3148 - Mankind and Time XVII

N. Lygeros
Translated from the Greek by Evi Charitidou

The Just by Albert Camus are not only insurgents nor rebellious. Above anything else they are humans experiencing the sense of justice. To grasp the depth of Camus’s problematics it is necessary to reveal justice mental models in humanity’s context. This kind of justice is not an institutional one; it is based above all on values, not principles. It does not depend on a formalized and rigid system. This kind of justice represents a diachronic jurisprudence. It has evolved along with humanity and is tightly correlated with what we name religion. The expression ‘Master of Justice’ was attributed to Christ Himself and, in a more general way, we often find the term justice again in numerous civilizations with variants like the righteous. In any case, we have to deal with humans capable of making a judgment even beyond the law. Solomon’s example is still known nowadays. Intelligence intervening at this level is quite characteristic. For, these humans do not simply restrict themselves in applying the law. They do not enter the Roman expression context dura lex, sed lex. Thus, the human aspect of their decisions is undoubtedly their most important characteristic. And we notice that intelligence is necessary to handle the blend of laws. Namely, even in a more formalized context, it is intelligence again that allows humanity to leave its trace on a decision. More importantly, it is intelligence again that allows transcending paradoxes created by contradictory laws. Thus, since laws are transcended, it is of course the human via one’s intelligence that become a judge. In reality, one constantly is a judge. However, the system prefers to make laws to be independent from human influence. In the framework of Albert Camus’s theatrical play, the problematics has to do with the limits of acceptable losses. Necessity to fight a system’s barbarity, which oppresses humaneness, causes sacrifices. But, how many and which sacrifice can a human afford to attain its objective to liberate humanity? This is the question posed by Albert Camus. However, the just have already given the answer as early as 1905. Limits exist, but sacrifices are all the same necessary. Thanks to these problematics we can catch a glimpse of humanity’s importance on the one hand, and the added value that humanity represents in relation with the human on the other hand. Through men’s sacrifices and resistance – to go into the meaning of the sense of justice – we discern society’s structure. Justice, as shown above, is a mental model of the Humanity’s notion substrate. Society is based on the system of advocates. Whilst, Humanity has a meaning merely through the work of the Just.