Question

Justice means to avenge wrongs.
True
False

Answer 1

The correct answer is False.

Justice is a very different concept from Vengeance. Justice consists on the punishment of wrong-doings or felonies in such a manner that satisfies the collective consciousness, meaning the punishment is perceived as a righteous act by all the people within the same society, not just to oneself. When an act of justice takes place, it doesn't always satisfy everyone's sense of responsability, but the act is enforced under a predefined set of disciplinary rules called laws, to which everyone (supposedly) agreed at a certain point in time, making said enforcement fair to society.

Vengeance or Revenge on the other hand, is the act of punishment on oneself account, meaning it is done in such a way it satisfies one individual's need for mind appeasement (peace of mind). This conflicts with the principal under which Justice is founded, making it a crime to the eyes of the majority, and thus, demanding further disciplinary action on the avenging culprit.

To summarize, Justice means to punish crimes under the regiment of the law; Vengeance means to punish crimes while violating the law.

Answer 2

The answer in FALSE

Justice is broader than revenge.

Revenge is a more primitive way of seeking compensation.

For 25 centuries, at least, what is justice is being discussed. In his great book Beyond Justice Agnes Heller gives a formal definition of justice as "absence of double standards." That is, for a group of equals, different rules are not applied. Justice can be understood as a virtue, a criterion for the distribution of assets in a community, and a form of correction or compensation for damages.

Revenge seems to be sustained in a very primitive version of the theory of justice: the so-called law of the Talon (the one that makes A must receive A). Revenge can be by own hand or by a third party, but generally it is not institutionalized or at least not publicly institutionalized. It is an informal way of satisfying a feeling of justice, but one that has a moral residue that in most cases leaves dissatisfied those who seek revenge.