It would not be an exaggeration to say that without justice it would be impossible to run the affairs of the country. Therefore, a government or a legal system must pursue justice in its pure form so as to attain stability and harmony within a state. Though there have been many political philosophers, scientists and politicians and even sociologists who have emphasized the importance of justice, the greatest of the emphasis is found in the works of Plato – the great Greek philosopher.
Plato in his most dominant work "The Republic" highlighted an extra-ordinary stress on justice. He saw in justice, conceived by him, the only remedy of saving his beloved Athens from decay and ruin. Nothing agitated Plato's mind in contemporary affairs more than the amateurish meddlesomeness and political selfishness which was rampant in Athens of his day. He suggested that men and classes must be confined to their own specific duties to the state and their selfishness must give place to utter devotion to the state which could only be done if justice reigned supreme in the state.
The main argument of "The Republic" is a sustained search after the location and nature of justice. Plato pursues this search with the help of the method of elimination and with that of the Large Letters leading to the deciphering of the small ones. He discovers and locates justice with the help of his ideal state. He reviews the various theories of justice representing various stages in the development of conceptions of justice and morality and finally gives his own theory of justice.
Platonic justice is inseparable from his ideal state. He discovers justice, as mentioned above, by using the method of Large Letters i.e. the method of solving deeper mysteries with the help of more easily understandable mysteries of a similar kind. Justice resides in the state and is to be identified with complete virtue which is composed of four elements i.e. wisdom, courage, temperance (self control) and justice. Platonic justice consists in the will to concentrate on one's sphere of duty and not meddle with the sphere of others and its habitation, therefore, is in the heart of every citizen who does his duty in his appointed place.
Justice is the condition of every other virtue of the state and grows with specialization of functions. To Plato, the justice of the state is the citizen's sense of duty. This conception of justice goes against individualism because a man must not think of himself as an isolated unit with personal desires, needs or ambitions but as an integral part of an organic whole. Plato's justice does not embody a conception of rights but of duties. Justice is a quality – an indispensable quality of moral life. It is true condition of the individual and of the state and the ideal state is the visible embodiment of justice.
The state is the reality of which justice is the idea.
Just as the justice of the state depends upon each class and each individual in the state performing its or his duties properly, similarly the justice of the individual demands that each of the three elements in the individual soul i.e. reason, spirit and appetite, keep within their proper bounds. Justice in the individual is identifiable with complete virtue or excellence which must be distinguished from compartmental excellence. Justice, as a complete virtue, makes a man good by integrating and harmonizing his other virtues of courage and self control.
To Plato, complete justice postulates an ideal state and is identifiable with it. Justice like the ideal state, therefore, demands division of society into three classes representing the elements of reason, spirit and appetite, one man, one work, on the basis of functional specialization, a state-regulated scheme of education, the rule of philosopher-rulers and their emancipation from domestic and economic worries by a system of communism, and emancipation of women and their equality with men.
Plato's conception of justice has in it the submergence of the individual in the society. It does not concede the notion of individual versus the state. It refers to the whole duty of man and not merely his legal duties. It is based on the division of society into various professional classes.
Plato's justice has a moral rather than legal content. It has its individual and social aspects. From the point of view of the individual, it means self-control which makes a man refrain from following his selfish impulses and doing undesirable things. It makes him curb the social ambition stick to the station in life for which he is best fitted by his natural endowments and make his most excellent contribution to the society in the performance of his duty. It, thus, leads to specialization of functions.
From the point of view of society, justice means self-control on the party of various classes of society which makes each class mind its own function and not meddle with the functions of other classes. It also makes various members of each class stick to their own allotted functions within the class and not interfere with the functions of other individuals in the same class.
Justice, thus, is a principle of non-interference which keeps within proper bounds the various classes of society, various individuals in each class and various elements in an individual's soul. It is a principle of functional specialization which moves everyone to make a specialized contribution to society and specialization leads to efficiency.
Justice is architectonic and keeps other virtues in harmonious relationship with each other. It permeates and integrates the other virtues of wisdom, courage and self-control and keeps them in proper bounds. As such, justice is the bond that holds the society together.
Though what was represented by Plato is very much different from the present concept about justice, it really proved as the foundation for the further development of systems based on justice. Moreover, it brought into consideration the concept of justice as one of the most important factors for maintaining a peaceful, tranquil and balanced state. The states of world that are suffering from the lack of justice needs to reaffirm their commitments towards justice so that they are able to establish better societies.