Plato’s Republic Book 1
Polemarchus attempted to defend Cephalus’s position that justice (doing right) is a matter of telling the truth and paying one’s debts. He did so by arguing that it is right to give every man his due. Socrates got Polemarchus to agree to two points: (a) that we ought to give both our friends and our enemies their due; and (b) that justice, like medicine, is a type of skill.
How are these admissions fatal to the position that Polemarchus is trying to maintain?
How are these admissions fatal to the position that Polemarchus is trying to maintain?
Comments (6)
Okay, Socrates gets him to say justice when well applied should punish or cruel to only the guilty, those who deserve it. This is common Greek thought, be good to your friends and be evil to your enemies. Then Socrates goes into we cannot know the true character of a person so we ought to be just to everyone all time.
Are you studying the Republic for a class?
I’m pretty much a Platonist and I’ve posted on several things about him here.
I’ve been thinking back to philosophy 101 where I first heard about Plato, his Forms and his cave. It’s required knowledge for any of western philosophy really.
But it’s not till studying him again, for fun, I really appreciated him. Platonism is more than just a theory for how we know a chair is a chair. It’s a whole principled way of life that is very fulfilling. Same of stoicism and epicurean. It’s modern philosophy that’s become overly technical. I wish I had that explained in my 101 class. Perhaps you have better teachers though.
Contrary to what many say, what Plato said, is very applicable in the modern day.