Raya
I've always had a bit of trouble interpreting the Justice card. I know it has to do with rationale and good choices, but I normally associate those things with Judgment. But I recently got a bit of inspiration on Justice from an unlikely source, Adam Smith.
Everyone remembers Adam Smith for writing /The Wealth of Nations/, but most people don't know that he was more than an economist, he was a moral philosopher, and his first book (a collection of his lectures) was /The Theory of Moral Sentiments/ in which he talks about the nature of virtue, merit, and other topics related to being "a good person". This book is where he introduces the idea of an "invisible hand" that guides people and larger systems such as societies and economies and lays the groundwork for /The Wealth of Nations/. He ends with a section entitled "Of Moral Philosophy" in which summarizes various philosophers' ideas on morality and gives his. I found one passage on Justice quite interesting. I was going to copy it here, but it's five pages or so, so I'm just going to put the link to the book here and if you're interested, the passage is on pp 330-335.
http://books.google.com/books?id=xV...resnum=4&ved=0CBUQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=&f=false
In short, here the virtue of Justice has more to do with balancing the different parts of one's nature (the passions and reason) so that no one rules over all the others. My reading of it is that all aspects of our nature must be in balance in order for us to have a proper outlook on the world and make moral or "impartial" decisions. Since reading it, it's made me think differently about the Justice card.
Is this how any of you interpret Smith's ideas? Is it in line at all with how you interpret the Justice card?
ETA: If the link I put above is a little hard to read (with the old fashioned "s" that looks like an "f",) here's another link where you can view a PDF of the book in modern type. http://metalibri.wikidot.com/title:theory-of-moral-sentiments:smith-a
Click on the "printable" link and you can view the passage I was talking about on pp 251-254.
Everyone remembers Adam Smith for writing /The Wealth of Nations/, but most people don't know that he was more than an economist, he was a moral philosopher, and his first book (a collection of his lectures) was /The Theory of Moral Sentiments/ in which he talks about the nature of virtue, merit, and other topics related to being "a good person". This book is where he introduces the idea of an "invisible hand" that guides people and larger systems such as societies and economies and lays the groundwork for /The Wealth of Nations/. He ends with a section entitled "Of Moral Philosophy" in which summarizes various philosophers' ideas on morality and gives his. I found one passage on Justice quite interesting. I was going to copy it here, but it's five pages or so, so I'm just going to put the link to the book here and if you're interested, the passage is on pp 330-335.
http://books.google.com/books?id=xV...resnum=4&ved=0CBUQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=&f=false
In short, here the virtue of Justice has more to do with balancing the different parts of one's nature (the passions and reason) so that no one rules over all the others. My reading of it is that all aspects of our nature must be in balance in order for us to have a proper outlook on the world and make moral or "impartial" decisions. Since reading it, it's made me think differently about the Justice card.
Is this how any of you interpret Smith's ideas? Is it in line at all with how you interpret the Justice card?
ETA: If the link I put above is a little hard to read (with the old fashioned "s" that looks like an "f",) here's another link where you can view a PDF of the book in modern type. http://metalibri.wikidot.com/title:theory-of-moral-sentiments:smith-a
Click on the "printable" link and you can view the passage I was talking about on pp 251-254.
