Plato, Republic Book II

Question 1

Claucon’s definition of justice

Answer 1

Claucon: Most people think justice is the lesser evil.
- “Justice is a compromise between the best of all, which is, to do injustice and not be punished…”
–> Justice is viewed as a compromise between the best of all which is to do injustice and not be punished and worst of all, which is to suffer injustice without the power of retaliation
- “Wherever anyone thinks that he can safely be unjust, there he is unjust.”
–> If you can get away with it, you’ll stay unjust.

Question 2

Claucon definition of the Ring of Gyges

Answer 2

• Justice is always self-interested. Just is 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. Gyges used this power of invisibility to commit unjust acts; he seduced the queen and then worked with her to create a plan to kill the king, and take over the kingdom. Because the ring made him invisible, Gyges was protected from the consequences of his actions.
  –> Glaucon then went on to propose a thought experiment; he said if two of these rings existed and we gave one ring to a just man and the other ring to an unjust man, then they would both proceed to do unjust things. If the just man also did become unjust when given the ring, then it would prove Glaucon’s point that people are not just out of choice; justice does not serve us personally and we would always do the wrong thing if we had the chance. Glaucon was challenging the intrinsic value of justice.
  –> The story of The Ring of Gyges tells us that if we had this sort of power no one would be able to be trusted and therefore, it shows us that justice is always self-interested and thus really not justice but a form of injustice.

Question 3

simple city

Answer 3

Good / simple city: Coined by Plato as the “true city.”
–> A good city is one that is natural to human beings, for they are not self-sufficient, but in need of one another.
–> Communal life is a natural feature of the human condition, but there is also the concomitant recognition that there should be an equitable division of labor.
–> This city is grounded in nature, the needs and wants of its citizens are limited by what genuinely fulfills well-ordered desires.

Question 4

“feverish” city/ luxury

Answer 4

–> The ultimate principle is “the unlimited acquisition of money.”
–> Currency is a means of exchange, and good only to the degree that is supportive of, and rooted in, the highest Good of human life.
–> Desire becomes unbounded, and with the release of desire comes its eventual demise.

Question 5

dangers

Answer 5

• The feverish city is grossly disordered, it is a city of appearances.
• Mimics oligarchy and military empire - there will be more war than peace
• There will be slavery, and those with money will be stingy, avoid laws, and love money openly and take wealth as a goodness
• The city is divided between the rich and the poor
• Helps understand the distinction between the necessary and unnecessary desires
  ———-> The oligarchic city v. the democratic cit-