Justice-Oriented Anger As a Virtue: Expanding the Morally Good in Situations of Oppression

Justice-oriented anger is a burdened virtue. This is what Lisa Tessman describes as moral goods for the oppressed. Justice-oriented anger sustains acts of resistance for those desiring freedom. This evaluation of anger as virtue looks to Martha Nussbaum’s conception of “transition-anger” that lacks a desire of payback. The absence of vengeance moves towards restorative justice. Keri Day’s conception of political moodiness in Azusa Reimagined helps to consider how to engage the emotional experiences of the vulnerable, including anger. Having to choose a less morally good option under circumstances of subjugation pales in comparison to the immorality that comes from perpetuating systems of oppression. Justice-oriented anger points people in the direction of resistance and restoration, behaviors that may be more commonly accepted as virtuous. Resistance should include anger if anger is present to the resistor, and anger should be recognized as sustained responses that can be morally good.