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Justice In The Republic

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Some Thoughts on the question of Justice The nature of justice was a major theme in the republic and Socrates define what the nature of justice is. Socrates scrutinizes the nature of justice in both the individual and the city. In the republic, he links justice with the human soul structure and the social structures of the city. Justice in the individual is said to be when the rational soul controls both the emotions and the appetitive soul. That individual will be classified as a just person and will be just in anything the individual is involved in. He goes further to say that each inhabitant of the city are just if each and everyone goes about his vocation without any interferences. So the fact that each citizen is engaging in his specialized vocation is justly attributed He explains that Just is the rational part of the soul and it presides over the individual whilst the rational part of a city which are the philosopher and the guardians, should preside over the warriors and et cetera. I will be examining some of the arguments of justice made the republic. Thrasymachus makes a case that human beings are full of ego and arrogance coupled with being power-driven creatures. He goes further to say when we power driven are placed in a position of power over others, …show more content…

The quest of justice in society produces a clarification of the natural needs of the individual within the far- reaching context of the society. The republic states that Plato affirms that it is only when an individual is placed in a far-reaching context of the society that the question of “what is just/Justice comes to mind. The society or public is the individual “written in larger lettering” (The Republic 368). When the society is seen as whole is only when the society can function effectively as one. “Society originates...because the individual is not self-sufficient but has many needs which he can’t supply himself” (The Republic

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the Republic, Socrates argues that justice ought to be valued both for its own sake and for the sake of its consequences (358a1–3). His interlocutors Glaucon and Adeimantus have reported a number of arguments to the effect that the value of justice lies purely in the rewards and reputation that are the usual consequence of being seen to be just, and have asked Socrates to say what justice is and to show that justice is always intrinsically better than is acting contrary to justice when doing so would win you more non-moral goods. Glaucon presents these arguments as renewing Thrasymachus’ Book 1 position that justice is “another’s good” (358b–c, cf. 343c), which Thrasymachus had associated with the claim that the rulers in any constitution frame

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654 Words | 3 Pages

We should then catch the just man in the act of following the same path as the unjust man on account of the advantage that every nature is led by its very nature to pursue as good, being diverted only by force of law toward the esteem of the equal. The license I am talking about would be supremely such if they were given the very same power as is said to have been given in the past to the ancestor of Gyges the Lydian. (http://plato-dialogues.org/tetra_4/republic/gyges.htm) Basically, we must do injustice to know what justice is, doing as you wish finding out which will lead to what. The just does not always appear “good” or “fair” and “just”, whatever brought you to justice could be “bad” or “unfair” and “unjust”, depending what was led before.

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Plato contests this view on justice because he believes doing harm to anyone would be an injustice. This theory leads to their conclusion the just man is one who is useful. Thrasymachus refers to justice in an egoistical manner, saying “justice is in the interest of the stronger” (The Republic, Book I). He believes injustice is virtuous and wise and justice is vice and ignorance, but Socrates disagrees with this statement as believes the opposing view. As a result of continual rebuttals against their arguments,

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732 Words | 3 Pages

In Book 1 of the republic, by Plato, we are introduced to two central figures in the argument of justice, Socrates and Thrasymachus. Thrasymachus claims that justice is the advantage of the stronger. Socrates then asks if his understanding, that what is beneficial to the stronger is just and must be beneficial to the weaker people, to which Thrasymachus replies that no, this is not so. He explains that justice is that which obtains the advantage of the stronger.

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1382 Words | 6 Pages

Socrates believes that justice benefits the just, but also benefits the city (other people) too. He is faced with a seemingly simple choice, escape Athens or remain in prison and be sentenced to death. Socrates’ central argument against escaping his circumstances is twofold. First, Socrates argues that “one must never do wrong.” (49b)

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1169 Words | 5 Pages

According to Socrates there are two types of justice, the political justice and the justice of a particular man. As we know, city is bigger than a man. Socrates believes that it is easier to find justice at the political level which means in the city, thus he tries to define a just city from scrap, and will see in which stage justice enters. Also, Socrates tries to find justice in the city before finding justice in the individuals because individuals are not at all self-sufficient. We humans have similar needs such as food, clothing and shelter and in order to accomplish these goals human beings form unions, where each and every individual specializes in a field.

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950 Words | 4 Pages

In The Republic, Plato presents a dialogue of Socrates, in which he seeks to uncover truths about what constitutes justice. Socrates proposes a way to examine these truths by looking at an ideal society, which he likened to a large tablet, and then comparing this to an individual person, which would be the small tablet. While superficially simplistic, Socrates’ analogy of the tablets provides a thorough and correct example of how the same measures of society can be used for an individual. The analogy of the tablets scales down what justice is in an ideal society to what justice is for an individual. The theory behind the analogy is that if a person cannot see something miniscule in something small something can something small in

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384 Words | 2 Pages

Republic is a defense of justice- similar to the format of Apology- that is investigating what justice is, and what it means to be a just person and live a good life. Polemarchus asserts that justice is giving people what is owed to them, however after a long discussion, Socrates molds this statement into a series of ambiguous situations that still don’t form a valid definition. He then discusses with Thrasymachus, Glaucon and Adeimantus about what makes a person just and why they live a better life. The conclusion is best described through the analogy of the many headed beast, lion, and human being that grow together inside of a person. This represents the soul- something that others cannot see, and only affects the person it is a part of.

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Book One of Plato’s The Republic includes an argument between two individuals, Socrates and Thrasymachus, where they attempt to define the concept of justice. Thrasymachus states that justice is what is advantageous for the stronger, however, Socrates challenges this belief through pointing out holes in Thrasymachus’s argument. In this paper, I will reconstruct the steps of this argument in order to evaluate the claims of both Socrates and Thrasymachus and demonstrate that, Socrates had a stronger claim than Thrasymachus in regards to justice because of the flawed assumptions Thrasymachus makes in relation to the word “advantageous,” how rulers behave, and how government is implemented. His assumptions not only lack external evidence, but Thrasymachus is unable to be critical of the fact that his assumptions just mimic general understandings of the word “advantageous,” without deeper thought of what the word truly means in this context.

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1355 Words | 6 Pages

What is justice? This is the crucial question that Plato attempts to answer in his dialogue, The Republic. He conjures up an allegory that justice can be found in a person, and a person can represent a city. Thus, his entire dialogue focuses on this ‘just’ city and the mechanics of how the city would operate. His dialogue covers a myriad of topics about justice in addition to the human soul, politics, goodness and truth.

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Socrates begins section 351 with the goal of proving that Thrasymachus’ claim of injustice being a more potent and stronger thing than justice is unfounded. Socrates will use four premises to support and arrive at the conclusion that justice is more potent and stronger than injustice. While the terms “justice” and “injustice” are used loosely throughout Republic, the closest thing to definitions given for justice and injustice are Socrates’ statements “justice is wisdom and virtue,” and “injustice is ignorance,” in 351a. Socrates begins his argument by using the example of a city performing acts of injustice by enslaving other cities, and thereby oppressing them, showing its superiority and power.

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It is challenging to lead a private life while truly fighting for justice. A man can fight for justice through examining the greatest issues in human nature that Socrates found essential to the private life. However, this knowledge can have the biggest effect when brought into the public life such as through teachings. These two things can then combine to reflect how the state should be changed. Socrates sometimes crossed this line himself, even if unknowingly.

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In Book IV of Plato’s Republic, Socrates and his peers come to the conclusion that a city is going to need people who have an understanding of what justice should be. Socrates at the end of Book IV can make the difference between individual, political, and social justice. He knows that individual and political justice is so much in common because they both weigh in heavy on truth, honor, and appetitive soul. That appetitive soul is an element that helps the secure the just community with love and support.

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Plato regarded justice as the true principle of social life. Plato in his day found a lot of evil in society. He saw unrighteousness rampant and injustice enthroned.

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Plato's Republic is centered on one simple question: is it always better to be just than unjust? This is something that Socrates addresses both in terms of political communities and the individual person. Plato argues that being just is advantageous to the individual independent of any societal benefits that the individual may incur in virtue of being just. I feel as if Plato’s argument is problematic. There are not enough compelling reasons to make this argument.

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