...Justice in Plato’s Republic “A just person is like a clever and good one, and an unjust one is like an ignorant and bad one.” (27) Justice is a reoccurring and major theme in Plato’s Republic, identifying the differences between unjust and just. There are a few subjects that relate to the idea of being fair or unfair in this book. The incentive or motivation for a human is a key factor to the decisions they make when justice is the topic. What a person receives for their actions will heavily favor the final choice they make in the end. Another idea that relates to the thought of being just or unjust is a person’s psychological health. Lastly, an individual may do a fair or just action for the simple act of pleasure. There are many ways people can carry out just or unjust actions, it all depends on the situation and incentives that motivate the person. Justice can be displayed by somebody’s personal motivations or incentives. These motives are connected with the “appetite” of a human because of the drive that man has towards satisfying his needs. People who fit into this category are very much obsessed with money and wealth. Leaders who possess a great amount of power are driven by greed and riches. Performing an act of great just would result in a reward or some kind of gift that would be only self beneficial to that person. This motive which involves receiving wealth controls the lives of the powerful and the way they look upon just actions. The psychological...
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...POLITICAL JUSTICE, AND DEMOCRACY: Understanding Plato's Criticism Fall 2015 Mahlou Ryme Dr. Jacques Carlos Flores Philosophical Thought School of Humanities and Social Sciences Al Akhawayn University in Ifrane Essay Question 3: ------------------------------------------------- Plato’s defines political justice as each social class doing what it is supposed to do according to its nature and function within society. This definition then serves as the basis for his criticism of democracy. Critically evaluate Plato’s criticism of democracy. Throughout the course of history, every nation has struggled at some point in choosing the correct form of government that is most adequate to its functioning. Depending on many variables such as human and natural resources, geography, and diplomacy, each state has selected a political system that ranges from totalitarian regimes to mass democracies. Centuries before that, philosophers were debating about the significance of each form of government. Although modern political studies assert that democracy is the best form of government as it gives the power to people, some historic thinkers had their criticisms about the democratic approach and its incompatibility with the factual meaning of political justice. Plato was one of the most pivotal figures of philosophical thoughts that still have an impact on modern thinking. He was one of the philosophers who criticized the pure democracy pledging that it is governed by mass...
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...Name Course Instructor Institution Date of Submission Introduction The Athenian democracy developed in Greece in the 5th Century BC. It is the oldest known democracy in the world, and it was the most developed of all democracies that were prevalent during its time. Athenian democracy was a form of direct democracy. Citizens had the privilege to approve or disprove legislations and executive bills directly through a vote. To vote, one had to meet certain qualifications. They had to be of the age of majority and be of the male gender. Comics and political satire that was played in the theaters influenced the politics of that time. Pericles was the longest serving leader of the Athenian democracy. After his death, the Athenian democracy declined in its prominence after the Macedonians suppressed it in 322 BC. It was revived decades later. Pericles View of the Athenian Democracy The most notable aspect of Pericles contribution to Athenian democracy was his devolution of political power to the people. As the leader of Athens, Pericles gave the citizens the power to participate directly- as opposed to representation through representatives- in all matters of legislation and policy. He also increased the number and salaries of civil servants to ensure their commitment and participation in effective governance. Besides giving the power to the citizens, Pericles established various institutions such as the courts, the assembly, and a council that foresaw the execution of policies...
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...topic for philosophers and also for ordinary people. Justice can be defined briefly as “the fairness in the way that people are treated” (Collins Cobuild, p. 910). Plato and Aristotle, two leading figures of ancient Greek civilization, were earliest philosophers who thought about justice and developed theories about the sublime aspects of being just. This assignment is an attempt to prove that pursuing a life of justice would make living more worthwhile than being unjust or a combination of just and unjust life. In order to reach this point, I am going to explain the concept of justice and its superior aspects from the perspective of both Plato and Aristotle by taking help from their famous works “The Republic” and “The Nicomachean Ethics”. I will also give place to counter arguments and their rebuttals. I will make my own comments at the final part of the assignment. Plato (427 BC-347 BC) was one of the earlier and most important philosophers of the world and is also known as the founder of “The Academy”. Plato’s most famous work is “The Republic” in which he tries to draw the qualities of a just individual and a just state by explaining the sublime nature of justice. In the first two books of The Republic, dialogues between different characters focus on different meanings of justice. During the conversation two conventional definitions of justice (“giving a man’s due” and “doing good to your friends, harm to your enemies”) are refuted brilliantly by Socrates and finally take...
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...The use of force by those who are permitted to command power can be handled in ways that can either help or harm society as a whole. The ways in which force is dictated directly correlates to the problem of violence within society among the works of Sophocles’ Antigone, Plato’s Republic and Thucydides’ History of the Peloponnesian War. Creon from Sophocles’ Antigone, Thrasymachus from Plato’s Republic and the Melian Dialogue from Thucydides’ History of the Peloponnesian War all illustrate how force can be used for personal gain. The characters involved in these three works evidently reveal that those who are awarded with the utmost power may not always be the people who deserve the right to make decisions. Creon, from Sophocles’ Antigone, is a prime...
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...Just individuals : In his book ‘The Republic’, Plato searches for justice within the individual and what makes a person ‘just’. By comparing his sense of what is just at a political level and what is just at a psychological level he suggests three virtues of the individual which will make that particular person just. The virtues of wisdom, courage and moderation are common to both a just and the fictional just city of Kallipolis. This artificial city has the pre-determined virtue of being just – he does this in order to understand what justice is for the individual because Plato thinks that ‘a just man won’t differ at all from a just city in respect to the form of justice; rather he’ll be like the city.’ (Republic 435b) In the just city Plato creates three classes: the producers, the guardians and the rulers. Each of these three classes has a certain virtue it has to display to fulfill the ‘just city’ pre-requisite that Plato has placed upon Kallipolis. The rulers are required to exhibit wisdom so that ‘a whole city established according to nature would be wise because of the smallest class and part in it, namely the governing or ruling one. And to this class, belongs a share of the knowledge that alone among all the other kinds of knowledge is to be called wisdom.’ (428e-429a) The wisdom enjoyed by the rulers would be used to ensure that the city has ‘good judgement and [be] really wise.’ (428d) The guardians (soldiers) of Kallipolis would be educated in order to absorb...
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...Supposed Contradiction in Plato’s Apology and Crito Ben Blanks, Lynchburg College (Editor’s note: This essay by Ben Blanks is the winner of the North Award for the best paper in the 2012 Agora. Ben presented an earlier version of this paper at the ACTC Student Conference at Pepperdine University in Malibu, California, in March, 2011.) When reading the Apology and the Crito of Plato, one inevitably comes upon a seeming fundamental contradiction between the two dialogues. The Apology presents readers with a defiant Socrates who declares in his trial that, if acquitted on the condition that he never philosophize again, he would continue to practice philosophy in spite of the jury’s order to the contrary: . . . if you said to me in this regard: “Socrates, we do not believe Anytus now; we acquit you, but only on condition that you spend no more time on this investigation and do not practice philosophy, and if you are caught doing so you will die”; if, as I say, you were to acquit me on those terms, I would say to you: “Men of Athens, I am grateful and I am your friend, but I will obey the god rather than you, and as long as I draw breath and am able, I shall not cease to practice philosophy . . . (29c-d).1 The passage from the Apology seems to present a defiant argument for civil disobedience in the face of injustice. In the Crito, however, when given a chance to escape prison and his upcoming execution, Socrates reasons that such an action would be unjust because it would defy the...
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...Final Exam Paper 1. The First Meditation discusses the importance of doubting everything. Releasing the prejudices that one is accustomed to, one finds himself in need to embark a search for knowledge based on a foundation of solid truths. Descartes establishes that in order to doubt his present opinions, he needs simple reasons, and rather than doubt his all his opinions individually, he has to admit that the entirety of his beliefs is wrong. Everything the author accepts as true he has come to learn from his senses, and though the senses can sometimes deceive with objects that are either very small or far away, he admits that our sensory knowledge is sturdy. In the Second Meditation, after making the choice to doubt everything, the author comes to the conclusion that his body and his senses must not exist, but does that mean he himself does not exist either? And if one doubts the existence of his or her body and senses, then the rest of the world must not exist either, therefore, one is persuaded that he himself does not exist. This leads the author to the conclusion that he exists, since he was there to be persuaded. Descartes reasons that while we must doubt everything, "doubting" is a form of thinking, which is solid proof that the he that is doing the thinking exists, and is a thinking thing. If something is believed to be true by the majority or the ruling class, does not necessitate it to be true. John Stuart Mill in On Liberty emphasizes three types of liberty;...
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...In Plato’s Apology Socrates is being tried by Anytus and Meletus for two new charges: “corrupting the young, and not acknowledging the gods of the city acknowledges, but new daimonic activities instead” (Morgan 2005, 51). Throughout Plato’s Apology and Euthyphro Socrates uses complex rhetoric to challenge the charges brought against him based on his thoughts and understanding of what is right and wrong. He never once states he is not guilty nor does he provide reasons to support his innocence. He suggests rather that he is on a divine mission stating “this is what the god orders me to do, and I think there is no greater blessing for the city than my service to the god” (Morgan 2005, 55). Socrates uses his trial as an opportunity to show inconsistencies in the charges themselves, through questioning his accusers. Socrates remains true to him-self, a philosopher, and finds fulfillment out of the process rather than the outcome “…for the unexamined life is not worth living for men…” (Morgan 2005, 60) Socrates should be found guilty as his intentions to continue to practice the life of a philosopher may not have been morally wrong, his methods however unlawful during Athenian times. Socrates was not a member of a modern day society where innovative thought was encouraged, and freedom of speech tolerated. He chose to be a member of Athenian society therefore needed to conform to the requirements set out by the city. Suggesting other God’s and questioning the Gods of the city do not...
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...Life, as well as the truth about Thucydides. Thucydides and Plato have different views in their approach to the good life. Thucydides empirical claims , and dismissal of “right & justice” is best known from his famous writings “ The Peloponnesian war.” Whereas, Plato’s normative claims is best known in his writings in “The Republic.” In the Republic Plato states that the proper function of a man is his soul, to live with justice and obtain a harmonious life. The basic concept of Plato's theory about the good life is built on the concept that everything has a purpose, a job, a function. Plato believed that a man’s role is determine by nature, and man cannot decide for themselves what their function may be. In the Republic Plato discusses the proper use of function of man. It is his soul and to live with justice, and obtain a sense of harmony and unity. Lisa H. Newton stated,“in the greatest of all works of philosophy, Plato offers an elegant proof of the proposition: that whether or not the world recognizes and rewards virtue, the just person is the happiest of human beings.” However, I find in today’s society that most just people are not the wealthiest people. Somehow it is a trade off: just and poor, unjust wealthy. Thucydides would definitely disagree with the idea of universal truth of what is “right.” He would also disagree with the concept that man could ever know such truth. This is called, moral skeptics. The idea of “right” demonstrating that is merely...
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...citizens in Plato’s “kallipolis” and Aristotle’s polis are attempting to achieve a state of goodness, justice. However, Aristotle through the overlying theme of diversity, as explained in the aforesaid, maintains the belief that good can result from more than one methodology. Although, Plato feels that the concept of good, “being virtuous,” is a state of knowing, a perpetual thing rather than something that is achieved a number of ways by a number of different people in practice (praxís). When asked to define “justice,” Socrates talks about first identifying what a “just city” looks like because its composition mirrors that of a just individual. However, Aristotle believes such an analogy isn’t accurate because of the many differing individuals within a city-state, “human being is by nature a political animal,” (1253a1 Politics I). It’s impossible for a city-state to consist wholly of “good people,” (1276b39 Politics III), “but the virtue of a good man cannot be had by all, unless all the citizens of a good city-state are necessarily good men … a city-state...
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...political, and all other rights of women equal to those of men and an organized movement for the attainment of such rights for women. * Misandrist: a person who hates men * Gender : the state of being male or female * Gender Roles: is a theoretical construct in the social sciences and humanities that refers to a set of social and behavioural norms that, within a specific culture, are widely considered to be socially appropriate for individuals of a specific sex. * Gender Equality: is the measurable equal representation of women and men. Gender equality does not imply that women and men are the same, but that they have equal value and should be accorded equal treatment. * Social Norms: the behaviours and cues within a society or group. This sociological term has been defined as "the rules that a group uses for appropriate and inappropriate values, beliefs, attitudes and behaviours”. These rules may be explicit or implicit. Failure to follow the rules can result...
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...Punishment In Plato’s The Republic, Socrates has many conversations with people in order to further understand concepts such as justice and the way things are ideally supposed to be done. When I think about justice the definition that comes to mind is: the administration of a just action because of an unjust or immoral act being done by a human or group of humans. The issue of proper punishment has also been discussed in those conversations with Socrates and his peers. There must be a punishment for immoral or unjust actions committed by any human otherwise everything in our world would turn into complete chaos. In Socrates’s time people believed heavily in the afterlife and that his or her actions on Earth determined the quality of that life. The gods played a huge role in deciding the fates of everyone depending on how one lived while one was alive. If one lived an unjust and reckless life then it will show because the gods in one’s afterlife will punish him or her. Socrates states, “…bad people are wretched because they are in need of punishment, and that in paying the penalty they are benefited by that god.” There is a problem with waiting until the afterlife for people to be punished because then there would be no order in society. Bad people who are actually bad can get away with living well in the afterlife because during their Earthly life they gained enough wealth to pay the gods to give them a good afterlife. Meanwhile the good people of the world who did a bad...
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...Plato was a philosopher from Greece who lived from 424BC until the time of his death in 347BC. Plato belonged to an aristocratic and influential lineage. His father was Artiston, a descent of king Dorus of Athens. Plato’s mother was Peritonea from a lineage of famous lawmakers and poets in Athens. Plato was, however, raised with difficulty after his father died. As a student, Plato studied under the guidance of his teacher, Socrates. Plato played an essential role of laying the foundation for western philosophy and science. Socrates taught Plato about basic philosophy and dialectic methods of inquiry in the quest for truth. The basic learning acquired form Plato formed a basis from where Plato established his philosophies (Benjamin, 2007). During the time of Plato, there are many events that took place. Amongst them is the Peloponnesian war. The war lasted for approximately 27 years i.e. from 431BC to 404 BC. The Peloponnesian war was a war fought by Athens and Sparta. As a result of the war, the Athenian imperial system and Greek military history was changed. The powers of Athens were subdued after the war as Sparta took over as a leading state whose powers were felt all across Greece. In 399BC Plato witnessed his teacher, Socrates, being tried and executed by the authorities in Athens. Socrates was charged for corrupting the minds of youths. Socrates was despised by the authority because of his persistency in criticizing the government established after...
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...harming enemies are common sense definitions of justice that, Socrates shows, are inadequate in exceptional situations, and thus lack the rigidity demanded of a definition. Yet he does not completely reject them for each expresses a common sense notion of justice which Socrates will incorporate into his discussion of the just regime in books II through V. At the end of Book I, Socrates agrees with Polemarchus that justice includes helping friends, but says the just man would never do harm to anybody. Thrasymachus believes that Socrates has done the men present an injustice by saying this and attacks his character and reputation in front of the group, partly because he suspects that Socrates himself does not even believe harming enemies is unjust. Thrasymachus gives his understanding of justice and injustice as "justice is what is advantageous to the stronger, while injustice is to one's own profit and advantage".[8] Socrates finds this definition unclear and begins to question Thrasymachus. Socrates then asks whether the ruler who makes a mistake by making a law that lessens their well-being, is still a ruler according to that definition. Thrasymachus agrees that no true ruler would make such an error. This agreement allows Socrates to undermine Thrasymachus' strict definition of justice by comparing rulers to people of various professions. Thrasymachus consents to Socrates' assertion that an artist is someone who does his job well, and is a knower of some art, which allows him...
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