131JUSTIN MARTYRThe concept of justice, however, was
not settled by the ancients. Other com-
mon disagreements arise from question-
ing whether justice is a divine command
or a principle which guides all other
divine commands, as well as the question
as to whether justice is a natural virtue or
a human construct, perhaps nothing
more or less than a mutual agreement
between people. The modern view gener-
ally divides justice into three distinct
types: retributive, distributive, and restor-
ative justice.
Retributive justice centers on giving
people what they deserve, often focusing
(especially with institutional justice) on
punishment for wrong action, but also, to
a lesser degree, on rewarding right action
in an appropriate manner.
Distributive justice focuses mainly on
the proper ways of gaining or maintain-
ing wealth and power. For example, John
Rawls (1921–2002) sees justice as primar-
ily concerned with setting up institutions
that will give all people equal access to
opportunities for wealth and power. Rob-
ert Nozick (1938–2002), on the other
hand, is far more concerned with the
appropriate acquisition and transfer of
wealth. An important subset of distribu-
tive justice is commutative justice which
guides principles of contracts and
ownership.
The third major type of justice consid-
ered by contemporary philosophers is
restorative justice, which strives for a
holistic approach to criminal justice in
which the victim and the offender are
brought together so that each may learn
from the other and be fully integrated
back into society , which is a good for the
victim, for the perpetrator, and for the
society as a whole.
Another useful distinction among var-
ious conceptions of justice, used by
Charles Bonaventure Marie Toullier
(1752–1835) and other thinkers, is to dif-
ferentiate between interior and exterior
justice: interior justice is concerned with
morality while exterior justice deals pri-
marily with jurisprudence.JUSTIN MARTYR (c. 105 CE–c. 165
CE). Justin argued for Christianity on
philosophical terms, in which the love of
Jesus was seen as the consummation of
philosophy (which literally means the
love of wisdom). Justin was martyred
under emperor prefect Rusticus. His writ-
ings include Apology and Dialogue with
Tr y ph o.