Republic

Philosophy 1

Spring, 2002

G. J. Mattey

What is Justice?

• Cephalus says that the greatest good he gets from wealth is the ability to avoid injustice

• What, then is justice itself?• Socrates says it is not merely speaking the

truth and paying back debts– We should not repay someone or tell the whole

truth to someone out of his mind

• Polymarchus claims that it is

Appropriate Returns

• Polymarchus admits that there is no obligation to repay someone out of his mind

• Justice is for friends to do good for, and no harm to, friends

• Then repayment to a disturbed friend would not be appropriate if it would do harm

• Justice is also for enemies to do harm to one another

• Generally, it is to give to each what is appropriate

The Scope of Justice

• The just person is most capable of benefiting friends and harming enemies in matters of war

• In matters of peace, the just person is useful for getting and using contracts

• But how is a just person more useful than a partner, such as a fellow musician?

Stealing

• The just person is the superior partner in matters involving money

• But the business partner is more useful in most money matters

• So, the just person is most useful when safeguarding money that is not being used

• But a person clever in guarding money is also clever in stealing it

• “A just person has turned out then, it seems, to be a kind of thief”

Good and Bad Friends

• If a friend is someone only believed to be good, then a friend may be bad

• If a friend is bad, then it is just to harm him

• So, justice is not being good to one’s friends

• Revision: A friend is someone believed good who actually is good

Harm

• Things that are harmed become worse in the virtue in which they are harmed

• Justice is human virtue, so those who are harmed become more unjust

• The function of a just person is to make others more just

• So, one does not serve justice by harming• This conception of justice probably was invented

by powerful people trying to safeguard their interests

The Advantage of the Stronger

• Thrasymachus claims justice is what is instituted for the advantage of the stronger

• Injustice is what is to one’s personal advantage• The stronger, for the purposes of this account, are

those rulers whose power is established• The laws made by the rules are just laws

according to the form of government• Tyrants make tyrannical laws, which are the most

just, while they behave most unjustly

Error

• Those in power are subject to error• So, they may order what is to their disadvantage• If it is just for the ruled to obey the orders of the

rulers, then it can be just to do what is to the disadvantage of the rulers

• So, “what is to the advantage to the stronger is no more just than what is not to his advantage”

• Is the just what the stronger believe advantageous?

The Source of Error

• In a precise sense, one does no err when carrying out his craft

• The doctor is not acting as a doctor when he gives a mistaken prescription

• If a person in power makes an error, it is not by virtue of his being stronger

• So, as the stronger, the ruler always does what is to his advantage

Advantage

• The crafts (in the precise sense) rule over and are stronger than their objects– The doctor is stronger than the patient

• The craftsperson orders what is to the advantage of the weaker object, not himself

• So the ruler does not seek his own advantage, but only that of the ruled

Injustice

• Thrasymachus objects that injustice is not that which harms the people ruled

• Rather, injustice is more advantageous than is justice

• The greatest advantage at all comes to the most unjust—the tyrant

• People reproach injustice only because they suffer from it

Wages

• People who practice crafts do so for the benefit of the object of their work

• This is the reason they require wages• This holds for rulers as well

– Their work is for the benefit of the ruled– But money and honor are despised in rulers

• The worst punishment for a ruler is to be ruled by someone worse

• This is why people agree to rule, not to gain advantage

The Virtue of Justice

• Thrasymachus now claims that justice is “high-minded simplicity,” while injustice is “good judgment”

• Unjust people such as tyrants are clever and good• A clever and good person will only try to outdo

someone unlike him• But an unjust person will try to outdo both the just

and the unjust• So, the unjust person is not clever and good, while

the just person is

The Power of Justice

• Justice is wisdom and virtue• So, injustice is ignorance• Ignorance is less powerful than wisdom• So, justice is more powerful than injustice• Example: a band of thieves would have to be just

to one another to be effective• With both groups and individuals

– Injustice causes strife and civil war– It makes the unit an enemy to itself

The Just Life

• Just people live better and are happier than unjust people

• The function of a thing is what it alone can do, or what it can do better than other things

• A thing with a function has a virtue• The soul performs its function well through its

own particular virtue• Justice is such a virtue of the soul• So, justice is more profitable than injustice

Intrinsic Value

• There are three kinds of goods– Intrinsic, valued for their own sake– Instrumental, valued for the sake of something else– Goods that are both

• Socrates holds that justice is of the third kind, but most people think it is onerous

• Glaucon will consider the intrinsic value or disvalue of justice and injustice

• Injustice will be argued as being intrinsically better than justice

The Instrumental Value of Justice

• Justice is a compromise made by people lacking in power– It is best to do injustice with impunity– It is worst to suffer it without revenge

• So people practice justice unwillingly because they lack power

• People naturally desire to get more and more, and so are naturally unjust– The example of Gyges’s ring illustrates the point

A Thought-Experiment

• Consider the extreme cases of the just and the unjust man– The unjust man appears just– The just man appears unjust

• The unjust man will be happier– The just man will be severely punished– The unjust man will have it all

Supporting Arguments

• When teaching children, parents emphasize the importance of reputation for justice

• People honor unjust individuals who have wealth and dishonor poor but good folks

• The gods can be influenced to excuse unjust behavior, and if the gods do not exist or do not care about human affairs, there is no penalty for injustice

• People who object to injustice are powerless or infirm

The Intrinsic Value of Justice

• Does justice have any intrinsic value?

• What effect does justice have because of itself on the soul of a just person?

• To see this, we must look at something larger than the person—the city will be used as a model

The Origin of the City

• A city comes to be because individuals are not self-sufficient

• Sharing helps better each one• For a city to function well, there must be division

of labor• This works best if people work according to their

talents• A great number of different types of workers will

be needed for the city to function well

Expansion

• In the “true city,” people will behave moderately so as to fulfill its needs best

• In a “city with a fever,” there are many luxuries, and more needs to be filled

• This will lead to growth and eventually war

• A professional army of “guardians” is needed

Guardians

• The guardians must be fast, courageous and spirited

• Yet they must be gentle to their own people• But spirit and gentleness are contrary• The opposites can be combined by the guardians’

being philosophical• The guardian must be able to distinguish between

friend and foe• He must be a lover of wisdom—a philosopher

Epilogue

• In Book IV of the Republic, Plato completes the analogy between the city and the soul

• Justice in the city is each division of labor performing its proper role (e.g., as guardian)

• Justice in the soul is each of its parts performing its proper role

• The other virtues (e.g., courage) are excellences in playing the individual roles