How would st thomas aquinas define justice? (grade 12: law)

St Thomas Aquinas defines justice as "the habit by which man gives each one what is proper to him through a constant and perpetual will". He classifies justice as one of the four cardinal virtues

Explanation:

Thomas Aquinas was a Christian and medieval thinker, a great exponent of the third period of philosophy and theology of the High Middle Ages. The moral philosophy of Saint Thomas is essentially the Aristotelian ethics of virtue, that is, a practical knowledge of good behavior that leads to beneficial habits for the person and for those around him. Justice is the moral virtue that consists in the constant and firm will to give God and neighbor what is due. He defines justice as "the habit by which man gives each one what is proper to him through a constant and perpetual will". He classifies justice as one of the four cardinal virtues, along with temperance, prudence, and fortitude; and he distinguishes the general and particular sense of justice. Justice in a general sense is the virtue by which a person directs his actions towards the common good. Each virtue, explains Saint Thomas, "directs his act toward the very end of that virtue." Justice is "different from each of the other virtues" because it directs all the virtues of the common good ".