Polarity number four is MERCY & JUSTICE. Mercy for the individual becomes unjust without concern for the good of the whole. And to be truly virtuous, justice must be balanced with care for each person.
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Polarity number four is MERCY & JUSTICE. Mercy for the individual becomes unjust without concern for the good of the whole. And to be truly virtuous, justice must be balanced with care for each person.
This is one of Barry Johnson’s polarities that, while true in its intention, misses the mark on how the polarity is framed. More properly, balancing mercy/forgiveness is better complemented with consequences/punishment – in the service of balancing the greater purpose of justice. This would be more accurate. A “just” adjudication may either involve mitigating circumstances that rightfully lean toward the mercy pole, while aggravating circumstances afford weight to a more punitive decision. Both of these involve appropriate “justice”, rather than relegating only the punitive pole to justice itself.