New Book Calls for an Awakening to the Concept of Contemporary Justice

WOOSTER, Ohio - When it comes to the concept of justice, much of the Western post-Enlightenment world has "fallen asleep," but there is hope, according to Richard H. Bell, emeritus professor of philosophy at The College of Wooster, in his new book, Rethinking Justice: Restoring Our Humanity, published last month by Lexington Books.

"Something's missing in our concept of justice," said Bell. "It lacks a sense of compassion. We have failed to grasp what it means to be a just human being, to practice justice in our everyday lives. The very idea of justice should be a testament to our humanity. Instead, it seems to follow political, ideological, or religious dogma throughout the world."

Bell challenges the notion of justice as retributive and argues that it can and should be considered in a restorative context. He persuades the reader to see justice as a means of righting wrongs and bringing peace to individuals and human communities through accounts and examples of reconciliatory practices in contemporary life and literature. For example, he looks at the Cuban missile crisis and examines what led Kennedy and Khrushchev to reach a peaceful resolution. He also addresses Apartheid in South Africa and why a path of reconciliation was chosen over one of revenge. Each case reflects what Jonathan Glover refers to as "the complex qualities in our humanity that surface in the face of cruelty and that allow us to engage in everyday acts of kindness and to consider justice as connected to sympathy and compassion."

Bell approaches justice as a concept that goes hand in hand with compassion as well as mercy, and trust. He reminds the reader that everyone has an obligation to foster peace, be merciful, and promise reconciliation with our brothers and sisters in humanity. "We must ask ourselves how we might live a life more oriented toward peacemaking and reconciliation," he said. "Justice should figure into how our actions toward others are measured."

Much of Bell's inspiration for the book came from his experience in South Africa, where he researched the work of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) during several study leaves, including one through a Fulbright Fellowship at Rhodes University. He frames his narrative through the thoughts of many great thinkers, including Raimond Gaita, who believed that justice goes beyond fairness; Simone Weil, who denounced the injustice of colonization; Martha Nussbaum, who contended that mercy and forgiveness are essential components of justice; and William Stringfellow, who insisted that justice had an undeniable link to spirituality.

Renowned Biblical scholar Walter Brueggmann, who provided the Foreword for the book, praised Bell's account of justice, calling it "a passionate, thoughtful, disciplined report on what happens to justice when we are awakened." He went on to describe Bell's work as an "important book (that) lives at the interface of the dominant philosophic tradition of justice broadly assumed in the practice of social power and the undeniable concrete human reality of the 20th century that it is not reached or contained in the formal notion of 'equity.'"

Ronald Slye, associate professor at Seattle University's School of Law, said Bell's book invites the reader to engage in a contemporary conversation about justice. "This is a must-read for anyone searching for a clear moral guide to ground our search for a more just world," he said.

Bell raises many examples of man's inhumanity to man throughout the book, but in the end he leaves the reader with a sense of hope that humanity can indeed be restored through a new vision of justice. "Restorative justice leads to a better world," said Bell. "In the process of rethinking justice and restoring humanity, we must consider human dignity, mercy, forgiveness, compassion, and restorative qualities within the democratic practices of a civil society."

Bell's book is available on campus at The Florence O. Wilson Bookstore in Lowry Center (1189 Beall Ave.) and online at Amazon.com. He also is the author of Understanding African Philosophy: A Cross Cultural Approach to Classical and Contemporary Issues and Simone Weil: The Way of Justice as Compassion.