Preview

Thrasymachus: The Unjust Man

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
397 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Thrasymachus: The Unjust Man
Tharasymachus' has been listening to the discussion and has been eagerly waiting to interupt, he is convinced that he alone has the answer of what justice is. He states that justice "is in the interest of the stronger party" and its a virtue only intended for the weaker members of a society. According to Thrasymachus, the just man leads a good life because he is fearful of the repercussions of his actions and the unjust man is not fearful of these repercussions because he is stronger and more intelligent than the average citizen. These traits will allow him to avoid social comeback for his unjust actions. Furthermore, the more unjust a man is the stronger he becomes. Thrasymachus finally states that since the unjust man is living outside the law, he will lead a happier and more fruitful life because he is free from the social constraints of society. …show more content…
First, the just man is always more intelligent than the unjust man. Socrates' argues that the one who is the more intelligent human being between the just and unjust man. The second is concern with the idea that the unjust man gains strength from acting unjustly. According to Socrates, this idea is really the unjust man's down
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Aristophanes Making Fun of Socrates in His Plays: An Analysis
    • 1033 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Aristophanes Making Fun of Socrates in His Plays: An Analysis

    One conversation between the parties was that of how a truly just state would look like and Socrates answers by declaring that a state might find justice when the overall happiness of the state has priority of desire to ones selfish ambitions. Socrates also says in reason people want to do what their desire bids them achieve and be trained in such a way that they would not care about anything but what their position in that society would have them do (The Republic, 376c-377e). This leads on to Socrates being asked to describe in detail how the laws of such a state would be where justice is to be found. Socrates says that for him to explain such a place to them would cause such humor to the group because his ideas are quite contrary to the ideas of people in the society in which they live(The Republic 450d-452e). He explains that three ideas that would push could be implemented that could make up a society that may contain justice. One is the common education of men and women another is women and children held in common the third is the idea that philosophers should rule as kings.…

    • 1033 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    How Did Crito Decide To Ask Socrates
    • 1091 Words
    • 5 Pages

    How Did Crito Decide To Ask Socrates

    And so as Socrates questions people he makes them aware of their own ignorance and so by providing them with wisdom he is making them more “virtuous”. The reason why Socrates refused the options raised in court is because by exile he wouldn’t be able to teach people and hence wouldn’t be able to make them wiser and so failing his “duty from gods”. In the same sense; Crito suggests, that if Socrates accepts the fact that he will be executed he will be depriving his sons from his wisdom leaving them to their own ignorance, uneducated. Another concept that Socrates aims to teach is that “no one ever does wrong doing consciously”; however, Crito suggests that as Socrates awaits his death he would only be helping his enemies do wrong doing and so “consciously” doing a wrong doing. Based on the previous analysis of Crito’s arguments we come to realize that Socrates might be doing harm by not escaping prison.…

    • 1091 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    The Republic Study Guide
    • 2098 Words
    • 8 Pages

    The Republic Study Guide

    Thrasymachus: Justice is defined as might makes right. The advantage of the strong. He is saying that it does not pay to be just. Just behavior works to the advantage of other people, not to the person who behaves justly. Thrasymachus assumes here that justice is the unnatural restraint on our natural desire to have more. Justice is a convention imposed on us, and it does not benefit us to adhere to it. The rational thing to do is ignore justice entirely.…

    • 2098 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Plato Justice And Injustice Analysis
    • 962 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Plato Justice And Injustice Analysis

    The tyrant, who is also the most unjust man, is the least happy, but the aristocrat, the most just man, is the most happy, which shows that it pays to be just. In turn, Socrates comes up with his own definition of justice where, just like the ideal society, the just man has to balance the rational part of his soul, the spirited part of his soul, and the appetitive part of his soul. The problem, though, is that with this definition, the hoi polloi of America is…

    • 962 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Refute Thrasymachus Argument About Justice In The Republic
    • 569 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Refute Thrasymachus Argument About Justice In The Republic

    “In any branch of knowledge or ignorance, do you think that a knowledgeable person would intentionally try to outdo other knowledgeable people…”. (350a) Socrates asks Thrasymachus this question in hopes to weaken Thrasymachus’s argument by concluding that the unjust man is really just bad and ignorant.…

    • 569 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Justice In Plato's The Republic
    • 627 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Justice In Plato's The Republic

    Socrates meets with some of his friends and begins discussing the meaning of justice and whether the just life is better than the unjust life. First, they contemplate the meaning of justice. Cephalus stated that justice is as simple as telling the truth and returning what you receive, Polemarchus stated that justice is giving each his due, and Thrasymachus stated that justice is the advantage of the stronger. Socrates proves each of them wrong and embarks on a discussion to find out what true justice is, and to find out whether the just man is truly happier than the unjust man, or vice versa.…

    • 627 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Persuasion By Peopl Socrates-Just Or Unjust?
    • 879 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Persuasion By Peopl Socrates-Just Or Unjust?

    When Socrates is asked to defend justice on its own, but not for the reputation that it brings, he suggests that justice should be found in the city before starting to use the analogy of finding it in an individual. He then uses an example of a just city that aims at satisfying the basic human wants. Some citizens enter into political welfare as no one is independent. Nevertheless,…

    • 879 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Cephalus 'Acquired Weapon In Socrates'
    • 832 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Cephalus 'Acquired Weapon In Socrates'

    In the first place, the simply man is constantly more keen than the unreasonable man. Socrates' contention on who is the more smart individual between the fair and vile man, my sentiment, is a pointless contention. Socrates' contention neglects to persuade me that an insightful individual will dependably make the best decision. The second front is worry with the thought that the unreasonable man picks up quality from acting shamefully. As indicated by Socrates, this thought is truly the low man's ruin.…

    • 832 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The Hero's Opinion Of Thrasybulus
    • 229 Words
    • 1 Page

    The Hero's Opinion Of Thrasybulus

    Thrasybulus meant to convey by cutting down the tallest ears of wheat that it would interpret that by cutting the wheat, it would represent eliminating the people who cause the most threat when challenging him. Thrasybulus continued to ask repeatedly the same question. As the man, would not answer, he continued to cut the crop until eventually there was nothing left. He cut the most rich and precise crop on the farm. When the oligarchy formed in the Greek States, kings and rulers lost all power and disappeared within the city states. Thrasybulus was portraying what it was like to have everything stripped from the kings. All power to them was erased and moved to one single person. In this pantheon of greatness, Thrasybulus son of Lycus, holds…

    • 229 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Why Is Socrates Unjust
    • 330 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Why Is Socrates Unjust

    1. What is the difference between a. and a. Both Socrates and Glaucon ultimately agree that it is better to be actually just and seemingly unjust than it is to be actually unjust but seemingly just. Their reasons for holding this position are because people just have control over themselves. They are able to maintain dominion over their desires, to avoid self indulgence in evil desires, and to choose good things. This is something the unjust person loses no matter how just he may seem.…

    • 330 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    On Socrates' Debate with Polus
    • 257 Words
    • 2 Pages

    On Socrates' Debate with Polus

    Personally, I find that Socrates’ conclusion that committing injustice is worse to be the right one. Seeing as how Socrates was oftentimes more concerned with the wellbeing of the soul over the body, it makes sense that he would decide that acting in an unjust way would do more damage to an individual than having someone act that way towards…

    • 257 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    What Was Socrates Failure
    • 1008 Words
    • 5 Pages

    What Was Socrates Failure

    In producing a counter argument to Thrasymachus' claim that justice is the advantage of the stronger, Socrates bases his argument enourmously on sentimentality and prejudice. He assumes that the virtues which are supposedly functioning in the realm of ideas can also work propably in the World. For example, in Socrates' view, a doctor does not seek his own advantage, but the advantage of his patients. Yet, this view reflects the perfect ideal of a doctor in Socrates' belief of ideas in a dream world. With a modern perspective, one can fairly see that Socrates' refutation has some complexities which clash severely with the real experiences of the Ancient Greek. Socrates' image of the doctor ignores the inherent human desire…

    • 1008 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Why Is Socrates Considered Unjust
    • 835 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Why Is Socrates Considered Unjust

    Socrates was a man of distinction and a man with strong ideas on how to make a more perfect society. Although a lot of his ideas conflict with his ability to be just or unjust it does not in his mind. Being just or unjust is a major topic in the book and there are many different ways of being both. Socrates used the terms, not necessarily the way we would normally use the term today, but parts of his depiction made sense. He said a lot of different things could be considered unjust. For example not doing what you were Destined to do or what you are best at is considered unjust in his mind.…

    • 835 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Socrates Unjust
    • 551 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Socrates Unjust

    This establishes that whether or not Socrates originally believes his punishment is right, by staying in Athens his entire life, he made a commitment to follow the law-being just-therefore, if he is accused of breaking the law and is convicted by the courts of Athens, which represent the law, then he must complete his sentence, or else he is only becoming more unjust. Socrates later decides that although he could escape, it is better to try and do the right thing, despite having done unjust things in the past, and ultimately decides to carry out his punishment. This passage also further examines the gray area within the idea of just and unjust by saying that following the laws is just; however, the people of the court who determine which acts are within the bounds the laws and which acts are not, are also biased according to their own personal perceptions, meaning no human truly knows the intransigent definitions of what is just and what is unjust.…

    • 551 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Crito, "Two Wrongs Don't Make a Right"
    • 750 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Crito, "Two Wrongs Don't Make a Right"

    According to the Crito dialogue, Socrates argues that "two wrongs don't make a right." In this argument, Socrates claims that no matter how unjust someone was treated, it never gives them justification to injury someone. I will argue that there is a potential objection to the claim of Socrates' argument. I will show that it is possible to oppose the idea that with or without prior injustice from someone it is unjust to do injury to them; by showing that without prior injustice it is justifiable to injure someone. Finally, I will illustrate why Socrates would be unable to produce an adequate reply to this objection due to the fact that the only thing that is important in life is justice.…

    • 750 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More

Related Topics