Abstract
Justice is different from the other virtues.1 It is not about what people should do, such as in acts of benevolence (be more benevolent more often) or of prudence (be more prudent). These are positive virtues that are voluntary, not forced. You cannot force people to be virtuous. Flogging someone for failing to be beneficent (acting kindly) makes nonsense of the virtue in which she is defective!
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© 2005 Gavin Kennedy
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Kennedy, G. (2005). Justice as a Negative Virtue. In: Adam Smith’s Lost Legacy. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230511194_15
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230511194_15
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-52484-6
Online ISBN: 978-0-230-51119-4
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