![]() ![]() Glaucon paints these two pictures of different men and asks us which we would choose to be. In reality though he is perfectly just, he is just perceived to be unjust. ![]() He is jailed falsely and all of his possessions are taken from him. Now imagine another man who actually is perfectly just but whom is perceived to be extremely unjust and is shunned and not trusted and reaps all the negative benefits from being unjust. So that he reaps both the benefits that come from being unjust and the positive reputation and the other benefits that come from being just. But everyone in the community thinks that he is an entirely just person, in their perception he is almost perfectly just. He steals, lies, kills, hurts, and is selfish beyond belief. Glaucon then provides another example to make his point about justice. “For all men believe in their hearts that injustice is far more profitable to the individual than justice, and he who argues as I have been supposing, wills ay that they are right…wherever any one thinks that he can safely be unjust, there he is unjust.”(417) The story of the unjust man whom everyone thinks is just: Every man thinks that injustice is more profitable to the individual than justice, and thinks rightly, according to the supporters of this theory, for if any man who possessed this power we have described should yet refuse to do unjustly or to rob his fellows, all who knew of his conduct would think him the most miserable and foolish of men, but they would praise him to each other’s faces, their fear of suffering injustice extorting that deceit from them.” Justice is not a good to the individual, for every one is unjust whenever he thinks injustice possible. This, surely, may be cited as strong evidence that no man is just willingly, but only on compulsion. “And in so doing, the just man would act precisely as the unjust. One would be foolish for not using the power, as foolish as a starving man who does not eat, or a thirsty man who does not drink the water before him. Glaucon argues that morality is a social construction, whose source is the desire to maintain one's reputation for virtue and honesty when that sanction is removed, moral character would evaporate. Both the unjust and the just person would use its magic powers because one would be a fool not to do what personally pays him much better. Whether one were just or unjust, with such a ring, that person could do almost anything he wanted without fear of being caught. If anyone had a ring that would make him invisible, then that person would be a fool not to use it for personal advantage. Thus, it is in our self-interest to obey the law because we fear the consequences if we were to get caught disobeying the law. Glaucon believes human beings practice justice in order to avoid the harm that would come to them if they disobeyed the laws of the society. All people are at heart, are purely self interested and concerned only with personal gain. It is meant to show that if any man, even the simplest of simple farmer were given the power to act unjustly and not suffer the consequences of his actions, he would abuse his power, and act unjustly. If a person could be certain not only that an action resulting in a personal benefit would not be found out but also that if this action were discovered, no punishing consequences would follow, then would there be any reason for that person to act morally? Shortly there after he uses his new found power to seduce the queen and then kill the king and set himself up as ruler. Later on he discovers that if he turns the ring a certain way he becomes invisible. He climbs into it and among other things finds a ring on the finger of an oversized man and puts it on his own hand. The story is that a farmer in his field one day experiences an earthquake that opens a large hole in the ground. Glaucon, (Plato’s older brother) takes up the position of the sophist and argues that only the weak call for others to be “just.” Anyone who is capable of getting away with injustice while appearing just would gladly do so. ![]() ![]() Plato is not arguing for this particular position he is using the character of Glaucon to pose the question. It is important to notice that in this essay from the Republic, Plato is using Glaucon's account as a challenge for Socrates to overcome. Whether it is more advantageous to be moral or immoral. The question which Socrates addresses in this passage is whether or not it is better to be just or unjust. ![]()
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