Glaucon And David Hume Analysis

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Clearly, explain in what way Glaucon’s description of what people say about the origin of justice (about laws and mutual covenants in page 40) aligns or compares with what Hume says about the utility of justice. How do Glaucon’s and Hume’s conception of Human nature compare to each other? Do you agree with any of them? Why or why not?

The well-known philosopher Aristotle once said,“At his best man is the noblest of all animals; separated from law and justice he is the worst.” In other words, Aristotle is saying because of justice and the law mankind are partrian (a person of noble or high rank). However, if justice did not exist humanity would become barbaric. In fact, Glaucon and David Humes were both philosophers who shared a similar perspective …show more content…

If there was a way for mankind to be unjust without any consequences, then he would be unjust. For instance, The Ring of Gyges is a fictional tale about a shepherd who took a ring from a corpse that he found after a storm. The ring gave the shepherd the ability to disappear when he turned the facet inward, but he would reappear when he turned the facet outward. When the shepherd became aware of the power of the ring he stole the kingdom by seducing the queen, and killing the king. Afterward, Glaucon made a comparison to justify what would have happened if two of the ring exist. He stated, that if one ring was giving to the just man, and the other ring giving the unjust man, they would both pursue their own self-interest. The essence of Glaucon’s story is that, if a just man had the opportunity to obtain his desires by been unjust, then he would be. Glaucon point is justice is involuntary, it is used to sustain order in society (if you do not break the law, you are more likely not to get punished).

David Humes had a similar philosophical idea about the origin of justice. He demonstrates that justice was based on its utility to the public. According to Hume, it is not required for justice to be involved when interacting with animals, because animals are inferior compared to the human species, they do not have the ability to envy or own …show more content…

Also, in the society of abundance, justice would not exist, because humanity would be benevolent to each other. Between the most altruistic and the most barbarous society is the middle. In this society (the middle such as United States, London, Beijing, civilization) we need justice to protect our property.

It is important to acknowledge that Justice protects our possession and our rights as humans. Without justice, it would be more likely for destruction to occur than that of benevolence in a society. Glaucon and Hume philosophy of justice aligns with each other, in the sense that justice is a contract created to prevent people from killing each other. I agree that the sole purpose of justice is its utility to the public. Although, I cannot help thinking what would happen if I possessed the power to be unjust without ever suffering consequences. As a result, I am convinced by both philosophers that Justice is needed to protect our properties and possession. Without justice, mankind would become uncontrollable, so working to attain possessions would be in vain for most people. People would steal from each other because they are aware that mankind had laws, no restriction, and no consequence for their action. Furthermore, everybody would try to become superior compared to another. Mankind would have no morality and instead of peace, one’s own self-interest would become

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