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Is Justice Profitable?
Glaucon attempted to prove that injustice is preferable to justice. At first, Glacon agreed with Socrates that justice is a good thing, but implored on the nature of its goodness? He listed three types of “good”; that which is good for its own sake (such as playing games), that which is good is good in itself and has useful consequences (such as reading), and that which is painful but has good consequences (such as surgery). Socrates replied that justice "belongs in the fairest class, that which a man who is to be happy must love both for its own sake and for the results." (45d) Glaucon then reaffirmed Thrasymachus’s position that unjust people lead a better life than just people. He started that being just is simply a formality for maintaining a good reputation and for achieving one’s goals. He claimed that the only reason why a person would choose to be unjust rather than just due to the fear of punishment. This is supported by the story of the shepherd who became corrupted as a result of finding a ring which made him invisible. He took over the kingdom through murder and intrigue since he knew there could be no repercussions for his unjust actions. In addition, Adiamantus stated that unjust people did not need to fear divine punishment since appeals could be made to Gods’ egos via sacrifices. Finally, Glaucon gave an example of the extreme unjust person who has accumulated great wealth and power which he juxtaposed with an extreme moral man who is being punished unjustly for his crimes. Clearly, injustice is preferable to justice since it provides for a more fruitful life.
“Is justice profitable?”
Glacon’s argument to Socrates may appear very convincing at first glance. People who succeed in li...
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...s less likely.
Last but not least, injustice does not provide the most good for the most number of people. Just acts spawn other just acts just like unjust acts spawn other unjust acts. If everyone behaved unjustly, mankind would return to a state of nature (everyone is for themselves) which would be very unprofitable for the unjust individual due to a decreased likelihood of survival. An action is clearly unprofitable for the unjust individual if it would eventually create a hostile environment for him. Hence, one should set an example for others by living a just life which would create a better environment for him as well as for others.
To sum up, justice is more profitable than injustice because it does not lead to true happiness, it gives way to possibility of punishment, and it creates a pattern of behavior which if universalized would lead to disaster.
Socrates put one’s quest for wisdom and the instruction of others above everything else in life. A simple man both in the way he talked and the wealth he owned, he believed that simplicity in whatever one did was the best way of acquiring knowledge and passing it unto others. He is famous for saying that “the unexplained life is not worth living.” He endeavored therefore to break down the arguments of those who talked with a flowery language and boasted of being experts in given subjects (Rhees 30). His aim was to show that the person making a claim on wisdom and knowledge was in fact a confused one whose clarity about a given subject was far from what they claimed. Socrates, in all his simplicity never advanced any theories of his own but rather aimed at bringing out the worst in his interlocutors.
Everyone has a responsibility to fulfill towards another. That is, if one were to see injustice happening to another, they are bound to do something to help that person. Throughout the history there have been nations that have stood up to this injustice and others who have remained silent, leading to genocide of a whole nation. If the people in the nation of the oppressed would have stood up to the injustice, it would have encouraged others to do so as well and this could have made the tormentors be brought down thus, bringing peace to people of the nation. If everyone has this type of attitude that they know their voice counts, then the world would not be a place that tolerates oppression, but a world that welcomes freedom.
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).
...cting unjustly. Therefore, justice is determined to be intrinsically valuable from the negative intrinsic value of injustice that was demonstrated, as well as from parts of the soul working together correctly. Glaucon also wants Plato to show that a just life is better than an unjust life. It has been shown that when the soul is in harmony, it only acts justly. It is in a person’s best interests to have a healthy soul, which is a just soul, so that the person can be truly happy. This means that by showing justice has an intrinsic value, it can also be concluded that it is better to live a just life opposed to an unjust life. The conclusion that I have drawn is that Plato’s argument against the intrinsic value of injustice is sufficient to prove that the just life is superior, even if the unjust life may be more profitable.
Contrary to this widely accepted myth, I will try to demonstrate that Socrates' argument was erroneous, which made his decision less rational. In fact, had he decided to escape, his behavior would not have represented an unjust act. Although his argumentation and dialogue with Crito seem more like a moral sermon, his ...
Nails, Debra. "Socrates." 16 September 2005. The Standard Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Web. 16 September 2005.
Upon the summation of the debate between Polemarchus and Socrates, Thrasymachus enters into the fray. He states that justice “is nothing other than advantage of the stronger” (Republic 338c), and also that the greatest life is that of perfect injustice, to be found in the life of a tyrant. This definition leaves no room for the common good because it creates a life of compet...
Plato. ""Glaucon's Challenge" from The Republic." Gendler, Tamar Szabo, Susanna Siegel and Steven M. Cahn. The Elements of Philosophy. New York: Oxford University Press, 2008. 217-220.
It is a middle ground between the best and the worst. The inclination of all is to do injustice without paying any price for that action, the worst is to suffer injustice without being able to take revenge (37). It follows then that justice becomes a mean between these two extreme scenarios. Most people will tend to value justice not because it is a good in itself but because they do not have the ability to do injustice without negative consequences. An individual that does possess the ability to practice injustice without consequence will therefore never willingly enter into agreement not to do injustice for the simple proclamation of not to suffer it. For a man such as this, that would be truly mad.
...s are a paradigm case of those in control. The essence of ruling is, therefore, to be unjust and that is why a tyrant is a perfect ruler. He always knows what is to his advantage and how to acquire it. Thrasymachus’ view of justice is appealing but therein lies a moral danger and this is refuted by Socrates.
Thrasymachus has just stated, "Justice is nothing other than the advantage of the stronger", and is now, at the request of Socrates, clarifying his statement.
In the Plato’s Republic mainly discuses the idea of what justice is. The answer to this question has a variety of answers according to the Republic, which makes it very interesting. Throughout this book, you will be driven in many directions of what justice is. Some may the answer is to primarily is doing the right thing. The main issue comes from about is whether to try and be just at the expense of staying poor, or lie, or even use the very unjust means to get what one wants in life. The main point of the book is a man who tries to be very just, may spend life wandering in the streets in search for money, while the man who lies to get their way, will be rich. This essay looks at the Thrasymachus’s concept of and the Socrates’s concept of justice. The essay also looks at the author thinks that the unjust man will be happier that the just man. It explores the reasons why the concepts are right or wrong.
Thrasymachus’s main argument is that, “Justice is nothing but the advantage of the stronger” (338c). In other words, Thrasymachus believes justice is advantageous to the stronger because those who behave justly are disadvantaged, and the strong who behave unjustly are advantaged. In his sense injustice is more profitable than justice because it allows people to enjoy benefits they would not obtain if they were to act just.
Nails, Debra, N. (2005, September 16). Socrates. Stanford University. Retrieved November 11, 2013, from http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/socrates/
Injustice and justice balance out. One might even go so far as to say that the two are one and the same, that they are two sides of the same coin. But why are they so important? Why have wars been waged over instances of injustice? Why are the two usually thought of as being separate? Both Euripides' Electra and the King James Version of Matthew suggest that justice and injustice are important and distinct because one brings about salvation, while the other is itself a sort of salvation. Injustice leads to the instance of justice—of salvation. Consequently, injustice and justice may be thought of as two separate and distinct ideas. Salvation is a concern that is dependent upon instances of injustice and justice. In Electra and Matthew, these instances of injustice and justice are acts of murder.