抄録
According to Thomas Aquinas, it is proper to justice, as compared with the other virtues, to direct man in his relations with others. And the relations with others may happen in two ways: first as regards his relation with individuals, and secondly as regards his relations with others in general. In the case of the latter, it is identified with the whole community, and it is evident to that community as parts to a whole. So others as individuals may be referable to others in general, and all acts of virtue can pertain to justice, in so far as it directs man to the common good.
On the other hand, according to Martha C. Nussbaum, we need to face the issues of justice involved in our treatment of people with physical and mental impairments, of all world citizens, and of nonhuman animals. Her conclusion is not that we should reject Rawls's theory, but that we should keep working on alternative theories, that is, we should take a capabilities approach.
The capabilities approach takes its start from the Aristotelian/Marxian conception of the human being as a social and political being, who finds fulfillment in relations with others. And the good of others is not just a constraint on this person's pursuit of her own good; it is a part of her good. In the expansion of the meaning of others and the common good, there may be the possibility of Aquinas’s theory of justice.
