尼各马科伦理学》第五卷中亚里士多德介绍了诸种不同的正义观念,其中卷首提到的"守法即是正义"的观念对于现代人来讲,恐怕难以接受。现代的法律的基本特征是去道德化,而亚里士多德却将德性与法律等同起来。实际上,要理解这一命题,首先要理解法律在古希腊传统中的含义;其次,更重要的是,亚里士多德正义观的基础是作为共同体的城邦,不管是法律还是正义,在亚里士多德看来,本质上都是为了维持共同体的生活。这也导致了亚里士多德的正义观注定无法在超城邦层面获得普遍性。

Justice is an important virtue concept in Ancient Greek. In Book V of Nicomachean Ethics , Aristotle introduces some different ideas of justice, in the beginning of which, the statement that ＇ to obey the law is to fol- low the justice＇ may be hard to accept for modem readers. The basic feature of modem law is off - morality, while Aristotle equates virtue and law. Actually, to understand the proposition above, it is necessary to understand the meaning of law in Ancient Greek. Then, more importantly, it should be realized that the base of Aristotle＇ s justice is the community polis. No matter the law or justice, which in the view of Aristotle, are meant to sustain the community＇ s life, which also causes Aristotelian Justice be limited in the scope of the polis.