Justice in the Republic in Book II Essay

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Justice in the Republic

In Book II of The Republic, Plato attempts to define and describe the role of justice in society by having his characters argue for two different approaches to the topic. While Socrates asserts that justice is good and desirable both in itself and because of the ends it creates, Glaucon rejects this assertion by pointing out that justice is nothing more than coercion. The debate is particularly interesting because it demonstrates what might be called the root of ethical or moral problems that arise within societies determining public policy, that is, the fundamental disagreement regarding the innate value or goodness of people. Socrates' assertion suggests that there is something inherent in people that will encourage them to value justice for its own sake, but Glaucon realizes that people are ultimately motivated by pragmatism, despite any high-minded assertions to the contrary.

The debate in Book II begins with Glaucon telling Socrates that he is not convinced of the latter's argument regarding the innate appeal of justice. Glaucon proposes three categories or classes of things depending on how they are valued. First are those things which are good in and of themselves but which have no larger end, then those things which are both good in and of themselves and are good because they produce a positive end, and finally those things which are onerous in and of themselves but which are nevertheless valuable because of the good they produce.

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Socrates argues that justice is in the second category, while Glaucon argues that it should be considered in the third category due to the way justice actually functions in human society.

Glaucon uses the example of the ring of Gyges to make his point. The ring grants the wearer invisibility, and Glaucon suggests that if a just and an unjust man were both given access to this kind of power, the results would be largely the same because the impunity offered by invisibility would encourage both men to abandon whatever allegiance to the law they might have. The ring of Gyges is a perfect example of how "all violate justice whenever they imagine that there is nothing to hinder them," because the ring's magical power can quite easily be replaced with the impunity offered by money or fame in contemporary society (Plato, 1908, p. 43). Particularly in the United States, there is a two-tiered justice system wherein the poor receive harsh sentences while the rich tend to go free, often only having to pay monetary punishments which by definition are not especially punitive. Despite the fact that many of the rich and powerful belong to religious institutions that preach justice and equality, the fact is that in practice impunity from the law means that humans will act unjustly for their own benefit. Glaucon goes even further than this, however, and it is during his conclusion to the ring of Gyges example that.....

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