StudentShare
Contact Us
Sign In / Sign Up for FREE
Search
Go to advanced search...
Free

The Argument of Plato's Republic - Essay Example

Cite this document
Summary
The aim of the paper “The Argument of Plato's Republic” is to analyze the meaning of justice, in discussion of Socrates. In his discussion with Cephalous, Polemarchus, and Thrasymachus, Socrates questions their understanding of justice. …
Download full paper File format: .doc, available for editing
GRAB THE BEST PAPER92.5% of users find it useful
The Argument of Platos Republic
Read Text Preview

Extract of sample "The Argument of Plato's Republic"

The Argument of Plato's Republic In his search for the meaning of justice, Socrates involved several people in discussions (Reeve 112). In his discussion with Cephalous, Polemarchus, and Thrasymachus, he questions their understanding of justice. According to Cephalous, justice is truth telling and giving back what one received from anyone. Justice involves the return of a deposit to anyone, whatsoever the case. Socrates challenged his understanding of justice. He gives him an example of one who lends a weapon from someone.

In case the owner of the weapon comes back insane, would it still be justice even if it is in the lender’s right mind that he will use the weapon to harm? Would he still choose to tell only the truth to a person in such a state? According to Socrates, therefore, saying the truth and retuning what one has received do not qualify to be justice. In that case, truth telling and giving back is not justice. Polemarchus, inheriting the argument from Cephalous went ahead to give his understanding of justice.

According to Polemarchus, justice means giving favor to friends and mistreating enemies. That is, it is what renders good to friends when he is good and harms to enemies when he is bad. Socrates contradicts his description on the basis of what circumstances should the just man can benefit from friends and receive evil from enemies. According to him, Polemarchus refers to justice as a kind of stealing to benefit friends and harm enemies. It is just to wrong the unjust. Differentiating between friends and enemies becomes difficult, therefore.

Many people who seem good in many cases are not. Socrates gives an example of one who is skilled to give a blow as the one most cautious to secure a guard from a blow. Polemarchus admits the argument saying he did not know what he meant. He still believes, though, that justice benefits friends and harm enemies. Thrasymachus then came into the conversation. According to him, the just is the advantage of the stronger. He points out various regimes of rule such as tyrants, democracy rules, and aristocracy.

According to him, the ruling party sets the goals and laws. Justice, therefore, is the advantage obtained by the ruling party, or other, the stronger. Whosoever does not follow the set laws is, therefore, a lawbreaker. In response, Socrates admits that the just is something of advantage but beg to pursue an inquiry into the point. He points out that obedience to leaders is being just. He further explains that leaders, too, are prone to err. In making laws, therefore, leaders can do some rightly and others not rightly.

If their subjects must perform the laws, then it would also be just to do what is not right. Off-shoe accounts can be used to make debts invisible to regulators and investors. Ring of Gyges theory and Enron and Anderson used this. They escaped prosecution for their injustice. Socrates note that unjust are successful and pronounced achievers. His conclusion is that people seemingly embrace justice for fear of the consequences of being unjust (Reeve 108). The just is unwilling to be real leaders.

This, according to Socrates, is because they do not want to associate with injustice. To him most leaders are unjust. Works citedReeve, Charles. Philosopher-Kings: The Argument of Plato's Republic. Princeton, NJ: Hackett Publishing, 2006. Print.

Read More
Cite this document
  • APA
  • MLA
  • CHICAGO
(“The Argument of Plato's Republic Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words”, n.d.)
The Argument of Plato's Republic Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words. Retrieved from https://studentshare.org/philosophy/1593262-argument-essay
(The Argument of Plato'S Republic Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 Words)
The Argument of Plato'S Republic Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 Words. https://studentshare.org/philosophy/1593262-argument-essay.
“The Argument of Plato'S Republic Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 Words”, n.d. https://studentshare.org/philosophy/1593262-argument-essay.
  • Cited: 0 times

CHECK THESE SAMPLES OF The Argument of Plato's Republic

Plato and Butler Arguments

Why does Plato make the argument that he does?... plato's argument concerning gender is different from intellectuals or philosophers of his time.... Besides plato's strong stand regarding gender irrelevance in the allocation of jobs and undertaking of diverse roles in the society, he admits that each sex has a responsibility to undertake.... Mainly, these roles basis encompass biological differences where women, according to plato's arguments, embrace the role of mothers and wives....
6 Pages (1500 words) Essay

The Theaetetus

The Theaetetus represents one of plato's dialogues relating to Plato's dialogues concerning the nature of knowledge.... … Author Tutor Course Date Essay 2 Introduction The Theaetetus represents one of plato's dialogues relating to Plato's dialogues concerning the nature of knowledge.... Essay 2 Introduction The Theaetetus represents one of plato's dialogues relating to Plato's dialogues concerning the natureof knowledge.... How Philosophy Became Socratic: A Study of plato's Protagoras, Charmides, and Republic....
3 Pages (750 words) Essay

Truth in Politics

Philosophers in plato's republic are the only ones ideal to rule (and become kings) because they love and search for the truth - as opposed to the other two classes, the people who are mainly concerned with honor, and the masses, who are concerned with money and the indulgence of physical appetites.... In the following paper “Truth in Politics,” the author analyzes truth in politics according to Plato's The republic, which is of the utmost importance because the primary concern or the end of the class of rulers, the philosopher-kings, is the truth....
2 Pages (500 words) Essay

Plato In the Contemporary View

republic has long been known to be a vision of Utopia, sought after by many leaders and systems, yet the very unpredictable character of humanity throws a wrench into the works every time. … What never ceases to capture my attention with Plato is how often quotes from republic appear from time to time in everyday life from father-to-son advice to advertising slogans.... The timelessness of this work is a wonder, since the very fabric (pathos) of humanity is explored and appears to be relatively unchanged over the span of two millennia when republic is read with a relaxed mind. In formulating his rhetorical arguments, Plato launches an invitation to delve deep into the matter at hand; his views on education are startling in their simplicity yet definitely do not fit in with the contemporary views held by our country's First Amendment; in Chapter 2 of republic (trans....
4 Pages (1000 words) Book Report/Review

What Are the Weaknesses of a Democracy - Plato

According to Platos argument in The republic, the inherent weakness of democracy exists, being known as the extreme of popular liberty where there emerges complete equality and liberty in the relations among the sexes and slaves are claimed to possess the same degree of liberty… It is one which is capable of transforming itself to tyranny and at this point, it is essential to note the kind which Plato proposed differs greatly from the modern democracy or that adhered to in the Athens as populist democracy....
1 Pages (250 words) Essay

Platos Epistemological Position

Plato's general rationalism is the basis of plato's epistemological position.... The theory of knowledge developed by Plato states that all knowledge is innate and could be This theory is actually very crucial in explaining plato's epistemological position.... This has made several philosophers to formulate theories that try to solve this issue....
5 Pages (1250 words) Essay

Reflections on Plato

Chapter 4 of the book “Living Philosophy: A Historical Introduction to philosophical ideas” describes the life and the times of Plato in a chronological manner with core inferences to the knowledge and beliefs of Plato grounding its claims on knowledge and reality, Plato's… The chapter equally describes the philosophical ideas Plato had in relation to the interdependency between an individual and the state on issues of what forms a republic and the worth of individuals being parts of a state, as well as Reflection on Plato Chapter 4 of the book “Living Philosophy: A Historical Introduction to philosophical ideas” describes the lifeand the times of Plato in a chronological manner with core inferences to the knowledge and beliefs of Plato grounding its claims on knowledge and reality, Plato's ideas on immortality, mortality and the soul....
1 Pages (250 words) Essay

Human Nature and Politics for Plato

plato's republic has been developed in order to explain the role and the elements of politics, as appeared in the particular era.... More specifically, in republic politics and political institutions are analyzed and evaluated without a direct reference to human nature.... However, if studied carefully the republic reveals a close relationship between human nature and politics.... The particular practice is analyzed below aiming to show that in republic human nature has been the basis for the explanations for political institutions, even if the relationship between these two concepts is not always clear....
5 Pages (1250 words) Essay
sponsored ads
We use cookies to create the best experience for you. Keep on browsing if you are OK with that, or find out how to manage cookies.
Contact Us