ABSTRACT

In the Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle investigates justice as equality (ἰςὀτης) and focuses on what he calls justice as a particular virtue, while in Politics he once again takes equality as a fundamental idea and relates it to the constitution of a balanced πὀλις. Different cities will have different constitutions, and their specific traits depend on how they deal with difference and equality. In the first part of this article, I will argue that the equality required in Politics translates into belonging. In its second part, I will argue that belonging in contemporary societies has become a problem because inequalities have grown to such an extent that people no longer feel they belong to the legal or political order. The argument assumes that democratic and republican legitimacy depends on the idea of general justice, in which equality means belonging and indifference to belonging is fertile ground for distrust and authoritarian solutions.

KEYWORDS:
Justice; Equality; Membership; Aristotle; Democracy