Stream2

In the book The Republic Plato spends hundreds of pages searching for a definition of justice. Unable to find it immediately, he proposes a roundabout method. If justice can be found in a city, then perhaps we can use that as a clue for where to find it in a person. After defining every element of the city, Plato eventually concludes that justice is found when the ruler, i.e. the decision maker, has sound judgement and is able to act without impedance. Plato then concludes that the ruler is like the intellect and so justice in a person is when the rational thinking process is able to “rule” the person.

He offers a warning however. If a kingdom with a good and unimpeded ruler is the best government, it also has the pitfall of most easily declining into tyranny.  

As all philosophers do, Plato argues in favour of philosophy. In learning and thinking being the dominant forces in our lives and other functions like the Buddhist definition of desire being secondary. Buddhism goes so far as to want to eradicate desire entirely. I disagree with the Buddhist doctrine of eradicating desire however  and also take Plato’s warning to heart.

In following a semi-Buddhist lifestyle involving “letting go” as the primary  mode of being for many years, I personally sank into a depression. The only thing I could do with enjoyment was meditate, as the philosophy of  “letting go” made me unengaged in every other aspect of life. (don’t worry, I still got by.) What eventually saved me from this state was, I like to think, something like Plato’s justice. I started spending my meditations thinking and contemplating, and eventually found deep joy in learning.

This is what rekindled my desire to work and strive towards entrepreneurship, and also provided the fuel to write Stream2.

After labouring intellectually for a while it dawned on me however that I want something more than Plato’s justice and it has to do with Plato’s warning.

I have always wanted to be an entrepreneur, and despite the fact that my attitude of “letting go” got in the way, I have managed to persist in my efforts. One thing that I’ve often struggled with, however, is the ultimate aim. In university, I had a deep desire to have a positive moral impact on the world, but after graduating and joining a start up, I found it difficult to just make something successful (and still do). Never mind something successful and morally impactful.

 This is where the concept of moral justice comes in. Moral justice is when our moral impulse is able to act unimpeded, just as Plato’s justice is when the intellect is able to act unimpeded. It can even be taken a step further. True moral justice is when our moral impulse is able to act unimpeded and it’s able to follow through and have the intended moral impact in the world.

The concept of moral justice applies, in my experience, mostly to work. It’s easy to follow the money, the status, the title, etc… But there are real world problems out there, and for those of you that want to have a positive moral impact (or have wanted to have a positive moral impact at some point in your life). The opportunity is ever out there to solve the real world problems. The opportunity for moral justice is always there.