Virtue:
Justice
Other names:
Definition:
Giving to each what they deserve; “the constant and firm will to give their due to God and neighbor” (CCC 1807)
Do good: render to others their due; and avoid evil: avoid harming them
Advice:
Empirical Research:
Case examples:
Gifts of the Holy Spirit
Piety
Further reading:
Vices opposed:
Case Study
ReplyDeleteHobby Lobby founder David Green explains the role of justice, of giving each employee his or her fair due, in strengthening communal bonds and incentivizing a strong work ethic. "I cannot emphasize strongly enough that success in retail is the result of building a strong staff—and a manager can’t do this without paying people fairly. Tenure is only one part of the decision; an even more important factor in setting wages is productivity. If two or three employees are not being productive, the manager is going to have to hire extra people to pick up the slack—and that’s going to ruin the wage budget. If the manager tries to keep a lid on things by holding back on raises for the true producers, that will just dishearten and irritate them, causing further loss in productivity. The whole atmosphere in the store will deteriorate.
"It is far better to deal with the problem people, even replacing them if need be, in order to keep the whole team on the winning side." (David Green, More Than a Hobby, ch. 5)
Case Study
ReplyDeleteIn Everyone's a Coach, football legend Don Shula discusses his concern for upholding fair play within the rules of the game. "Doing something unethical would erode my self-esteem - my image of who I am as a person. If I did something that was not right, I would have trouble facing my family. I'll admit that football is a violent sport, but it's clean and it's tough. The struggle to succeed and the hard-fought nature of the win are to me all part of the American way of life. But there's no place in football for 'unnecessary violence,' as when a player deliberately hits an opponent in the head or clips him from behind. As a long-standing member of the NFL's Competition Committee, I have championed rules that decrease unnecessary rough play. If I'm remembered for anything as a coach, I hope it's for playing within the rules. I also hope it will be said that my teams showed class and dignity in victory or defeat. It is a source of pride that during my seasons with Miami, the Dolphins have been the least-penalized team in the NFL. When my team beats your team, I want it to be fair and square.
"If our teams are to play by the rules, they must know them. This knowledge not only means we play 'fair' but sometimes it can mean the difference between victory and defeat. Our last-second victory in December 1993 over the eventual Super Bowl champion Dallas Cowboys is a perfect example. The Cowboys were leading 16-14 when we made a great drive that set up a potential last-second winning field goal. When the field goal was blocked, it looked like the game was lost forever. This is when knowledge of the rules took over. All the Cowboys had to do was not touch the ball and the game was theirs. But when Leon Lett tried to pick up the ball for Dallas and it squirted from his hands, our unheralded offensive linemen Jeff Dellenbach and Bert Weidner know the rule: when the Dallas player touched the ball, it had been reactivated. With this knowledge, they were there to pounce on the ball and help us retrieve victory from the jaws of defeat. When everything seemed lost, knowledge of the rules - and determination to figure a way to still win the game - prevailed. This is the way I like to see football played." (Blanchard and Shula, Everyone’s a Coach, pp. 150-51)