Plato's Republic Selected Quote (Book One/Two)

 “And each ruling group sets down laws for its own advantage; a democracy sets down democratic laws; a tyranny, tyrannic laws; and the others do the same. And they declare that what they have set down—their own advantage—is just for the ruled, and the man who departs from it they punish as a breaker of the law and a doer of unjust deeds. This, best of men, is what I mean: in every city the same thing is just, the advantage of the established ruling body. It surely is master; so the man who reasons rightly concludes that everywhere justice is the same thing, the advantage of the stronger.”​e​339 a

Kirsch, Adam. The Republic of Plato (p. 57). Basic Books. Kindle Edition. 


In Book One, Thrasymachus and Socrates argue over the substantive meaning of justice and its application in greek life. The former, a sophist, already tired with Socrates' debating and argumentative style tries to sum up his view of justice through a clear-eyed view of how the city-states are governed in Greece. Both men, intellectual and removed from broader society, are already skeptical towards Athenian democracy. What sets Thrasymachus apart is his somewhat cynical summation that justice is the justification of stronger people's advantages over weaker and less capable citizens.

We see certain forms of this opportunistic justice in our own modern day. Gifted and Talented Schools for precocious children, while not flush with money, offer pathways to success for the smart while ordinary and poorer students are left to languish in malfunctioning local schools. Companies groom certain favorite men and women from certain places (top colleges, good families, etc). Politicians often make one rule for their favored constituencies while enforcing other rules on the rest of us. 

This section is particularly notable, perhaps more than the story of gyges, because it's provocative. If justice is supposed to be blind, why are we unable to stay true to it since antiquity? 







Comments

  1. Professor RogerSeptember 7, 2020 at 7:53 AM

    Great example here! You're right that Socrates and Thrasymachus represent very different perspectives on justice and human well-being. For Thrasymachus, it's all about winning the contest and getting the rewards.

    ReplyDelete

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