Abstract

This article contributes to recent reconsiderations of justice and love by developing Augustine’s account of their relation against the backdrop of his wider understanding of the moral economy that we inhabit. As a formal point, I argue that consideration of justice and love is incomplete apart from broader reflection on a moral economy because the shaping of our moral space by injustice forms the possibilities of the appearances of justice. As a concrete proposal, I argue that Augustine presents love as the content of justice and justice as the form of love. The former notion is rooted in love’s place as the content of divine law. The latter is grounded in the reformation of love for service as a political emotion through the work of Christ.