Justice as a Virtue – Justice as a Principle in Adam Smith’s Thought

Abstract

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The paper deals with the character of justice in Adam Smith’s thought. Justice is considered both as a virtue, different from all other virtues for its enforceability; and as a principle on which all the systems of law should be grounded. Smith could not achieve his project of writing a theory of jurisprudence, but some parts of his thought have been analyzed under different points of view: the political “paradigms” of civic humanism and natural law; the dilemma about property, whether it existed by nature of by human convention; the equality/inequality of distribution; the way in which the labouring poor could improve their lot without infringing the rich’s rights. Classical influences and modern considerations are interwoven in Smith’s writings.

Keywords

Justice, Distribution, Property, Equity, Equality, Natural right(s)