PHIL 2070 Lecture Notes - Lecture 7: Cephalus, Thrasymachus, Good Governance
Document Summary
The state is the soul (mind) writ large. Justice consists in the proper ordering with the rational component in charge, of the spirited component and the appetites. The person who is capable of governing the state must know about the good. One must be a philosopher to know the good. Cephalus: justice consists in paying debts and telling the truth. Socrates" response: this ordinary conception of justice cannot be correct; there are exceptions to such maxims. Socrates" response: (1) rulers are liable to err, and in such cases justice becomes the interest of the weaker; (2) rulers qua rulers govern disinterestedly. Thrasymachus: justice is the interest of the stronger. Socrates: justice belongs in the highest category of goods. Categories of goods (1) things that are good for their consequences (2) things that are good-in-themselves (3) things that are both good-in-themselves and good for their consequences.
