Justice as the End of Politics: A Critical Discourse

This paper explores the issue of justice.It is hypothesized that social development can hardly be realized unless the idea of justice is well theorized and practiced.To achieve this, a holistic theory of justice is needed.Thus, it is stressed that a vivid account of the nature of man, the idea of a good life and institutional arrangements are fundamental in a discourse on justice.The paper holds that the Yoruba's conception of man/person is highly effective to developing a promising theory of justice.Therefore, shades of justice are discussed with the hope to show that politics cannot take shape without a preconceived notion of justice.Fairness, equality, freedom, impartiality and social responsibility are instances of themes on politics that have their genealogy in a theory of justice.As a consequence of this, we argue that a theory of justice must precede a theory of social development.For the crisis confronting a culture or society to be reasonably addressed, the paper argues that local ideas of justice must conform to the universal tenets of justice.This universality of justice, as distinct from a particularized kind, is defended using a non-harm criterion.Hence, we conclude that justice provides the basis for the protection of human right, dignity and worth.