We explain what injustice is for philosophy and why it is different for each legal system. Also, the symbols that represent it.
What is injustice?
As the name implies, injustice is the lack of Justice. It can refer to an act itself, a situation, or a system or group social, which is considered contrary to fairness, that is, contrary to what is equitable, correct or reciprocal.
The notion of injustice is legally defined in different ways, according to each legal system. As with justice, there is no universal notion of what unjust is.
For example, today we would consider it an injustice that someone had to pay money to be a free person, but that was the method in which freed slaves acquired citizenship in ages past: by paying the equivalent of their value to their owner. This was considered a fair act, which compensated all parties involved.
However, since ancient times the human being he wondered about the notions of justice and injustice. In Crito, one of the dialogues of the Greek philosopher Plato (c.427-347 BC), one of his characters explained that it was impossible for him to define what justice was, but that instead he had no problems to identify injustice.
Representations of justice and injustice
Injustice, as well as justice, is often represented by symbols or illustrations.
- Justice. It is traditionally depicted in the West as a blindfolded woman, holding a scale and a sword.
- The injustice. In contrast, he is represented in the same way but with one of his eyes open or peeking out from under the blindfold.