A Study On David Hume's Theory Of Justice

Justice, as one of the enduring topics, is the eternal ideal to pursue in human society. However, it is hard to deal with properly in people's concrete practices. Justice is a positive value-measurement for moral relationship and behaviors to testify that a certain kind of speech or activity accords with the general social or class morality. Meanwhile, it also is a key yardstick to weigh the moral status of individuals and communities. Justice is concrete and historical, and various views toward it have been proposed due to different understandings on Justice in specific historical periods, societies, social classes, as well as individuals. From Ancient Greece to present, almost all the outstanding thinkers, such as Plato, Aristotle, Agustin, Locke, Rousseau, Kant, Rawls, did researches on Justice and gave their own perspectives. Hume's idea of Justice plays a vital role in both history of Justice in human society and Hume's own moral philosophy system, which is mainly reflected in his works of "A Treatise of Human Nature" vol.3 "OF THE OTHER VIRTUES AND VICES" and its edited version. He put forward that Justice originates from "Selfishness" and "Sympathy" in human nature and "Human Agreement". In his opinion, the nature of Justice is something like "Acquired Morality" and performs as the three basic principles of Property Right----the stability of possession, transference by consent and performance, government guarantee of Justice. By studying Hume's thoughts of Justice, we can have a further understanding about the threads of western Justice Theory with its basic development trend. Moreover, it can help us to realize justice in present society of China correctly, and form a much deeper understanding about the theoretical and practical significance to build a harmonious society with fairness and justice.This essay, which is directed by the methods of historical materialism, delves into Hume's relative works about Justice in order to trace the theoretical origins of Hume's Justice, and discuss its origin, nature, functions and historical influence. Furthermore, this essay summarizes the main points of Hume's Justice, and gives the author's comments on the characteristics, influence, limits and contemporary value of Hume's Justice attitude by means of Marxism views, principles and methodology.