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Socrates Value Of Justice

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In the first few books of the republic it is evident that Justice should be the prefered characteristic to fit the conceptual system of society, thus outweighing its counter opponent injustice. Understanding why justice holds greater value for a city which parallels with an individual than injustice under the two same entities is necessary for comprehending the value of justice when it stands alone. The significance of the unique aspect of justice allows it to be distinguishable from other principles. That is why Plato ultimately makes the case that justice is in fact worthy of being desired and sought after. I argue that justice is a necessity for in fulfilling the requirements to make advancements as well as living a life or conducting a …show more content…

Yet, at the same time, making justice present in any given situation is praiseworthy for the well-being of the situation. For example, Socrates articulate the following “Doesn’t it follow, then, that to produce justice is to establish the elements in the soul in a natural relation of mastering and being master by one another.” ( 444 d7-d9) To reiterate the profound words of socrates, justice can only be be displayed when an individual (or city) has its moral skeleton properly aligned with principles that allow the individual to act in a manner that balances desires of the self with dignified order. Obviously to achieve such a feet is extremely difficult which is why the proper education should be easily accessed. With that being said, achieving justice involves some level of knowledge since justice cannot be activated without its help. With knowledge their is some form of wisdom over an individual’s comportment, which is manifested in the pattern of behavior through those who behave justly. Knowledge plays the role as the police officer in the city of ethics, since it decides and distinguishes whether actions are permissible thus being just, or the opposite in which case they would be impressible and therefore unjust. To continue, knowledge would discourage the people of the city of ethics from behaving unjustly and in return would commend the citizens who act justly and would recommend others to comport themselves in the same manner. Socrates explains this scenario concisely by stating “ In all these areas, he considers and calls just and fine the action that preserves this inner harmony and helps achieve it, and wisdom the knowledge that oversees such action; and he considers and calls unjust any action that destroys this harmony.” (443

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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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After all, it only makes sense that in certain areas there are people who are simply better fit than others. In the society that Socrates creates, this idea is taken to an extreme. Each and every person has a designated task on which they must focus on, and each man focuses solely on their own. Socrates describes this as just and that when each man is just “then the just man will not be any different from the just city with respect to the form of justice, but will be like

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When all the functions of society are performed by the rightful class, the resulting outcome will be justice. Each class has a duty to perform the responsibilities they are naturally best fit for and should refrain from executing another’s job. The state will be unjust if meddling occurs as it directly goes against the true definition of justice according to Plato. When the auxiliaries try to perform the role of the rulers or the workers attempt to be a guardian, the state is damaged and the exchanging of roles in the society will lead to the ultimate destruction of the state. The fourth virtue of a just city is justice because when each component of the state performs its main purpose, justice can be

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1434 Words | 6 Pages

Therefore, since Athens has a part to play in corrupting Socrates’s life as well as his mistaken visual of the truth, Socrates must understand that by obeying the state, he has done injustice to his soul for it will not be in true harmony. Furthermore he will be doing an injustice to the state because Plato would have established that, objectively, Athens laws are unjust and even if Socrates thinks that they are just, it is only because Socrates has been corrupted by

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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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Justice is not the conception of the strong, while the weak are ruled by unjust rulers how Thrasymachus thought. Instead the ruler, rules accordingly establishing just laws even if they seem unfair. Rulers are infallible, thus creating just laws because if a ruler were to make an unjust law for the strong that would place the weak at an advantage creating a flaw in the argument. The ruler would want to create laws that are filled wisdom so that nobody would want to choose the life where an unjust men would be more profitable than a just men. In addition, Socrates demonstrates that an unjust men will not be able to live a more virtuous lifestyle than a just men due to the lack of learning that the unjust men has no recollection of, thus the just men will not be able to get the better of another just men.

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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’s point of view compared the art with justice. “For every art remains pure and faultless while remaining true-- that is to say, while perfect and unimpaired (p.20).” “Then, I said, no science or art considers or enjoins the interest of the stronger or superior, but only the interest of the subject and weaker?” (p.21) If every person knows own art perfectly, no one will mistake, and it is a clear justice.

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1021 Words | 5 Pages

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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437 Words | 2 Pages

Plato’s Republic is a well-known classic that outlines, demonstrates and explains the true meaning of justice in the soul and within the ideal city. Plato’s story is actually the story of his mentor Socrates. Socrates was having dinner with his two friends Glaucon and Adeimantus, when an interesting question arose; what is Justice? So throughout the night, no sleep, food, or breaks, Socrates explained what justice truly was. He defined 3 parts of the soul, 3 parts of the city, what the ideal city would be like, and the 4 virtues of the soul.

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1108 Words | 5 Pages

Analogously, the term justice is defined as a quality of becoming fair. It is notable that different philosophers also contributed to the topics in question. This owes to the truth that Thrasymachus, Cephalus, and Polemarchus discussed justice. This paper not only analyzes philosophies from Plato and Aristotle who discuss justice and happiness respectively, but also highlights the similarities between the two philosophers. Prior to Plato’s analysis of the term justice, different philosophers had communicated their opinions on justice.

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832 Words | 4 Pages

The just person’s soul entails motive for certain kinds of objects the most important of which is knowledge. Socrates describes the hardship and extreme effort required to gain knowledge of the forms and the form of the good, thus the just person will seek learning and not spend time to take care of the satisfaction of desires that typically lead to unjust actions. This approach to unite the gap between a just soul and just actions may have some drawbacks. One negative aspect may be that several unjust actions may be motivated by desires that are compatible with the desire for knowledge. For example, why wouldn’t a person with a great fascination for knowledge steal a book if it would contribute to their

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1467 Words | 6 Pages

In Plato’s Republic, Socrates and his peers attempt to define justice. Unlike the definitions that his peers give, Socrates is searching to define justice as a structure, not a set of behaviors. Socrates uses a tripartite city-soul analogy to define justice and show that it is found when there is harmony between the three parts of the city—guardians, auxiliaries, producers—mirrored to the three parts of the soul—reason, spirit, appetite. Although Socrates provides a well-structured account of justice in an attempt to demonstrate that there cannot be social justice—in the city—if people don’t first bring internal justice—in the soul—in themselves, he has a notable contradiction in his premises. In Socrates’ ideal city it is a necessary condition of an auxiliary acting in a just way that he must cause any producers who get out of hand, or

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