The answer to this question is no. Socrates’ definition of justice is a two-part definition. Justice of the city requires that all people do their part or job that they were born to do and individual justice, which is concerned with the wellbeing and development of the soul. Justice of the city holds true for 99% of the city, however the philosopher king is asked to be a philosopher and a ruler at the same time violating Socrates’ own definition of what justice is. Although this is the most significant contradiction, it is not the only one when analyzing the philosopher king position, however not everyone is suited for the philosopher king position.
The nature of the philosopher king is one of pursuit of knowledge and purity of the soul. Philosophers
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This knowledge is a blessing and a curse. A philosopher king has such a deep understanding and vast knowledge that he wants to share, but he cannot because those around him just cannot comprehend because their reality does not align with his. A major contradiction arises because of this problem and the solution is telling medicinal lies. The lies and stories help break down the complex knowledge to his people in parts so they get the same information, but in a way they can comprehend and still use. This is absolutely necessary as usually a person with different ideas or opinions lose out to the mob. The lies and stories help people come around slowly to the philosopher king’s way of thinking. His medicinal lies give simple meanings for complex ideas to those that do not have the formal education or knowledge so they can still be relayed important morals and lessons from the stories. The allegory of the cave is a perfect example of what the philosopher king went through and what he needs to do to slowly bring about his people. The cave also illustrates what can go wrong. If the process is rushed trust will be all but lost and the philosopher king endangers himself against the
Socrates moves on to other activities that are useful in peaceful times like farming to get produce, and shoemaking for shoes. Socrates dicusees about what is justice and using it in peaceful times? Polymarchus states getting benefits in busimeses. Socrates asks Polemarchus who would he do a partnership with
What is justice? According to Socrates, to be just is what every individual is conditioned to strive for. Those who act unjustly are guided by ignorance and only they themselves believe they are doing good. A core ideal of Socrates was that everyone should do good and avoid wrong. His views on law and justice are shaped around this ideal.
Throughout the dialogue between Euthyphro and Socrates, they both try to come up with an understanding of the relationship between piety and justice. Within the discussion, Socrates questions Euthyphro to see if he can define the difference and similarities between justice and piety, and if they interact with each other. Eventually, Euthyphro and Socrates came up with the conclusion that justice is a part of piety. This is the relationship that I agree most with because in my own opinion, I believe that all of the gods and people agree that human beings who commit unjust actions need to be punished for their actions.
What is justice? In Plato’s Republic, this question is asked between Socrates and other conversationalists. In the beginning of this work, many different definitions of justice are debated. However, to provide clarity, Socrates proposes that, instead of discussing what justice is, they should apply the term holistically and try to imagine justice in an “ideal city.” From this, the city of Kallipolis was created.
A man facing an unjust execution is presented with another option: escape from prison and flee to another providence. Most men would eagerly take this chance to prolong their lives and continue their journey on earth. Most men would do anything to get revenge for the wrong that has been done to them. However, most men are not like Socrates. Socrates did not plead his case by eliciting pity from the jury for an old man and his poor family. He did not beg for a different sentence that would allow him to live. Instead, he let the jury come to its own conclusion while acting with virtue and integrity. He held fast to his principles by remaining in prison to face his execution because that is how a good and just person would behave. Socrates’ decision not to escape in Crito is consistent with his principle that the good and just person never does harm to a large extent because accepting his verdict allows him to reinforce the sanctity of law and to set a prime example for his peers.
In the cave allegory, a man is bound in a cave, which represents misunderstanding, and facing a wall his entire life with a fire burning behind him. From this fire, he sees shadows and hears people passing by, so he believes people are two dimensional beings, this is known as perception. This shows that knowledge gained through the senses is based on opinion. Only the enlightened ones will break free from the restraints and turn around to see what the shadows really are. These people are called “philosopher kings.”
The Innocence of Socrates Socrates, an Athenian philosopher, is being accused of corrupting youth, disrespecting the gods, and undermining democracy. One might ask, ‘Why these charges?’ but Socrates is not guilty. Why would a full time philosopher who only asks questions have these accusations? Socrates is a very wise man and he does not deserve the charges that he is being accused of.
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?”
Was There Justice in Socrates Trial? The question of whether there was justice in Socrates trial is a question that relies on the new democracy in Athens. Webster’s dictionary defines justice as, “the process or result of using laws to fairly judge and punish crimes and criminals.” In many ways Socrates beliefs and his love to teach lead to his death.
Premise 1: To harm something, you are worsening that person or thing’s superiority Premise 2: “Men who are harmed necessarily become more unjust” (Socrates 335d) Premise 3: It is never in the power of a just man to bring about unjustness by harming someone Therefore, a just person doesn’t harm 1. Determine whether the premises really support the conclusion: does the conclusion logically follow? Is the argument complete, or are there parts missing (for instance: missing evidence)?
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
In Plato’s works Apology and Crito there is an attempt by Socrates to defend himself in court and defend his choice to receive the death penalty when found guilty. Although he makes very valid and strong arguments throughout one can only wonder why such a wise person would choose death over life. The following essay will analyze three quotes from Apology and Crito, find the correlation between them, and reveal any flaws that may exsist inside these arguments made by Socrates.
In the Republic, Socrates takes up the question of whether a just person will be better off than an unjust person. He refutes Thrasymachus’ claim that an unjust person is wise and good and argues that no one in any rule, who, in so far as he is wise and good tries to outdo someone like himself in the same domain. Only an ignorant and bad man will always want to outperform everyone. I shall present Socrates’ argument about justice, as well as, I shall object the argument with the point that in the craft of business, companies should compete to get better overtime. After that, I will challenge the objection, in order to show that businesses are able to improve without competition.
“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
In Plato’s Republic he defines justice as “doing one’s own work and not meddling with what is not one’s own” (Plato 139, 433b). This definition begs the question what is one’s own work? Plato states that one’s own work is the work that one’s nature is best suited for, as each person is born with a different nature (Plato 101, 370b). To come to this definition Plato compares justice within the human soul to justice within a city. If Plato can find justice within the city and prove that the individual is only a smaller version of the city then he will have found the form of justice, the aspect by which we recognize justice in anything else.