Has Justice been Served? [The Dimensions of Justice] : post 4/9

This is part 4 (post 4/9) of a series on Justice.

Over the last three posts, we covered a tremendous amount of structural and theoretical territory. It is a dense framework to digest all at once. Therefore, I decided to use this post as a resting place: a space to summarize the mechanics we have uncovered so far, and to attempt to categorize the original list of 79 Justice-related normative constructs using this new vocabulary.

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What We've Covered So Far:

Post 1: The Vocabulary and Components of Justice

The first post introduced the series' core focus: exploring the visceral feeling of justice rather than its strict legal or philosophical definition. To establish a baseline, I presented a comprehensive, 79-word vocabulary of constructs, ranging from "Accountability" to "Witness", across English, Korean, and Chinese.

By breaking down the etymological roots of the Chinese characters, the post reveals how these terms inherently function within the machinery of justice (e.g., Authority as "Power + To stop"). Ultimately, this bottom-up linguistic analysis hinted at a categorization around distinct roles, such as defining the Act, the Actor, the Intent, and the Authority, setting the stage for a structural model in subsequent posts.

Post 2: The Mechanics and Dimensions of Justice

The second post shifted to a top-down framework, mapping out the "Mechanics of Justice." It defined the "Object of Justice" as the foundational event: an Actor committing an Act upon a Recipient, but argued that this event only gains normative meaning when Qualified by intent, context, evidence, and authority. Through theoretical case studies, it illustrates how manipulating these variables profoundly alters our human feeling of Justice, even if the physical act remains identical.

The post further contrasts Western proscriptive justice (focused on prohibitions) with Eastern prescriptive justice (focused on duties). It introduces the complexities of Positive Justice, where heroic acts or sacrifices often go unrewarded or are even punished by authorities. The post concluded that Justice is not merely a static verdict but a recursive loop requiring an outcome and a repair; without these, a Judgment is merely a classification, leaving the feeling of Justice incomplete.

Post 3: Judgement, Power, and the State

The third post deconstructed the act of "Judgement," modeling it as a comparative process where an event is weighed against a Reference Set (laws or norms) to produce a Verdict. This process is vulnerable to distortion from flawed evidence, subjective categorization, and the hidden variable of Power. The true feeling of Justice emerges only when society’s moral evaluation of a verdict aligns with the institution’s formal ruling; when they clash due to these distortions, society accumulates "Justice Debt," steadily eroding institutional trust.

Drawing on Max Weber and Michel Foucault, the post explained how the modern State monopolized violence to end infinite cycles of tribal revenge and provide a sense of predictability. However, in doing so, the State committed a structural sleight of hand by substituting itself as the primary Recipient of the crime. Consequently, formal punishment today often focuses on restoring the State's authority rather than repairing the actual human victim, perfectly explaining why legal outcomes so often fail to deliver a true feeling of closure.

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The Dimensions of Justice: Categorization Criteria

In order to categorizeour original vocabulary of 79 constructs, we need ta clear framework. Having spent three posts exploring the underlying language and mechanics of Justice, we now are in a position to surface those dimensions. 

I. The Event (11)

The Event (A) is the basic object of Justice: an Actor performs an Act that affects a Recipient. Without all three, there is no complete event to judge.

1. Actor(7): Who acted?

Determination, Identity, Integrity, Role, Status, Virtue, Will

2. Act(0): What happened?
No original construct fits cleanly.

3. Recipient(4): Who was affected?

Dignity, Freedom, Liberty, Right

II. Qualification of the Event (20)

Qualification gives the Event its moral and legal meaning by examining the relationship, reason, circumstances, and warrant surrounding the Act.

4. Relationship(8): What bound them?

Belonging, Contract, Love, Loyalty, Pledge, Promise, Trust, Vow

5. Reason(7): Why did the Actor act?

Cause, Compassion, Desire, Goal, Greed, Purpose, Reason

6. Circumstance(1): Under what conditions?

Class

7. Warrant(4): What justified it?

Duty, Obligation, Permission, Warrant

III. Judgement (33)

Judgement converts the qualified Event into a conclusion by establishing what can be known, identifying who may judge, applying a Reference Set and evaluative standard, and producing an enforceable Verdict.

8. Evidence(2): What can be established?

Truth, Witness

9. Judge(4): Who evaluates it?

Conscience, Institution, Judge, Jury

10. Reference Set(15): What standard applies?

Belief, Custom, Ideology, Law, Norm, Principle, Prohibition, Regulation, Ritual, Rule, Rule of conduct, Standard, Taboo, Tradition, Value

11. Standard of Judgement(4): By what criteria?

Empathy, Equality, Equity, Fairness

12. Verdict(5): What was concluded?

Guilt, Lawful, Responsibility, Sin, Unlawful

13. Authority(3): Who may enforce it?

Authority, Power, Standing

IV. Consequence (7)

Consequence describes what follows the Verdict: the Outcome imposed upon the Actor and the Actor’s Response to the Act, Recipient, Judge, or community.

14. Outcome(3): What consequence follows?

Punishment, Restriction, Reward

15. Response(4): How does the Actor respond?

Accountability, Reflection, Regret, Remorse

V. Repair (2)

Repair concerns whether the disturbance caused by the Act is actually resolved, including the restoration of the Recipient, the relationship, and the damaged social or institutional order.

16. Repair(2) — How is the damage repaired?

Atonement, Forgiveness

VI. Judgement of the Judgement (5)

Judgement of the Judgement is the recursive evaluation of the Justice process itself: how the community responds and whether the Judge, procedure, Verdict, Outcome, and Repair were just.

17. Social Judgement(3): How does the community respond?

Face, Honor, Shame

18. Justice of the System(2): Was the process itself just?

Justice, Legitimacy

Exposing its full structure:

Event → Qualification → Judgement → Consequence → Repair

↻ Judgement of the Judgement

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This categorization reveals some interesting patterns, particularly about the way I think, because I was the one who came up with the original list of 79 normative constructs.

1. One residual defies classification into the 18 dimensions: Meaning.

Meaning participates in Justice, but none of the eighteen dimensions clearly asks:
What does the Event signify? 

It seems to occupy an interpretive space between Evidence, Reference Set, and Qualification. We should not force it into Evidence merely because it concerns understanding. Evidence establishes what happened; Meaning interprets what happened.

2. My vocabulary is heavily concentrated around Judgement

Event: 11 (14%)
Qualification: 20 (25%)
Judgement: 33 (42%)
Consequence: 7 (9%)
Repair: 2 (3%)
Judgement of the Judgement: 5 (6%)
Residual: 1 (1%)

More than two-fifths of the original vocabulary sits within Judgement. The original list is far richer in standards, rules, evaluators, and conclusions than in consequences or repair.

My original vocabulary was principally a vocabulary of normative order: the standards used to govern conduct, the means used to judge violations, and the authority used to enforce conclusions. It was comparatively poor in the language of the Act itself, the Recipient’s injury, the limits placed upon the Judge, and the work required to repair the disturbance.

3. Reference Set is by far the largest dimension

It contains fifteen constructs:

Belief, Custom, Ideology, Law, Norm, Principle, Prohibition, Regulation, Ritual, Rule, Rule of conduct, Standard, Taboo, Tradition, Value

Human societies possess a very large vocabulary for the standards used to judge conduct. We distinguish their source, scope, formality, enforceability, and mode of transmission.

By contrast, we possess very few terms for whether the disturbance was ultimately repaired.

4. Act contains nothing

This is striking, although not necessarily surprising. The original 79 describe:

• who acts;
• why they act;
• what standards govern them;
• how they are judged;
• what follows Judgement.

But they contain no general vocabulary for what was actually done.

Promise, Pledge, and Vow can themselves be Acts, but their primary importance here is the relationship or obligation they create. Ritual can be an Act, but it functions primarily as a Reference Set or a socially prescribed form. I have language for the significance of the move, but no language for the move itself.

5. Circumstance is almost empty

Only "Class" fits there primarily, and even that placement is incomplete. The mechanics clearly require Circumstance, but the original vocabulary scarcely represents it.

Missing concepts likely include:

• Context
• Situation
• Necessity
• Emergency
• Duress
• Coercion
• Accident
• Ignorance
• Capacity
• Opportunity

This may reveal that ordinary normative vocabulary tends to encode rules and verdicts while leaving context to narrative description.

6. Repair is radically underrepresented

Only Atonement and Forgiveness fit primarily within Repair. Even these address different sides of the equation:

• Atonement is undertaken by the Actor.
• Forgiveness is granted by the Recipient.

Neither necessarily restores the Recipient’s material condition.

This supports one of the strongest conclusions from the Mechanics of Justice:

Justice is linguistically and institutionally better equipped to judge and punish than to repair.

7. Certain constructs naturally bridge dimensions:

Promise, Pledge, Vow, and Contract
Primary: Relationship

Secondary:

• Act: because each can be performed;
• Evidence: because each establishes a commitment;
• Warrant: because each may create an obligation;
• Reference Set: because each becomes a future standard of Judgement.

Duty, Obligation, Permission, and Right

These cross Relationship, Warrant, Recipient, and Reference Set.

• A Right held by the Recipient may create an Obligation in the Actor.
• A Duty may arise from Role, Relationship, Law, or Promise.
• Permission may remove a Prohibition without creating an Obligation.

These constructs encode the transfer of normative force between participants.

Guilt, Shame, Responsibility, and Accountability

These cross Verdict, Outcome, Response, and Social Judgement.

• Guilt can be a Verdict or an internal Response.
• Shame can be an Actor’s Response or a socially imposed Outcome.
• Responsibility can exist before the Act or be assigned afterward.
• Accountability can be demanded as an Outcome or accepted as a Response.

Their duplication occurs because Judgement can travel inward, outward, and back again.

Authority, Power, Standing, Institution, and Legitimacy

These bridge Judgement, enforcement, and Judgement of the Judgement.

• Power enables enforcement.
• Authority authorizes enforcement.
• Standing determines who may initiate or participate.
• Institution houses the process.
• Legitimacy judges whether the whole arrangement is rightful.

Together, they describe the conversion of a Verdict into an accepted—or contested—Outcome.

Atonement, Remorse, Forgiveness, and Trust

These bridge Response, Repair, and Relationship.

• Remorse is an internal Response.
• Atonement is an attempt at Repair.
• Forgiveness is a response from the Recipient.
• Trust is a relational condition that may or may not be restored.

This shows that Repair is not one act. It requires movements from multiple participants.

8. What's missing from the list almost says more about Justice than what's there

• Actor
• Act
• Recipient
• Agency
• Intent
• Motive
• Context
• Circumstance
• Evidence
• Testimony
• Proof
• Judgement
• Verdict
• Outcome
• Consequence
• Harm
• Injury
• Loss
• Repair
• Remedy

Their absence explains why the original list described many things around Justice without fully describing the object being judged or the process applied to it.

Constructs that deal with the Act:

• Act, and the thousands of verbs that are Acts (lie, harm, kick, punch, slap etc.)
• Action
• Omission
• Conduct
• Compliance
• Violation
• Wrongdoing
• Negligence
• Harm
• Abuse
• Sacrifice

Constructs that deal with the Actor:

• Agency
• Capacity
• Competence
• Intent
• Culpability
• Innocence

Constructs that deal with the Recipient:

• Consent
• Harm
• Injury
• Need
• Vulnerability
• Welfare
• Interest
• Entitlement

Constructs that deal with Relationships:

• Reciprocity
• Dependency
• Kinship
• Care
• Consent
• Solidarity
• Fiduciary duty

Constructs that deal with Reason:

• Intent
• Motive
• Necessity
• Fear
• Ignorance
• Accident
• Self-interest
• Self-defense

Constructs that deal with Circumstance:

• Context
• Emergency
• Duress
• Coercion
• Necessity
• Capacity
• Knowledge
• Opportunity

Constructs that deal with Warrant:

• Justification
• Excuse
• Consent
• Mandate
• Jurisdiction
• Exemption
• Necessity
• Self-defense

Constructs that deal with Evidence:

• Evidence
• Testimony
• Proof
• Credibility
• Corroboration
• Knowledge
• Uncertainty
• Presumption
• Admissibility

Constructs that deal with Judge:

• Court
• Tribunal
• Arbiter
• Community
• Public
• Self

Constructs that deal with Reference Set:

• Morality
• Ethics
• Moral code
• Religious text
• Commandment
• Constitution
• Policy
• Doctrine
• Precedent
• Convention

Constructs that deal with Judgement:

• Proportionality
• Impartiality
• Consistency
• Reasonableness
• Culpability
• Desert
• Harm
• Consent
• Necessity

Constructs that deal with Verdict:

• Innocence
• Fault
• Blame
• Liability
• Culpability
• Justification
• Excuse
• Acquittal
• Condemnation

Constructs that deal with Authority:

• Jurisdiction
• Mandate
• Office
• Sovereignty
• Enforcement
• Procedure
• Due process

Constructs that deal with Consequence:

• Sanction
• Penalty
• Restitution
• Compensation
• Reparation
• Recognition
• Deterrence
• Rehabilitation
• Incapacitation
• Restoration

Constructs that deal with Response:

• Denial
• Confession
• Apology
• Repentance
• Contrition
• Acceptance
• Defiance
• Reform

Constructs that deal with Repair:

• Restitution
• Compensation
• Reparation
• Restoration
• Reconciliation
• Rehabilitation
• Apology
• Mercy
• Closure
• Reintegration

Constructs that deal with Social Judgement:

• Reputation
• Stigma
• Censure
• Condemnation
• Ostracism
• Recognition
• Disgrace
• Prestige
• Reintegration

Constructs that deal with Justice of the System:

• Due process
• Impartiality
• Transparency
• Consistency
• Appeal
• Precedent
• Corruption
• Bias
• Discrimination
• Oppression
• Exploitation
• Abuse of power
  
  

9. This may be obvious, but many constructs become clearer when placed in contrast

• Guilt ↔ Innocence
• Permission ↔ Consent
• Reason ↔ Justification
• Justification ↔ Excuse
• Intent ↔ Negligence
• Authority ↔ Jurisdiction
• Punishment ↔ Mercy
• Punishment ↔ Rehabilitation
• Atonement ↔ Restitution
• Fairness ↔ Bias
• Legitimacy ↔ Corruption
• Power ↔ Abuse of power

The original vocabulary was rich in the language used to establish and defend normative order, but comparatively poor in the language needed to qualify responsibility, protect the Recipient, limit the Judge, and repair the harm.

10. A minor issue, but some words are part of the Justice process, but are not by themselves normative constructs:

Cause, Class, Identity, Institution, Judge, Jury, Meaning, Reason, Role, Status, Truth, Will, Witness etc.

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We began with 79 constructs (we can no longer call them 'normative').

We added 133 new constructs (excluding the countless verbs that could be an Act).

We now have a grand total of 212 distinct constructs that are related to Justice.

Next we return to our analysis and dive into the science behind the act of Judging and attempt to answer the following questions:

• Why do humans Judge, and is Judging a uniquely human behavior?
• Is there a difference between how humans Judge, and how animals judge?
• What parts of the brain are involved in making Judgements?
• What does that tell us about Justice?
• How has Justice evolved to avoid the limitations of human Judgement?
• How has humanity evolved to avoid the limitations of institutional Judgement?

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end of post 4/9

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The revised list of 212 constructs (* indicates newly added constructs):

*Abuse *Abuse of power *Acceptance *Accident Accountability *Acquittal *Act *Action *Actor *Admissibility *Agency *Apology *Appeal *Arbiter Atonement Authority Belief Belonging *Bias *Blame *Capacity *Care Cause *Censure *Circumstance Class *Closure *Coercion *Commandment *Community Compassion *Compensation *Competence *Compliance *Condemnation *Conduct *Confession Conscience *Consent *Consequence *Consistency *Constitution *Context Contract *Contrition *Convention *Corroboration *Corruption *Court *Credibility *Culpability Custom *Defiance *Denial *Dependency *Desert Desire Determination *Deterrence Dignity *Discrimination *Disgrace *Doctrine *Due process *Duress Duty *Emergency Empathy *Enforcement *Entitlement Equality Equity *Ethics *Evidence *Excuse *Exemption *Exploitation Face Fairness *Fault *Fear *Fiduciary duty Forgiveness Freedom Goal Greed Guilt *Harm Honor Identity Ideology *Ignorance *Impartiality *Incapacitation *Injury *Innocence Institution Integrity *Intent *Interest Judge *Judgement *Jurisdiction Jury Justice *Justification *Kinship *Knowledge Law Lawful Legitimacy *Liability Liberty *Loss Love Loyalty *Mandate Meaning *Mercy *Moral code *Morality *Motive *Necessity *Need *Negligence Norm Obligation *Office *Omission *Opportunity *Oppression *Ostracism *Outcome *Penalty Permission Pledge *Policy Power *Precedent *Prestige *Presumption Principle *Procedure Prohibition Promise *Proof *Proportionality *Public Punishment Purpose Reason *Reasonableness *Recipient *Reciprocity *Recognition *Reconciliation Reflection *Reform Regret Regulation *Rehabilitation *Reintegration *Religious text *Remedy Remorse *Repair *Reparation *Repentance *Reputation Responsibility *Restitution *Restoration Restriction Reward Right Ritual Role Rule Rule of conduct *Sacrifice *Sanction *Self *Self-defense *Self-interest Shame Sin *Solidarity *Sovereignty Standard Standing Status *Stigma Taboo *Testimony Tradition *Transparency *Tribunal Trust Truth *Uncertainty Unlawful Value *Verdict *Violation Virtue Vow *Vulnerability Warrant *Welfare Will Witness *Wrongdoing