The Republic: the Plausibility of Thrasymachus' Argument on Justice
The Plausibility of Thrasymachus' Argument on Justice
It is my objective in this paper, to illustrate the claims made by Thrasymachus, in The Republic, as argument to Socrates' views on what justice is. I will then evaluate the claims, "justice is nothing other than the advantage of the stronger" (338c), and that "a just man always gets less than an unjust one" (343d), in an effort to see how Thrasymachus uses these statements to provoke an argument. Despite the contradictory nature of these statements, I will attempt to show, through the analyzing of Thrasymachus' speech, that they are actually related. Thrasymachus uses these statements to create an overall picture of his idea of justice to the people in an effort to get Socrates to retract his statements on what justice is. After analyzing these arguments, I will deduce that Thrasymachus' argument is not plausible.
In the time of Socrates, those who were of the ruling class where considered the stronger. It was these people, who lived in the upper echelon of the societal pyramid that had the majority of the power. These upper-class citizens are the ones who make the rules. A ruler has the ability to create laws that are in accordance with his own needs, thus making it to his own advantage. These laws, or a physical form of justice, would then be advantageous to the ruler who created them. This would then make the act of justice an advantage of the stronger.
The people in rule are not always the just people. During the time of The Republic, incentives as well as honor were two attributes that hose who ruled would receive. To an unjust person, these things were desires in their own power-hungry world. To a just man, these things would be arbitrary. To a just man it isn't about outdoing other people, while to an unjust man outdoing everyone is a goal in order to achieve all the glory that would accompany him when he reached the peak.
Thrasymachus is only referring to justice as a set of rules governing a
It is my objective in this paper, to illustrate the claims made by Thrasymachus, in The Republic, as argument to Socrates' views on what justice is. I will then evaluate the claims, "justice is nothing other than the advantage of the stronger" (338c), and that "a just man always gets less than an unjust one" (343d), in an effort to see how Thrasymachus uses these statements to provoke an argument. Despite the contradictory nature of these statements, I will attempt to show, through the analyzing of Thrasymachus' speech, that they are actually related. Thrasymachus uses these statements to create an overall picture of his idea of justice to the people in an effort to get Socrates to retract his statements on what justice is. After analyzing these arguments, I will deduce that Thrasymachus' argument is not plausible.
In the time of Socrates, those who were of the ruling class where considered the stronger. It was these people, who lived in the upper echelon of the societal pyramid that had the majority of the power. These upper-class citizens are the ones who make the rules. A ruler has the ability to create laws that are in accordance with his own needs, thus making it to his own advantage. These laws, or a physical form of justice, would then be advantageous to the ruler who created them. This would then make the act of justice an advantage of the stronger.
The people in rule are not always the just people. During the time of The Republic, incentives as well as honor were two attributes that hose who ruled would receive. To an unjust person, these things were desires in their own power-hungry world. To a just man, these things would be arbitrary. To a just man it isn't about outdoing other people, while to an unjust man outdoing everyone is a goal in order to achieve all the glory that would accompany him when he reached the peak.
Thrasymachus is only referring to justice as a set of rules governing a