Theme Of Justice In Antigone

Throughout Sophocles’ tragedy Antigone, the concept of justice is portrayed within the characters and plot in response to the main conflict in the play. This conflict arises when Antigone’s brother and Kreon’s nephew, Polyneices, was killed while attacking his home city of Thebes in an attempt to gain power from the current ruler Eteokles. Seen as an enemy of the state in Kreon’s eyes, Polyneices should be treated as such. Kreon’s hatred for Polyneices resulted in the decree that his nephew is to be “left unburied so men may see him ripped for food by dogs and vultures” (Sophocles 28). Antigone on the other hand, was opposed to her brother being treated as an outcast and thought that he should have a proper burial. Antigone attempts to bury
Only duty performed without any thought of self-gain or alternative factors can be considered a good-will, because the action was performed as an obligation out of duty, not as a choice. The second obligation good will must follow in correlation with duty is that the outcome of the action does not matter, but the purpose behind the action does. If an action is performed with any other motivation besides the obligation to do so because of duty, then good will is not performed. Since the first and second propositions of duty are so closely connected to one another, they will be combined into an adjoining point for the rest of the essay. The third proposition of duty good will must follow is “duty is the necessity of an act done out of respect for the law,” no matter your personal thoughts about a particular law (Sandel 165). Thus, the universal law of duty, the moral law, is based on good-will. Moral law is “never to act in such a way that I could not also will that my maxim should become a universal law” (Sandel 166). When one follows the moral law, they are just in their actions. In Antigone, Kreon had decreed Polyneices as an enemy of the state and therefore will not get a proper burial, an ultimate act of humility to a soldier after death. Antigone, who was opposed to Kreon’s orders, sought to bury her brother anyway, regardless of the penalty. Antigone came closer to Kant’s version of moral law because did not go against any of the propositions duty is pertained with. Kreon , on the other hand, ultimately defies all three of these propositions of duty when he decreed that Polyneices is not to be buried because he did so out self-gain rather than