POL200Y1 Lecture Notes - Polemarchus, Glaucon
Document Summary
Socrates contradiction to polemarchus"s thought on justice, which depicts socrates view that polemarchus" view is incompetent. He points out that, because our judgment concerning friends and enemies is fallible, this credo will lead us to harm the good and help the bad. We are not always friends with the most virtuous individuals, nor are our enemies always the scum of society. In book ii, glaucon tries to reinforce the challenge to justice that socrates must meet in the remainder of the book. He argues that justice is the sort of good that is only desired for its consequences, not for its own sake. Justice, he claims, is a necessary evil that human beings endure out of fear and weakness. Because we can all suffer from one another"s injustices, he explains, we agree, as a society, to behave justly and thus avoid greater harm.
