What Does Thrasymachus Say About The Nature Of Justice

In book I of Plato’s Republic, Socrates and Thrasymachus discuss the nature of justice. After Socrates deconstructs Polemarchus’s notion of justice, Thrasymachus eagerly interjects, posing a startling claim that initially perplexed me. Nonetheless, through class discussion and my own analysis, I ultimately gained a deeper understanding of Thrasymachus’s insights.

Once Socrates and Polemarchus abandon Polemarchus’s definition of justice, Thrasymachus inserts himself into their conversation. After insulting Socrates for neglecting to reveal his own views on the topic, Thrasymachus supplies a new definition, confidently asserting that “justice is nothing other than what is advantageous for the stronger” (15). Upon reading Thrasymachus’s claim,

While evaluating Thrasymachus’s argument in class, I realized that his ideas are founded on the premise that there must be a sense of meaning and purpose behind the laws implemented by ruling bodies. As part of our class discussion, we reviewed Clitophon’s interjection to Thrasymachus’s argument, which accounts for the inherent fallibility of rulers. He declares that Thrasymachus intended to say that “what is advantageous for the stronger is what the stronger believes to be advantageous for him” (17). This addition would clarify Thrasymachus’s definition by accounting for rulers’ natural liability to err. Yet, Thrasymachus rejects this modification to his argument, implying that it is irrational to assume that an individual is stronger in his moment of error. From here, Thrasymachus proceeds to explain that his definition alludes to the most precise definition of a ruler, meaning that “a ruler, to the extent that he is a ruler, never makes errors and unerringly declares what is best for himself” (17-18). According to our class discussion, Thrasymachus’s ideas are grounded in the assumption that a true ruler possesses relevant expertise. While a ruler in title only is prone to mistakes, a ruler with the appropriate expertise can perfectly serve his own advantage. Through this lens, all laws implemented by a true ruler are purposeful and beneficial to the ruler. The notion that laws must be rooted in reason and purpose made Thrasymachus’s argument more appealing to