Editing Justice (section)

==History==
Early Western theories of justice were developed in part by Ancient Greek philosophers such as [[Plato]] in his work ''[[Republic (Plato)|The Republic]]'', and [[Aristotle]], in his ''[[Nicomachean Ethics]]'' and ''[[Politics (Aristotle)|Politics]]''. Modern-day Western notions of justice also have their roots in Christian theology, which largely follows the [[divine command theory]], according to which God dictates morality and determines whether or not an action is seen as morally "good". This, in turn, determines justice.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Hare |first1=John E. |title=God's Command |date=2015 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |isbn=978-0-19-960201-8 |pages=32–49}}</ref>

Western thinkers later advanced different theories about where the foundations of justice lie. In the 17th century, philosophers such as [[John Locke]] said justice derives from [[natural law]]. [[Jean-Jacques Rosseau]] was a prominent advocate of [[Social contract|social contract theory]], which holds that justice arises from a mutual agreement among members of society to be governed within a political system.

Modern frameworks include concepts such as [[distributive justice]], [[utilitarianism]], [[retributive justice]] and [[restorative justice]]. 

In broad terms, distributive justice considers what is fair based on what goods are to be distributed, between whom they are to be distributed, and what the proper distribution is, ''utilitarian'' theories look forward to the future consequences of punishment, ''retributive'' theories look back to particular acts of wrongdoing and attempt to match them with appropriate punishment, and ''restorative'' theories look at the needs of victims and society and seek to repair the harms from wrongdoing. Theories of retributive justice say justice is served by punishing wrongdoers, whereas restorative justice (also sometimes called "reparative justice") is an approach to justice that focuses on the needs of victims and offenders.{{cn|reason=not enough citations of the different branches of philosophy here|date=December 2024}}