Essay Against Glaucons Speech in Platos Republic
Essay Against Glaucon’s Speech in Plato’s RepublicIn The Republic of Plato, Glaucon makes a speech about how justice is desirable only for its consequences, not for it’s own sake. His speech contradicts what Socrates says about how justice is desirable both for it’s own sake and for it’s consequences. Glaucon argues three points to prove that justice is not desirable for it’s own sake. He tries to define what justice is and it’s origins by telling the story of the state of nature and the social contract. The second point is that everyone who practices justice believes that it is only desirable for the consequences; he explains this point by telling the story of the ring of Gyges. The third point is that everyone’s belief about justice is correct, because the life of an unjust person is better than the life of a just person. He uses an example of a perfectly unjust person and a perfectly just person to help explain the third point. Glaucon does not fully define what justice is and does not succeed in trying to prove that justice is only desirable for the consequences not for it’s own sake.
Glaucon uses his speech to persuade Socrates to believe that justice is only desirable for it’s consequences and not for it’s own sake. In his first point, Glaucon tries to define what justice is and the origins of it. He tries to define justice as not doing an injustice (358 e). He then defines the origin of justice as the compact that people have made, to not perform an unjust act or to receive one (359 a). The second point is that everyone who practices justice, believes justice is only good for the consequence and not for it’s own sake. Glaucon is stating that anyone who participates in justice believes that it only is good for selfish means (359 b -359 c). He states this point by telling the story of a farmer, who finds an invisibility ring that gives him power to be unjust, and not get caught (359 d -360 d). Glaucon’s third point is that the belief in point two is correct, because the life of an unjust person is better than the life of a just person. Glaucon explains the third part by stating that someone who enjoyed life and was unjust, was able to do the fun unjust things, and that that someone who was totally just ends up a martyr and living a horrible life (360 d - 362 c).
In Glaucon’s first point he tries to state what justice is and the origins of it, to say that justice is only desirable for the consequences and not for it’s own sake. Glaucon starts out by defining justice. Glaucon states that it is natural for humans to do unjust acts. He states that it is great to do unjust acts but not so great to receive them. This is similar to...
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