Justice and Social Order

First published in 1945, in the wake of potent suffering, injustice, and the social and international upheaval of World War II, Justice and Social Order is Emil Brunner's impassioned assessment of Protestant Christianity's irresoluteness on various social issues, including the social order, politics, law, and international law. Brunner argues that the totalitarian State was the inevitable result of the slow disintegration and dissolution of the idea of justice in the Western World, which left Western humanity in its own wreckage in the twentieth century. Part one, 'Principles', presents the principles of justice, such as law, equality, and justice, proceeding with a description of the essential nature of these principles and where justice lies with the sphere of ethics. In the second part, 'Practice', Brunner explains the application of the principles described in part one to the practice of justice. In Justice and Social Order, Brunner elucidates his belief that it is the duty of theologians, philosophers, and jurists to comprehend and clarify the idea of justice to reconstruct just institutions and cure humanity's 'chronic disease': the absence of the intention of justice.



by Emil Brunner



Foreword Translator's Note 1. Introduction: The Disintegration Of The Western Idea Of Justice Part One Principles 2. What Is Meant? 3. The Place Of Justice In Th e Sphere Of Ethics 4. Justice And Law 5. Justice And Equality 6. The Ground Of Equality 7. The Ground Of Inequality 8. The Divine Law Of Justice 9. The Equality Of Men. The Right To Freedom 10. The Inequality Of Men And The Rights Of The Community 11. Individualism And Collectivism 12. Justice And The Law Of Nature 13. Static And Dynamic Justice. Historical Relativity vi Justice and Social Order 14. Justice And The Revelation Of Scripture 99 (1) The New Testament (2) The Old Testament (3) The Ten Commandments In Particular 15. Justice And Love Part Two Practice Foreword To Part Two 16. Justice In The Political Order 17. Justice In The Family Order (1) Justice In Marriage (2) The Family 18. Justice In The Economic Order (1) The Justice Of Property (2) Just Interest (3) The Just Price (4) Just Wages (5) The Just Distribution Of Economic Power (6) Capitalism And Communism (7) The Just Economic Order. The Problem Of Economic Planning 19. The Mass Man And The Just Social Order 20. Justice In The Political Order (1) The Four Stages Of Political Justice (2) The Injustice Of The Totalitarian State (3) Just Law (4) Just Power (5) Just Punishment 21. Justice In The International Order (1) The Order Of Peace (2) The Law. International Law Contents vii (3) Just International Law (4) The Just Distribution Of Power (5) Extra- and Supra- State Possibilities Conclusion. Limits Notes