Argument Of The Republic By Socrates

1122 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Plato on immortality of the soul

Throughout the book “The Republic”, Socrates discusses a number of topics, including immortality of the soul, reincarnation, and nature of the god’s. All in all, the topics that are argued are connected in many ways. More importantly than those topics, Socrates main argument is about a just society and a virtuous way of living. Many people who read “The Republic” consider the many points that Socrates has to offer and yet others do not. Some might agree with the ways a just society should be run but if people would think in the terms of twenty-first century, they would have some problems in agreeing with Socrates’s view of a just society. Every topic Socrates presents has a point and his main argument is about a just society and a virtuous way of living, whether it be from the soul, reincarnation, and other natures of god.
In book II, the gods are discussed in relation to justice, in the subject of presenting as difficult an argument as possible, as which Socrates is to bring to accept his considerable rational ability. The main goal is more of a perfect understanding of the nature of justice. It is put forth that the commonsense view is that, the gods reward the just and discipline the unjust. However, at the same time, the poets contradict this saying the gods lead many good men to devastation, and many evil men to success. It is also said that the gods can be satisfied through ransom and spells. Some wonder what the point of behaving correct would guarantee a positive outcome and if the gods could be paid off. He responds with, the gods have lies told about them through the poets. The Greek immortals, according to the poets, were well known to be provoked with a host of mortal like foibles, and others were always engaged in di...

... middle of paper ...

...r how life treats one or how successful, famous, and powerful one becomes, one way or another, ones experiences temporarily heavenly rewards or hellish punishments however many times, those qualities most likely will work to your advantage. That person will have a full succeeding humanity and live a life of benefit.
Every argument Socrates presents has a point and his main argument is about a just society and a virtuous way of living, whether it be from the soul, reincarnation, and other natures of god. Some philosophers agree with Socrates and his views on a just society, while others question his morals and his arguments. Socrates tries to present us with examples of a just society and a virtuous way of living. The examples he uses, the immortality of the soul, reincarnation, and nature of god’s are his views of what would make a just society and a just person.

Show More
Related

  • Be Warned and Study Justice:The Shifting Definition of Justice in Virgil’s Aeneid

    4362 Words  | 9 Pages

    A twenty-first century reading of the Iliad and the Odyssey will highlight a seeming lack of justice: hundreds of men die because of an adulteress, the most honorable characters are killed, the cowards survive, and everyone eventually goes to hell. Due to the difference in the time period, culture, prominent religions and values, the modern idea of justice is much different than that of Greece around 750 B.C. The idea of justice in Virgil’s the Aeneid is easier for us to recognize. As in our own culture, “justice” in the epic is based on a system of punishment for wrongs and rewards for honorable acts. Time and time again, Virgil provides his readers with examples of justice in the lives of his characters. Interestingly, the meaning of justice in the Aeneid transforms when applied to Fate and the actions of the gods. Unlike our modern (American) idea of blind, immutable Justice, the meanings and effects of justice shift, depending on whether its subject is mortal or immortal.

    Read More

  • Comparison Between Crito And Apology by Plato

    1631 Words  | 4 Pages

    For these two articles that we read in Crito and Apology by Plato, we could know Socrates is an enduring person with imagination, because he presents us with a mass of contradictions: Most eloquent men, yet he never wrote a word; ugliest yet most profoundly attractive; ignorant yet wise; wrongfully convicted, yet unwilling to avoid his unjust execution. Behind these conundrums is a contradiction less often explored: Socrates is at once the most Athenian, most local, citizenly, and patriotic of philosophers; and yet the most self-regarding of Athenians. Exploring that contradiction, between Socrates the loyal Athenian citizen and Socrates the philosophical critic of Athenian society, will help to position Plato's Socrates in an Athenian legal and historical context; it allows us to reunite Socrates the literary character and Athens the democratic city that tried and executed him. Moreover, those help us to understand Plato¡¦s presentation of the strange legal and ethical drama.

    Read More

  • The Apology: A Philosophical Way Of Life

    1001 Words  | 3 Pages

    Many people have gone through their lives conforming their beliefs and practices for the sake of fitting in or for the happiness of others, but Socrates was not one of these people. In “The Apology” Plato shows Socrates unwillingness to conform through a speech given by Socrates while on trial for supposedly corrupting the youth of Athens and believing in false gods. Although the title of the dialogue was labeled “The Apology,” Socrates’ speech was anything but that, it was a defense of himself and his content along his philosophical journey. At no time during the trial was Socrates willing to change his ways in order to avoid punishment, two reasons being his loyalty to his God and his philosophical way of life.

    Read More

  • Socrates Argument in the Crito

    1099 Words  | 3 Pages

    Socrates reaches a conclusion that defies a common-sense understanding of justice. Nothing about his death sentence “seems” just, but after further consideration, we find that his escape would be as fruitless as his death, and that in some sense, Socrates owes his obedience to whatever orders Athens gives him since he has benefited from his citizenship.

    Read More

  • Aristotle And Plato's Apology: Plato And Aristotle

    1797 Words  | 4 Pages

    Socrates attempts to make other people reason well and therefore be virtuous by performing their human function; I believe that this action inwardly reflects Socrates’s own virtue. For example, if a professor can effectively teach mathematics to his students, then he most likely holds knowledge of the subject within himself. In a similar way, Socrates instills virtue in other people, which shows that he himself is a virtuous being. Although some people criticize him, evidence of his positive impact is reinforced by the approval and support of his friends in the Apology. While promoting virtue when alive, Socrates wishes to continue to encourage virtue even after death. For example, at the onset of his death, Socrates asks the jurors to ensure that his sons are given grief if they care for anything else more than virtue (Plato and Grube 44). While Socrates could have been thinking about himself or other things at that moment, he is thinking of how to guide people towards living virtuously. Both his actions while living and his intentions after death reveal that Socrates wished to aid people in living virtuous lives, which highlight his own state of

    Read More

  • Defense of Socrates

    1586 Words  | 4 Pages

    There are times in every mans life where our actions and beliefs collide—these collisions are known as contradictions. There are endless instances in which we are so determined to make a point that we resort to using absurd overstatements, demeaning language, and false accusations in our arguments. This tendency to contradict ourselves often questions our character and morals. Similarly, in The Trial of Socrates (Plato’s Apology), Meletus’ fallacies in reason and his eventual mistake of contradicting himself will clear the accusations placed on Socrates. In this paper, I will argue that Socrates is not guilty of corrupting the youth with the idea of not believing in the Gods but of teaching the youth to think for themselves by looking to new divinities.

    Read More

  • Who Is Socrates A Gift To Athens

    1128 Words  | 3 Pages

    (37) The problem is that many of the citizens of Athens who wanted Socrates dead, lacked that emotional intelligence and thought highly of themselves. So of course they become defensive when Socrates sheds light on the idea that they may be wrong. As someone who cared most about the improvement of the soul, Socrates would have made a constructive role model to the criminals of Athens, as he would go on saying, “virtue is not given by money, but that from virtue comes money and every other good of man…”(35) Socrates was able to benefit everyone alike as he had human wisdom- something that all the Athenians could relate

    Read More

  • David Franklin Vs. Parke-Davis Court Case

    969 Words  | 2 Pages

    Firstly, this case marked the inaugural lawsuit brought against a pharmaceutical company for using off-label marketing tactics utilizing the False Claims Act as the legal framework. The use of the FCA would pave the way for a multitude of future lawsuits involving off-labeling techniques used by large pharmaceutical companies along with citing kickbacks paid to physicians (quid pro quo) for prescribing the medication to patients, with special incentives given to physicians writing the most prescriptions. The second reason it was important is because up to that date, it was the largest settlement awarded as well as one of the highest awarded to a private individual for his role in exposing the fraud perpetrated by his employer. The whistle-blower categorization would now be able to provide private citizens with major portions of large settlements, thus providing monetary incentive for employees to come forward with information that could expose fraudulent business practices perpetrated by large corporations. This ruling also made a clear precedent that the FDCA of 1938 could be used in conjunction with the Medicaid and Medicare fraud abuse laws to levy civil and criminal offenses against pharmaceuticals companies for engaging in unethical marketing practices using indications for a medication not approved by the FDA. One of the biggest atrocities perpetrated in this case, which cannot be

    Read More

  • Justice In Plato's The Republic

    1072 Words  | 3 Pages

    During the time period of The Republic, the problems and challenges that each community was faced with were all dealt with in a different way. In the world today, a lot of people care about themselves. For many people, the word justice can mean many different things, but because some only look out for themselves, many of these people do not think about everyone else’s role in the world of society. The struggle for justice is still demonstrated in contemporary culture today. One particular concept from Plato’s The Republic, which relates to contemporary culture is this concept of justice. In the beginning of The Republic, Socrates listeners, Cephalus, Polemarchus, and Thrasymachus, ask Socrates whether justice is stronger than injustice, and

    Read More

  • The Argument Of Socrates In Plato's The Republic

    1137 Words  | 3 Pages

    Socrates states that living is a function of the soul; meaning that only a soul can live or a soul lives better than anything else (1) (Page 42). Anything with a function performs it well by means of its own peculiar virtue and badly by means of its vice or lack of virtue (2) (Page 41).This means that something that has a specific function would do it well because of a certain feature or attribute that it obtains. For example, a chainsaw performs its function of cutting by the virtue of its set of sharp blades and badly by its lack of its set of sharp blades or vice of dull blades. Therefore a soul would live by its virtue. So then it must be asked what is the soul’s virtue? The soul has multiple functions not just living. Since only a soul can take care of things,rule, deliberate, and the like, then another function of a soul is to take care of things,rule, deliberate, and the like (3) (Page 41). Only something with a soul could nurture things such as animals and children, rule over a country state or city, and deliberate what is right and what is wrong and come to a decision based off of the deliberation. The soul performs its function of taking care of things, ruling, deliberating and the like well by means of justice (4) (Page 42).Socrates defines justice as having a control and balance that creates harmony within a soul (Pages 53-54). To perform a

    Read More

  • Thrasymachus and Socrates

    771 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Plato’s The Republic, we, the readers, are presented with two characters that have opposing views on a simple, yet elusive question: what is justice? In this paper, I will explain Thrasymachus’ definition of justice, as well as Socrates’s rebuttals and differences in opinion. In addition, I will comment on the different arguments made by both Socrates and Thrasymachus, and offer critical commentary and examples to illustrate my agreement or disagreement with the particular argument at hand.

    Read More

  • The Republic - Book 1 - Theme Of Justice

    2360 Words  | 5 Pages

    Traditionally justice was regarded as one of the cardinal virtues; to avoid injustices and to deal equitable with both equals and inferiors was seen as what was expected of the good man, but it was not clear how the benefits of justice were to be reaped. Socrates wants to persuade from his audience to adopt a way of estimating the benefits of this virtue. From his perspective, it is the quality of the mind, the psyche organization which enables a person to act virtuously. It is this opposition between the two types of assessment of virtue that is the major theme explored in Socrates’ examination of the various positions towards justice. Thus the role of Book I is to turn the minds from the customary evaluation of justice towards this new vision. Through the discourse between Cephalus, Polemarchus and Thrasymachus, Socaretes’ thoughts and actions towards justice are exemplified. Though their views are different and even opposed, the way all three discourse about justice and power reveal that they assume the relation between the two to be separate. They find it impossible to understand the idea that being just is an exercise of power and that true human power must include the ability to act justly. And that is exactly what Socrates seeks to refute.

    Read More

  • Analysis of Plato's The Republic

    2022 Words  | 5 Pages

    The Republic is an examination of the "Good Life"; the harmony reached by applying pure reason and justice. The ideas and arguments of Plato center on the social settings of an ideal republic - those that lead each person to the most perfect possible life for him. Socrates was  Plato's early mentor in real life.  As a tribute to his teacher, Plato uses Socrates in several of his works and dialogues.  Socrates moderates the discussion throughout, as Plato's mouthpiece. Through Socrates' powerful and brilliant questions and explanations on a series of topics, the reader comes to understand what Plato's model society would look like. The basic plan of the Republic is to draw an analogy between the operation of society as a whole and the life of any individual human being.  In this paper I will present Plato’s argument that the soul is divides into three parts.  I will examine what these parts are, and I will also explain his arguments behind this conclusion.  Finally, I will describe how Plato relates the three parts of the soul to a city the different social classes within that city.

    Read More

  • Oedipus The King: Role Of Gods

    1054 Words  | 3 Pages

    “Gods can be evil sometimes.” In the play “Oedipus the King”, Sophocles defamed the gods’ reputation, and lowered their status by making them look harmful and evil. It is known that all gods should be perfect and infallible, and should represent justice and equity, but with Oedipus, the gods decided to destroy him and his family for no reason. It might be hard to believe that gods can have humanistic traits, but in fact they do. The gods, especially Apollo, are considered evil by the reader because they destroyed an innocent man’s life and his family. They destroyed Oedipus by controlling his fate, granting people the power of prophecy, telling Oedipus about his fate through the oracle of Apollo, and finally afflicting the people of Thebes with a dreadful plague. Fundamentally, by utilizing fate, prophecies, the oracle of Apollo, and the plague, the gods played a significant role in the destruction of Oedipus and his family.

    Read More

  • The Unexamined Life Is Not Worth Living

    1037 Words  | 3 Pages

    When Socrates was brought to trial for the corruption of the city’s youth he knew he had done nothing wrong. He had lived his life as it should be lead, and did what he ne...

    Read More

More about Argument Of The Republic By Socrates

Open Document