Justice as the Aim of the Monarch's Rule. The Evolution of the Idea From Plato Till the End of the Enlightenment

Abstract

The idea of justice of the authority in the general sense remains a central topic in Polish political theory. This has resulted in frequently tackling this problem, but it has not been reflected in the complexity of the theory. It is even hard to talk about a theory in the case of the analyzed considerations. They were mostly very superficial mentions of the monarch's justice, permeated with the old-Polish legalism. Legalism reduced to the rule – the king is obliged to observe legal norms and to give priority to the good of the ruled ones over his own interests. This model determined deliberations about justice. Most theoreticians could not see a possibility to strengthen the king's influence on dispensing justice in the country, although there were exceptions to this view, and not only among monarchists. Owing to this model in Polish political thought, after the fall of the First Polish Republic it was easier to accept the idea of justice dispensed by broad bodies representing the community. The model was not overcome even by the instrumental transfer of the idea of natural justice to the Polish ground. This was also not done by doubts expressed by Wybicki about the possibilities to link justice with the subjects' happiness and with political freedom.