Aristotle’s Virtue of Justice as an Ethical Solution to Political Corruption: Analysis and Reflection

Abstract

This paper attempts to discuss Aristotle’s concept of justice as an ethical solution to political corruption. The goal of this paper is to present corruption as a form of injustice that deprives the majority from a common good. This paper is very important because it provides ethical solution to grand corruption whereby unscrupulous individuals divert funds meant for development of the entire society into private hands. Due to grand corruption the poor masses are deprived of quality basic needs. The paper focuses on corruption as an immoral act through the lens of Aristotle’s ethical and political insights. The virtue of justice in Aristotle’s ethical and political works are spelled out. The methodology used in this paper is analytical and applied. It is analytical because it analyses Aristotle’s understanding of virtue of justice in his moral theory especially in his book entitled Nicomachean Ethics and justice in his political theory. Finally, the paper makes subsequent applications of Aristotle’s virtue of justice in the realm of ethical solutions to the problem of corruption.