independent clause or not?

Question

Though absolute justice be unattainable, as much justice as we need for all practical use is attainable by all those who make it their aim.

why is "as much justice as we need for all practical use is attainable by all those who make it their aim." an independent clause?

As per my knowledge, the clause before the comma is a dependent clause which can not be on its own for a meaningful sentence. it needs an independent clause to which it attaches itself.

source: "be" or "being"? "And though absolute justice be unattainable, as much justice as we need for all practical use is attainable"

What do you mean by independent? Defining or non—defining? — Schwale, Dec 10 '15 at 19:22
@Ale An independent clause is one which is not subordinated to ("dependent on") another clause: it can stand alone as a sentence. — StoneyB on hiatus, Dec 10 '15 at 19:28

StoneyB on hiatus · Accepted Answer · 2015-12-10T20:05:44.577

Stripped down to basics, the clause in question has the form

X is Y.
Justice is attainable.

That is a simple independent clause of the form S-V-PC (Subject-Verb-Predicate Complement).

Everything else in that clause acts as a modifier to one of those three terms.

How much justice? → as much _ as we need
Why do we need it? → for all practical use
Attainable by whom? → by those
Which those? → who make justice their aim

independent clause or not?

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