1 What is the moral of Plato’s story of the Ring of Gyges? Is he correct in his basic assumption?
The moral of Plato’s story is that when a person has the opportunity to be unjust they will be unjust. If there were no laws people would act in unjust ways and I would tend to agree with this train of thought. I think that if people could get away with things such as stealing items they desire they really would. Plato using the story of Gyges finding a ring that made him invisible and with this seduced the queen, and with her help conspired against the king and slew him, and took the kingdom (Pojman and Vaughn, 2014, pg. 499-500). I would find it very hard to believe that someone with the power of the ring to be invisible wouldn’t use it to gain something that they truly desired. It is
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Rand has a very dark perspective in my opinion while I believe that humans do what they must in order to survive I wouldn’t necessarily agree that this is their only objective. I disagree when she says, “Value is that which one acts to gain and keep, ‘virtue’ is the action by which one gains and keeps it” (Pojman and Vaughn, 2014, pg. 505-506). I think that virtue isn’t always the one all about gaining and keeping. While I think that people do actions in order to receive awards not everyone is seeking to be recognized. I agree when Rachels says that the best argument in establishing Ethical Egoism as a viable theory of morality is Thomas Hobbes principle that we should do unto others because if we do, others will more likely to do unto us (Pojman and Vaughn, 2014, pg. 527). People should avoid harming others because we should care about the interests of other people for the very same reason we care about our own interests; for their needs and desires are comparable to our own (Pojman and Vaughn, 2014, pg. 532). Therefore, I believe that Rachel makes the better case regarding ethical