AN APPROACH TO JUSTICE FROM SUBJECTIVE EXPERIENCE

Epistemic Communities, the Phenomenological Method for Analysis, Restorative Justice, Existential Expression, and the Pursuit of a Justice that Responds to Human Suffering

Abstract

If we observe what is happening rather than what ought to happen, we will see that justice exercised from within patriarchy has served as the violent arm of supremacies. We could even argue that the most common historical method for addressing conflict has been imposition—whether from traditional supremacy (classes, groups, nations, races historically considered superior), by force (weapons, military or police dominance, economic superiority), or by the rational power of argument. Rarely do we find a form of justice that truly serves those who suffer and are in need, regardless of their position in the social hierarchy.

It is important to recognize that, at times, groups that uphold universal human rights have themselves acted as rational supremacists, accusing others—those who defend racial or other forms of supremacy—of being intellectually, culturally, ethically, or morally inferior. These certainties of superiority may, in turn, fuel expressions of hatred.

This paper proposes that by drawing upon epistemic virtues, phenomenology, restorative justice, and existential expression, it is possible to escape the supremacist game and move toward a form of justice aligned with peace. This involves freeing ourselves from the historical pattern of violent imposition and colonization as primary tools for resolving disputes, and focusing instead on responding to human suffering.

In a historical moment where much of the supremacist imposition comes from groups that deny the inherent dignity of each human being, a peaceful response must become an alternative to hatred—an evolution of solidarity that prevents us from falling into anomie.