--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: All justice is inherently social. Can…" description: "\"All justice is inherently social. Can someone on a desert island be either just or unjust?\" — Thomas Sowell" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5f2/thomas-sowell-247_desert_all-justice-is-inherently-social-can-som_2422516.jpg" --- # All justice is inherently social. Can someone on a desert… ![“All justice is inherently social. Can someone on a desert island be either just or unjust?” quote by Thomas Sowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5f2/thomas-sowell-247_desert_all-justice-is-inherently-social-can-som_2422516.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5f2/thomas-sowell-247_desert_all-justice-is-inherently-social-can-som_2422516.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5f2/thomas-sowell-247_desert_all-justice-is-inherently-social-can-som_2422516.jpg) > “All justice is inherently social. Can someone on a desert island be either just or unjust?” [Thomas Sowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-sowell/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Justice depends on social relations; without society, the concept loses meaning. **In simple terms:** Justice needs society to exist. Key Takeaway Consider the social context of fairness. Themes ethics social philosophy law Mood thoughtful analytical Type philosophical ethical When to use this quote - legal systems - community governance - interpersonal disputes Key Concepts social contract relational ethics Questions to Reflect On - How does community shape moral judgments? - Can fairness exist without interaction? A Different Perspective Justice cannot be applied to isolated individuals. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Desert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desert/) [Desert island](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desert-island/) [Inherently Social](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inherently-social-1060681/) [Islands](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/islands/) [Just Unjust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/just-unjust-537138/) [Justice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/justice/) [Justice Inherently](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/justice-inherently-3339991/) [Social](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/social/) [Social Desert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/social-desert-6135384/) [Unjust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unjust/) ## Related quotes > [A society regulated by a public sense of justice is inherently stable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-rawls/a-society-regulated-by-a-public-sense-of-justice-is-inherently-stable/) [John Rawls](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-rawls/) > [There is the good and the bad, the great and the low, the just and the unjust. I swear to you that all that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/there-is-the-good-and-the-bad-the-great-and-the-low-the-just-and-the/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [The only standard we have for judging all of our social, economic, and political institutions and arrangements as just or unjust, as good or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mortimer-adler/the-only-standard-we-have-for-judging-all-of-our-social-economic-and/) [Mortimer Adler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mortimer-adler/) > [ \[The\] impersonal process of the market ... can be neither just nor unjust, because the results are not intended or foreseen. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-august-von-hayek/the-impersonal-process-of-the-market-can-be-neither-just-nor-unjust/) [Friedrich August von Hayek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-august-von-hayek/) > [How many things both just and unjust are sanctioned by custom?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence/how-many-things-both-just-and-unjust-are-sanctioned-by-custom/) [Terence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence/) > [The will of the people cannot make just that which is unjust.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-acton/the-will-of-the-people-cannot-make-just-that-which-is-unjust/) [Lord Acton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-acton/) > [People regard the same things, some as just and others as unjust, - about these they dispute; and so there arise wars and fightings…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plato/people-regard-the-same-things-some-as-just-and-others-as-unjust-about/) [Plato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plato/) > [The natural distribution is neither just nor unjust; nor is it unjust that persons are born into society at some particular position. 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Carey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-r-carey/) > [“All that exists is just and unjust and is equally justified in both respects.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/all-that-exists-is-just-and-unjust-and-is-equally-justified-in-both/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [I suppose it doesn't occur to you that I can think the system just as unjust as you do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malorie-blackman/i-suppose-it-doesn-t-occur-to-you-that-i-can-think-the-system-just-as/) [Malorie Blackman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malorie-blackman/) > [He makes those just who are unjust, forgives those who deserve to be punished, and favors those who deserve no favor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-spurgeon/he-makes-those-just-who-are-unjust-forgives-those-who-deserve-to-be/) [Charles Spurgeon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-spurgeon/) ## More by Thomas Sowell > [The vision of the left, full of envy and resentment, takes its worst toll on those at the bottom - whether black or white…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-sowell/the-vision-of-the-left-full-of-envy-and-resentment-takes-its-worst/) [Thomas Sowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-sowell/) > [There is no bigger waste of time than doing 90% of what is necessary.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-sowell/there-is-no-bigger-waste-of-time-than-doing-90-of-what-is-necessary/) [Thomas Sowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-sowell/) > [If you have always believed that everyone should play by the same rules and be judged by the same standards, that would have gotten…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-sowell/if-you-have-always-believed-that-everyone-should-play-by-the-same/) [Thomas Sowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-sowell/) > [“In 1962, Democratic President John F. Kennedy, like both Democratic and Republican Presidents and Secretaries of the Treasury in earlier years, pointed out that “it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-sowell/in-1962-democratic-president-john-f-kennedy-like-both-democratic-and/) [Thomas Sowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-sowell/) > [Ideological bigotry has become the norm on even our most prestigious campuses, where students can go for years without reading or hearing anything that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-sowell/ideological-bigotry-has-become-the-norm-on-even-our-most-prestigious/) [Thomas Sowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-sowell/) > [Bailing out people who made ill-advised mortgages makes no more sense that bailing out people who lost their life savings in Las Vegas casinos.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-sowell/bailing-out-people-who-made-ill-advised-mortgages-makes-no-more-sense/) [Thomas Sowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-sowell/) > [“One third of all Scots in the mid-nineteenth century moved from one county to another”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-sowell/one-third-of-all-scots-in-the-mid-nineteenth-century-moved-from-one/) [Thomas Sowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-sowell/) > [The difference is that we have the hardest and most painful evidence that there was a Holocaust. 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It can be pretty busy, but I'm not out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-sinise/i-do-spend-a-lot-of-weekends-on-the-road-i-have-to-pace-myself-it-can/) [Gary Sinise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-sinise/) > [I did not support Operation Desert Fox.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janeane-garofalo/i-did-not-support-operation-desert-fox/) [Janeane Garofalo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janeane-garofalo/) > [“The cactus thrives in the desert while the fern thrives in the wetland. The fool will try to plant them in the same flowerbox.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vera-nazarian/the-cactus-thrives-in-the-desert-while-the-fern-thrives-in-the/) [Vera Nazarian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vera-nazarian/) > [I am sympathetic to developing countries’ concerns: because of our emissions it’s their crops that will disappear; because of our inaction, it’s their fields…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-f-kerry/i-am-sympathetic-to-developing-countries-concerns-because-of-our/) [John F. Kerry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-f-kerry/) > [Use every man according to his desert and who should 'scape whipping? Use them after your own honor and dignity, the less they deserve…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/use-every-man-according-to-his-desert-and-who-should-scape-whipping/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [There is nothing in the desert and no man needs nothing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david/there-is-nothing-in-the-desert-and-no-man-needs-nothing/) [David](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david/) > [Who’s to say that it takes something like a drug to mess with your perception of reality? How did Hitler deceive a nation? 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