Summary Of The Forms By Plato
One of the core concepts that Plato attempts to communicate in his books is the topic of “The Forms”, which are an ideal set of characteristics that exist in the soul. Socrates believes that Justice is a form and that a just individual is ultimately happier than an unjust one. In book one of Plato's Republic, a Sophist philosopher called Thrasymachus challenges Socrates’s beliefs on justice by claiming that happiness is the practice of pleonexia, which is the act of the stronger being “getting more” or benefitting more than the weaker. He claims that justice, in the form that Socrates sees it, is a type of folly that is practiced by the weak who are incapable of attaining more for themselves. He claims that it is not possible for a just person
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First, things that are valued as good for their own sake, second, things that are good both for their own sake and for their outcome, and finally, things that are not good in and of themselves but have good outcomes. He claims that justice is commonly praised not for itself but for its outcomes, making it a type 3 good, rather than a type 2 good like Socrates believes, because most see it as a necessary evil needed in order to achieve a greater outcome such as exercising or taking medication. He argues that humans are opportunistic and obey the laws not because of some inner justice but rather because of a fear of prosecution and judgment. He solidifies this argument by giving an example of a man called Gyges who discovers a ring that grants him the power of invisibility. Therefore, in this analogy, making him unpunishable for his actions and allowing him to do everything that he would want without fear of repercussion. Gyges, while wearing this ring, throws all caution into the wind and achieves all his desires using many unjust tactics. This analogy works for every case of this argument, human beings when given the opportunity would rather be unjust and not punished rather than be just. This goes against one of Socrates’s core beliefs that the just individual will always be happier than the unjust
First, things that are valued as good for their own sake, second, things that are good both for their own sake and for their outcome, and finally, things that are not good in and of themselves but have good outcomes. He claims that justice is commonly praised not for itself but for its outcomes, making it a type 3 good, rather than a type 2 good like Socrates believes, because most see it as a necessary evil needed in order to achieve a greater outcome such as exercising or taking medication. He argues that humans are opportunistic and obey the laws not because of some inner justice but rather because of a fear of prosecution and judgment. He solidifies this argument by giving an example of a man called Gyges who discovers a ring that grants him the power of invisibility. Therefore, in this analogy, making him unpunishable for his actions and allowing him to do everything that he would want without fear of repercussion. Gyges, while wearing this ring, throws all caution into the wind and achieves all his desires using many unjust tactics. This analogy works for every case of this argument, human beings when given the opportunity would rather be unjust and not punished rather than be just. This goes against one of Socrates’s core beliefs that the just individual will always be happier than the unjust