What Is Socrates When Justice Is Good

Most of the information that we learn about Socrates comes from the work and writings of one of his students, Plato. It has been alleged that the great Philosopher wrote nothing down for others to read, and as such, the knowledge and the teachings from Socrates that is relied upon to convey his philosophy and the epic story of his life comes not from himself, but his students who attempt to provide and accurate picture of the methods and philosophical beliefs held by their mentor and teacher.

In Plato’s The Republic, there are several accounts of justice that are presented throughout the dialogue, especially in Book I. One of these accounts is presented by Socrates, in which he believes that justice is not harming anyone under any circumstances. Socrates first presents this argument when he questions if it is just to treat anyone badly (335b). Polemarchus, based on his account of justice – in which justice is treating friends well and harming enemies (332d) – believes that it is okay to hurt people (335b). Socrates then brings up examples of what happens when a horse, dog, and person are treated poorly (335b-c). In all these cases, Socrates points out that it worsens them. Afterwards, when taking into account that justice is a “human excellence,” (335c) Socrates says that “members of the human race who are treated badly must necessarily become more unjust. Therefore, based on that reasoning, Socrates presents a fundamentally valid argument. In theory, Socrates’s claim that it is not just to treat anyone badly under any circumstances is sound because not one person or creature deserves bad treatment, no matter the past unjust actions or decisions that person/creature has done in the past. However, it is difficult to put it into practice because of emotion. To defend this argument made by Socrates, I will go more in depth about two points that were brought about him: If it really is just

“What is justice?” This is a question that men have struggled with answering for centuries. Justice should be defined for the sake of all people, especially by rulers who attempt to make fair laws so that their society functions in an orderly fashion. In Book 1 of The Republic, Plato attempts to define exactly what justice is. To help determine this definition, he speaks through the philosopher protagonist of Socrates. Justice is first brought up in The Republic during Socrates’ trip to Piraeus. While traveling Socrates ends up gathering with his interlocutors and together, they talk about justice and how one would define it. Socrates debates with the men about the definition of justice and is presented with a definition of

Socrates is known as one of the most famous philosophers from the early civilizations. He is best known for his own “Socratic method” which is the base for Westerns systems of logic and philosophy. Also to this day the “Socratic method” of Socrates is still known about today and used. Surprisingly the way we know about Socrates is not through his writing, because Socrates did not write his works down, but his disciples writing which include Plato and Xenophon. This is the only way we know about Socrates’ life is through the writings of Plato and Xenophon as well as the plays of Aristophanes. Since these writings had other purposes besides portraying his life they most likely aren’t one hundred percent accurate.

The portrayal of Socrates, through the book “the trial and death of Socrates” is one that has created a fairly controversial character in Western history. In many ways, Socrates changed the idea of common philosophy in ancient Greece; he transformed their view on philosophy from a study of why the way things are, into a consideration man. Specifically, he analyzed the virtue and health of the human soul. Along side commending Socrates for his strong beliefs, and having the courage to stand by those convictions, Socrates can be commended for many other desirable characteristics. Some of those can include being the first martyr to die for his philosophical beliefs and having the courage to challenge indoctrinated cultural norms is part of

Socrates has a unique position in the history of philosophy. On one hand he is the most influential on another he is the least known. In his later life he is seen to stalk the streets barefoot, to spite shoemakers. He went about arguing and questioning people and revealing inconsistencies in their beliefs. He began teaching students but never accepted payments for doing so. This was possible because of the inheritance left by his father. Socrates wrote nothing of himself so we are dependent upon the works of both his students and associates who present a view as close to

In Book IV of The Republic, written by Plato, Socrates makes an argument for why an individual should strive to be just, or more importantly, why being just is more profitable than being unjust to the individual. The three parts of an individual: rational, spirited, and appetitive, must all strive to pursue truth in the just individual, but it is possible that this requirement may not be met while still profiting the individual. Through an analogy between justice in the city and justice in the individual, Socrates makes an argument that is impossible to accept on the basis of false assumption. The assumptions that the rational part of the individual must rule over the spirited and appetitive parts, and that just actions always engender justice and unjust actions engender injustice, can easily be shown to be false under certain circumstances.

The Republic, Written by Plato deals with the many definitions/opinions of what “justice” really means. Socrates truly examines what he thinks the true value behind the word actually is. However, he isn’t alone other characters such as Cephalus, Thrasymachus, and Polemarchus all have something to contribute to the conversation. Socrates is the man who checks the truth behind each one, while Plato shares his thoughts on what Socrates believes is true. Truth in all the arguments and what each person brings to the table help them figure out what justice means. Justice in the eye of Socrates is not a simple answer or definition but there are many different components that factor in the create the best possible city which is justice.

This paper argues that Socrates makes a plausible case for justice. Socrates raised two main questions in the first two books of Plato’s Republic, what is justice? And why should we act justly? Thrasymachus and Glaucon both have different and more negative views of justice than Socrates. Throughout books one and two, Socrates, Glaucon and Thrasymachus go back and forth discussing the definition and application of justice in society. He starts his discussions with Glaucon and Thrasymachus by stating simply, “What is justice?”

While voicing these views of justice I believe Socrates remains consistent in his views that the law must be upheld. Socrates believes you must challenge the law if they do not agree with your morals. While also admitting that if you fail to obey the laws it is a greater justice carrying out your sentence honorably than trying to avoid it. Socrates considers holding his morals as laws which in turn keep his views and justice of the laws consistent throughout the dialogues. Socrates begins by admitting he does not participate in the political sides of the law.

Socrates’s Characteristics Socrates was an Athenian philosopher who lived during the classical era. Most of the philosophers during this period concentrated their studies on nature and the universe. Socrates was different as his only interest was in seeking knowledge.

Though the concept of social injustice is universal in nature, the experience varies with each person. Factors like a person’ race, or gender can further influence the severity of the injustice; victims caught in the overlap between discriminations often go unrecognized by the law and society. Many people recognize the names Michael Brown, Eric Garner, and Tamir Rice as African Americans who were murdered by local police. But names like Michelle Cusseaux, Tanish Anderson, and Meagan Hockaday often receive less feedback even though they are also murdered African Americans. The only distinction between the sets of names is gender. Even within racial injustice, discrimination is present between genders as some cases get national

The first point of what Socrates answers what isn’t justice is that justice isn’t equality. It is not after death of getting revenge that makes justice equal. Socrates uses the example of how when a person is on trial for murder, and how that person sentence is death. The end result will not be justice, because in the end both the criminal and already the innocent will be dead and no equality of justice would have been done at all. Another example is when a person is put to death when they owe taxes. There is no equal justice to killing someone who owes taxes because in the end result, the tax is still not paid off. So this leaves Justice is not paying amends. It is then moved to the question of when is justice is used. Justice is used when

Thrasymachus uses Socrates ‘definition of justice to lash out at him. He says that if then his definition on the nature of justice is right, it follows that a life devoted to justice is worse than a life devoted to injustice. However, people who practice justice are regarded as being superior to those who are unjust, both in intelligence and character. The society believes that justice is a moral obligation, as well as a proper virtue enshrined in the human soul (Plato, Grube, & Reeve,

Martin Luther King Jr. once said “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere”. I think he was referring to the media (i.e the newspaper or the T.V news) caring more about injustices than justices. If something terrible happens it will be on the news, but if something great happens it won’t be on the news. This makes it seem like there is more injustice than justice in the world, however there are places in the world that don’t have enough injustice to report on the media. A few of these places would be Sweden, Canada and Vermont. Those places and what goes on in those places are some of the few justices I see. Some of the major injustices I see are: homophobia, sexism, racism, animal abuse, anti-semitism (which is a prejudice against