The ontological relation of value, virtue and justice

Abstract

What we tried to do in this presentation is to chart the ontological relation of the three most important concepts of value, virtue and justice. We found that in Aristotle the three are intimately, ontologically and dialectically related. Without the one we can not have the other two. We also investigated the related issue of the unity of facts and values. We saw that this issue is related to the above analysis because without a common language, use and meaning related to these concepts, there can be no justice, especially in its social context. We also saw that this unity can exist only in a theistic metaphysics and that it appeared much later than the medieval time, and is a product of the post-seventeenth century industrial mechanistic attitude towards man and the world. I hope that this was profitable for any future discussions on justice and what all justice disputes should take into account as presuppositions for any rational and peaceful negotiations, especially between parties coming from quite different cultural backgrounds.