[German version]

(δίκη/díkē, δικαιοσύνη/dikaiosýnē, τὸ δίκαιον/díkaion; iustitia, aequitas). ‘Justice’/‘right’ is a relational term which identifies the fairness or reasonableness between two parameters. In Greek, on the other hand, the archaic word díkē (δίκη) goes back to the root deik- (δεικ-) and means the way ‘pointed out’, the directive. This meaning still manifests itself in the earliest philosophical speculation on justice, in the poet Hesiod (around 700 BC): the jurisdiction of the kings (díkē as a judgement, used mainly in the plural) can be ‘straight’ (ἰθεῖα; itheîa),…