The Ring Of Gyges And The Allegory Of The Cave Essay

Justice and knowledge are not easily explained; however, Plato, uses thought experiments to capture vivid images of what the two words actually mean. The Ring of Gyges and the Allegory of the Cave both enlighten the hazy ideas of the true meaning behind knowledge and justice. These readings stretch made me stretch my brain and think about things that have never crossed my mind before. Plato is a wonderful philosopher that explains things vividly so that his readers can fully understand the meaning and his view. In the Ring of Gyges, Plato helps readers understand the true nature of justice. Glaucon and Socrates have conflicting views on justice and injustice and the reader decides which philosopher they agree with. At the beginning of Book 2, Plato states that Glaucon “was dissatisfied at

According to the legend, “Gyges was a shepherd in the service of the king of Lydia” (Vaughn 28). All of the sudden, “there was a great storm” and a crack in the Earth appeared and as the intrigued Gyges descended into the ground, he noticed that there was a “hollow brazen horse… [and he] saw a dead body of stature, as appeared to him, more than human, and having nothing on but a gold ring” (Vaughn 28). After testing out the ring in several scenarios, Gyges determines that the ring grants the user to become invisible. With this ring, “he seduced the queen, and with her help conspired against the king and slew him” (Vaughn 28). Glaucon then goes on to explain that if there were to be two magic rings, then no right man would “keep his hands off what was not his own” (Vaughn 28). No matter how hard the man with the ring tries to be just, it is quite impossible to have the whole world at your fingertips and do nothing about it. With this ring, any man could do unjust things and never get caught, to Glaucon this is the best life. According to Glaucon, everyone would behave like Gyges, even the most just