JUSTICE THE EQUILIBRIUM BETWEEN THE FREEDOM OF THE INDIVIDUAL AND THE SAFETY OF SOCIETY
The question stated at the close of the last chapter is most important and, in a sense, is perhaps the crux of the whole matter. Not only may error in the solution of the question injuriously affect the material interests of individuals and hence of society as a whole, but it may cause unhappiness far greater than that caused by any material loss, viz., a sense of injustice. As said by the English judge, "Injustice cuts to the bone."
At the outset I accept Herbert Spencer's theory that the idea of justice contains two sentiments, positive and negative; the one the sentiment of the individual that he has the right by nature to the unimpeded use of his faculties and to the benefits he acquires by such use; the other the consciousness that the presence of other individuals with similar claims of rights necessitates some limitation of his own claims. Out of those two sentiments is evolved, I think, the idea of justice or injustice according as they are or are not in equilibrium. They suggest the definition that justice is the equilibrium between the full freedom of the individual and the restrictions thereon necessary for the safety of society. The restraint of personal conduct within too narrow limits, the necessity of which cannot be made clear, excites resentment, stimulates angry passions, and hence causes unhappiness through a sense of injustice. Restraint within necessary limits only, the necessity of which can be seen, arouses no resentment; on the contrary, it satisfies the individual, favors harmonious cooperation, profits society and increases the happiness of its members, through the appreciation of that necessity.
But for the fixing of the boundary line between necessary and unnecessary restraints upon personal conduct, some other matters still are to be considered. I have said that man instinctively feels resentment at interference with whatever he may think is his right to do, or get, or keep. If this interference is from any of his fellow men his resentment is greater than when it is from natural forces. There arises the desire for vengeance, the desire to "get even,"--to use a common phrase,--by inflicting a corresponding injury on the offender. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, is instinctively demanded now as of old. If unable to inflict a corresponding injury there is the desire to inflict an equivalent injury. To paraphrase Bacon, revenge is justice running wild.