Brennan Program Justice Talks 2023 #4 What is Justice? And what's it got to do with the law?
Facilitator: Dr. Renata Grossi, UTS Law
Martin Luther King Jrn said that ‘law exists for the purpose of establishing justice’. On the other hand, Gloria Steinam said that ‘law and justice are not always the same thing’, and J Edgar Hoover went even further when he said that ‘justice is incidental to law’.
What is the relationship between Law and Justice? The answer to this question will depend on our theoretical perspectives. In terms of how we understand law do we take a natural law or a positivist perspective? Or do we abandon these traditional perspectives and adopt a critical jurisprudential view? And then, how do we understand justice? We use the word a lot but even before we can decide whether it can be achieved we need to dwell on what it is. Is it ‘the greatest happiness for the greatest number’, as per Betham? Or it is ‘respecting human dignity’, as per Kant? Or it is ensuring people get what they ‘deserve’, as per Aristotle?
Happiness, dignity and just deserts are relevant concepts but do we also think that opportunity is important? And what role do sex, gender, class and race play? Is historical harm relevant? Is justice a global concept? Should we include animals, nature, the earth and the universe in our concepts of justice? Who and what do we think about when we think about justice?
Before coming to this lecture please try to watch this film on VIMEO with philosopher Michael Sandel Justice a Citizen’s Guide to the 21st century. You can claim additional ROJ by uploading your reflection to CareerHub pre or post-event (350 words = 5 ROJ).
About the speaker
Dr. Renata Grossi works at the UTS law school where she teaches subjects Jurisprudence and Contracts and is currently the Autumn Faculty Co-Director of the Brennan Program. She is a critical scholar who is interested in how we understand law when we marry reason and emotion. She has written on the law’s understanding of romantic love, on the relationship between love and money, and on the interplay between objectivity and subjectivity. She is currently working on how we understand agreement in order to determine whether contract law is capable of progressive projects.
This event is open for all UTS Law students registered in the Brennan Program to attend.
By attending, students will automatically receive 5 ROJ points towards Brennan Award eligibility. Register to receive Zoom details and points.
See you then!
The Brennan Team
