Abstract

The article analyzes the problem of social justice. Since this issue is as old as humanity itself and has been addressed in various regions of the world, the study examines concepts from Antiquity (Plato and Aristotle) as well as certain XX^th century theories. One of the well-known periodizations of historical processes is based on the type of social relations. Historically, the first dominant system was that of personal dependence, which was later replaced, first in Western Europe (XVII^th century) and then within a century, in almost the entire world by a system of material dependence. The article demonstrates that, in the first period, both in theoretical discourse and everyday life, justice was understood as equality. In the second period, however, it came to be perceived as freedom. It is shown that in historical periods where relations of personal dependence prevailed, justice, with various nuances, was interpreted as equality. However, as class and other forms of social stratification emerged in the post-archaic era, even within a system of personal dependence, the notion of equality underwent significant modifications. When the system of material dependence was established, first in Western Europe (XVII^th century) and later in much of the world, the idea of equality ceased to be the criterion of justice, and freedom became the defining standard. However, freedom itself began to take different forms depending on an individual’s social, economic, and other statuses. Philosophers, ethicists, and political scientists face the challenge of formulating an objective and unbiased criterion of justice, one that is not shaped by particular interests and that cannot be based on a single principle alone but rather constitutes a human-centered system of harmoniously interconnected principles.

Keywords: justice, ideal of social justice, law, equality, just and unjust, virtue, ideal.