When we have a good definition of consciousness ask that question again. untill you can ask a monkey about it's motivations, you can't ascribe human concepts to evolved behavior. An argument in favor of my point. This all occurs in your head. Depending on your definitions, it can be said that humans label certain actions and behaviors 'Just' and so 'Justice' exists as a set of behaviors we exhibit. Which I think still supports my point. Thought leads to behavior. Edit* Take a picture of one 'Justice' and link it in your reply. This of course all goes out the window if you bring deity into the question, which I explicitly choose to not do.If Justice is a concept that only exists in the human mind, then how do we explain social animals who exhibit behaviors such as altruism or shunning?
If Justice is an abstract, where do these feelings of pain and relief come from and why do they exist?
doesn't that mean Justice exists even if its us who willed it into existence?
If we see reflections of concepts such as altruism in animals, which are themselves reflections of concepts such as Justice and Morality, wouldn't that in some ways point to the idea that Justice is a naturally occurring phenomenon? Is it though? Would you argue then, that our thoughts and feelings aren't real, and therefore unworthy of consideration and potentially inconsequential? In another light of my previous question about thoughts, if behavior is the consequence of thought, where does that leave us? I think we're doing just fine viewing things from a secular lens. I like your answers by the way. They're making me think. I'll tell you what, because I feel like I'm being unfair to you by asking so many questions. I'm gonna take the dog for a walk and when I get back, I'll post my thoughts on the matter and you can ask me questions as well.When we have a good definition of consciousness ask that question again. untill you can ask a monkey about it's motivations, you can't ascribe human concepts to evolved behavior.
An argument in favor of my point. This all occurs in your head.
Depending on your definitions, it can be said that humans label certain actions and behaviors 'Just' and so 'Justice' exists as a set of behaviors we exhibit. Which I think still supports my point. Thought leads to behavior.
This of course all goes out the window if you bring deity into the question, which I explicitly choose to not do.
I think this discussion boils down, once again, to what is the definition of justice so that it can be considered a constant to begin with. To that end, you'd be able to answer: what did justice look like in the prehistoric era - an era before humans as we know us, who brought the notion to light for ourselves.