What did Glaucon suggest?
Glaucon believes human beings practice justice in order to avoid the harm that would come to them if they disobeyed the laws of the society. Glaucon proposes a mind-experiment: the myth of the magic ring of Gyges. Note how his account relates to the ad populum fallacy.
What is Glaucon’s challenge to Socrates?
In Book II, Glaucon challenges Socrates to show him that justice is a good in itself, that it allows one to be happy in private, and is more beneficial than doing injustice whether one has the reputation for justice or not, even among the gods.
What is Glaucon’s view of morality?
Glaucon and Adeimantus: Being moral is beneficial to one; but if one could be immoral without suffering, one would be a fool not to be immoral (Gyges ring). Even giving the appearance of morality is better than actually acting morally.
What is Glaucon’s view on human nature?
According to Glaucon, in a state of nature men inflict and suffer injustice without restraint. That is simply how human beings are, according to the view he is putting forward. States and common laws exist due to an agreement among those who are relatively weak.
Why does Glaucon continue Thrasymachus?
But Glaucon and Adeimantus want the conversation extended, Glaucon because he would like to accept Socrates’ argument that justice is better than injustice, but he is not yet convinced; Adeimantus because he is troubled by the efficacy of theappearance of virtue as opposed to the possession of virtue in and of itself.
How does Glaucon defend injustice explain the example of the person that finds a ring that makes them invisible?
The ring granted one the power to become invisible at will. Glaucon asserts that no person would act morally if there was no fear of being caught or punished. This tale proves that people are only just because they are afraid of punishment for injustice.
What is the point of Glaucon’s challenge to morality in Plato’s Republic?
After introducing Plato’s Republic, Professor Gendler turns to the discussion of Glaucon’s challenge in Book II. Glaucon challenges Socrates to defend his claim that acting justly (morally) is valuable in itself, not merely as a means to some other end (in this case, the reputation one gets from seeming just).
What is Glaucon’s distinction between three kinds of good things?
Glaucon states that all goods can be divided into three classes: things that we desire only for their consequences, such as physical training and medical treatment; things that we desire only for their own sake, such as joy; and, the highest class, things we desire both for their own sake and for what we get from them.
Does Glaucon agree with Thrasymachus about justice?
Glaucon agrees with Thrasymachus that there does indeed seem to be something unnatural about justice, although he will not state, like Thrasymachus, that justice is the interest of the stronger. According to Glaucon, in a state of nature men inflict and suffer injustice without restraint.
Why is Thrasymachus wrong?
Socrates says that Thrasymachus is wrong on three counts: that the unjust man is more knowledgeable than the just, that injustice is a source of strength; and that injustice brings happiness. In his argument at this point, Socrates again employs analogies, in this case the physician and the flute-player.
What is Glaucon’s point in telling the story of the Ring of Gyges?
Glaucon told the story of The Ring of Gyges in an attempt to illustrate his point that justice has a “relative value due to our inability to do wrong.” Gyges was a shepherd in the service of the king of Lydia. He found a ring, which turned him invisible when he twisted it onto his finger.
What is the conclusion of Glaucon about the story of the Gyges ring?
The ring doesn’t corrupt Gyges; it reveals what he was all along: someone who only ever restrained himself out of fear of punishment. Glaucon thinks that this thought experiment exposes human nature generally. we’d all act like Gyges—stealing, murdering and raping according to our fancies—if we could get away with it.
What are Glaucon’s 3 goods?
What is Glaucon’s view of human nature?
Do Socrates and Thrasymachus agree?
Though Socrates and Thrasymachus agree that justice is beneficial, they disagree about whom it benefits. Socrates thinks that justice, like any character virtue, benefits its possessor: my being just makes my life better.
Does Socrates refute Thrasymachus?
Thrasymachus says that a ruler cannot make mistakes. Thrasymachus’ argument is that might makes right. But Socrates rebuts this argument by demonstrating that, as a ruler, the ruler’s chief interest ought to be the interests of his subjects, just as a physician’s interest ought to be the welfare of his patient.