Solved Exercise for Precis writing with Title “Justice and Love in a Society” Precis for Class 9, 10, 11, 12 and Higher classes.

Passages with Solved Precis

One of our great needs is some general system of thought of map of the intellectual world by which we may be helped to judge which of several principles should prevail when it is impossible to give full expression to all. Incidentally, it may be worthwhile to observe that our duty in this field is seldom to adopt one principle and see it through, Controversialists often demand this in the name of logic or of consistency. But the first requirement of logic is that we should consider what principles an: involved and how we may do the fullest justice to all of the sm. Thus, if we say that we stand for equality of opportunity, someone is almost sure to say, ‘Very well, but be consistent and abolish the family’, Of course, it is true that so long as children brought up in their own families they will not have equal opportunities, for some families will stimulate and others will suffocate their intellectual or other interests. But, equality of opportunity is only one among several principles that should find expression in the training of young citizens; and the real problem is to ascertain, as far as may be, all the principles and then combine them as fully as possible.

It is possible that my previous discussion on Christian social principles may be criticised for omitting the two most important of all; Justice and Love. But these are principles of another order. They have their place in this field chiefly as regulating those which we have already described. It is axiomatic that Love should be the predominate Christian impulse, and that the primary form of love in social organisation is justice. No doubt this latter truth is sometimes ignored by those who wish to apply love, so to speak, wholesale and direct. But it is hard to see how this works out. Imagine a Trade Union Committee negotiating with an Employees’ Federation in an industrial crisis on the verge of a strike or lockout. This Committee is to be actuated by love, Oh yes, by all means-but towards whom? Are they to love the workers or the employers? Of course, both. But then that will not help them much to determine what terms ought to be either proposed or accepted. The fact is that these problems arise only so far as perfect love is not operative, That is the reason why both sides should confess their sin— but still the problem is unsolved. Love, in fact, finds its primary expression through Justice—which in the field of industrial disputes means, in practice, that each side should state its own case as strongly as it can before the most impartial tribunal available, with determination to accept the award of that tribunal. At least that puts those two parties on a level, and is to that extent in accord with the command: “Thou shalt love the neighbour as thyself.”

But as love can find expression only through justice, so justice is incapable of any definition, which renders it applicable to actual circumstances by any rule of thumb. Perhaps, the old formula that justice consists in rendering to everyone his due is as good as any. But what is due to a man? How do we judge? In time of war the cost of living rises: there is a demand for a rise in wages to meet this. How do we decide whether that demand is just, and if it is, how much the rise should be ? We try to apply the principle of equality of sacrifice; but how do we measure sacrifice. One may lose without feeling it a sum of which the loss would be crippling to another. There seems no way except to put the problem before a fair-minded man who is able to see the question all round and then trust his judgment which will be one of feeling — of course, the feeling of a disciplined mind rather than of calculation.

These two great principles then–Love and Justice  must be rather regularise of our application of other principles than taken as immediate guides to social policy. But they must constantly be borne in mind as check upon policy. As we must use our wider loyalties to check the narrower ones, so we must use these highest principles of all to check our application of the lower. Freedom must not be pursued in ways which offend against love, nor must service be demanded, or fellowship in any actual instance promoted in ways that offend against justice.

In earlier times, Christian thinkers made great use of the notion of National Law. They did not mean by this a generalization from a large number of observed phenomena, which is what a modern scientist means; they meant the proper function of a human activity as apprehended by a consideration of its own nature. In practice, the Natural Order or Natural Law is discovered partly by observing the generally accepted standards of judgement and partly by consideration of the proper functions of whatever is the subject of inquiry. This is a task for human reason; but so far as reason enables us to reach the truth about anything in its own essence and in its relationships, it enables us to see it as it is in the mind of God. Thus, it is a natural, not a super-natural, order with which we are concerned; but as God is the Creator, this Natural Order is flis order and its law is His law.

Thus, in the economic field, the reason why goods are produced is that men may satisfy their needs by consuming those goods. Production by its own-natural law exists for consumption. If then a system comes into being in which production is regulated more by the profit obtainable for the producer than by the needs of the consumer, that system is defying the Natural Law.

There is nothing wrong about profits as such. It has always been recognised that both the producer and the trader are entitled to a profit as their own means of livelihood, which they have earned by their service to the community. Further, there can be no profit except so far as the needs of consumers are being met. But it is possible nonetheless for these two to get into the wrong order, so that the consumer is treated not as the reason whose interest is the true end of the whole process, but only as an indispensable condition of success in an essentially profit-seeking enterprise.

Precis

Justice and Love in a Society

Idealism has not set roots. It is difficult, therefore, to draw a map of its contours. The purpose can be served by considering its basic principles. Equality of opportunity does not rule out the prevalence of family system and the influence of parents on the child. Christian ideals maintain that justice and love meet the equality of opportunity if they are followed in all walks of life. These are complementary and supplementary. That is why a good trade union is that which has affection both for the workers and the employers. This is justice and this alone is the basis of love. Both sides should have no hesitation in accepting the award of an impartial tribunal. This is the basis of the wise Christian saying “Thou shalt love they neighbour as thyself.”

Justice cannot be dispensed now-a-days by the rule of force. If there is now a rise in cost of living, its effect on the budgets of workers etc. has to be looked into by an impartial authority to ensure the principle of equality of sacrifice. Law courts are no substitutes to this. Justice and love are the components of natural law and justice which is the real guide to social justice. This natural law is based both on reason and observation. Economic production should primarily, therefore, be for equitable consumption and not for profiteering motives. That does not mean profiteering is an evil. It is not evil so long as profiteering is a reasonable charge of rendering service to the community at large in a particular sphere.