Thrasymachus's Definition Of Justice

In society we have laws in order to keep order and safety for citizens. The rulers set these laws for the common people to obey. In book I of “The Republic of Plato” by Allan Bloom, the meaning of justice is debated in book I and II. Thrasymachus ' definition of justice is challenged by the different views of the characters in the book. This in fact, claims to question whether justice is always the better path to decision making, morality and educating individuals.

The book acknowledges various interpretations of justice. It is established that justice is something that all humans should strive towards. In book I “The Republic of Plato” Thrasymachus claim that those who have power acquire the ability to set benefits for themselves. He states

In his view every human being is skilled at something specific and without these skills we have nothing to provide to society. He views justice as each person being good at doing one thing. For instance, a doctor put his skills to practice when curing the sick, a farmer in growing food. Therefore, it is important to create a just society to implement a variety of learning sources. For example, learning of tales, music, speech, and exercise are important when beginning to educate children. In book II, Socrates states “We’ll persuade nurses and mothers to tell the approval tales to their children and to shape their souls with tales more than their bodies with their hands” (377c). This challenges Thrasymachus’ view of justice because Socrates and Adeimantus are deciding how they will educate children and in what way it will impact them. Also, Adeimantus reveals that youth is the time where most of the learning done is taken to adulthood “A young thing can’t judge what hidden sense is and what is not, but what he takes into his opinions at that age has a tendency to become hard to eradicate and unchangeable” (378 e). This quote is relevant at an age where one is realizing things because one can easily become influenced by good or bad, and it can affect how they perceive life and others. Therefore, this challenges Thrasymachus’ argument “interest of the stronger” because it is that young people will contribute to society in future generations and proper learning affects how they grow as just or unjust