The Republic Does Justice Pay Essay - 548 Words

The Republic Does Justice Pay In the Introduction of Platos Republic, a very important theme is depicted. It is the argument of whether it is beneficial for a person to lead a good and just existence. The greatly argued position that justice does not pay, is argued by three men Thrasymachus, Glaucon, and Adeimantus. By incorporating all three men into a collective effort I believe I can give a more flattering depiction of injustice. First, we must explore the basis of the moral skepticism argument in The Republic, given by Thrasymachus. Thrasymachus view follows the disbelief in morality that was common during the time. The principle part of his argument is, the interests of the stronger (or ruling) party in a society are†¦show more content†¦Socrates makes a few very strong refutes, which will be discussed later, and seems to dishearten the argumentative spirit of Thrasymachus. The argument begins to fall apart when he is forced to restate his main point. The restatement is that ordinary morality is simply the behavior imposed by exploiter on exploited, and thus is someone elses interest (342 e). In this version of his original point, he also touches on a very important fact that, in everyday life, the pursuit of self-interest is natural and just. Thrasymachus depicts this point by undeniable fact that in a professional sense no one wants to work for free, and that they expect some benefits in th eir own interest for their efforts. After showing dissatisfaction with Socrates refutation, Thrasymachus gives way to Glaucon who begins to argue for the benefits of injustice in everyday life. Glaucons argument begins with a question of whether the just or unjust man is happier, and continues on a tangent from there. He states that morality is based on convenience, and that it is natural to pursue ones own interests. He says that justice can pretty much be summed up as splitting the difference of two evils. 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