Cephalus And Socrates

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Plato’s use of the word ‘justice’ or Dikaisyne curiously resembles concepts of morality and righteousness in contemporary Athens. The traditional Greek idea of ‘justice’ might have paralleled individual’s conduct towards others and the expectation that there will be an essential ‘goodness’ in it. Thus, an individual’s readiness to forego personal desires and cravings to accommodate the desire of others also may have a basis for Dikaisyne. An individual’s social conduct is, thus, expected to be ‘good’. S/he is supposed to be righteous and fair with his/her dealings with the others. This is what is ‘just’, morally irreproachable. Considering the decadence and depravity of Athenian democracy, the need to make an individual’s public actions morally…show more content…
Cephalus stands by the traditional concept of justice being scrupulous and truthful. Thus ‘justice’ is not just a disembodied idea; it is a code of action, which is often enforced by social expectations. Socrates continues his argument with Polemarchus who associates ‘justice’ with what is proper and in one’s best interest. So what happens if there is a conflict of interest? Plato further problematizes the point by enabling Socrates to argue with Thrasymachus about how justice is always in the advantage of the strong: “a man of great power always gets the better deal.” Thus, even if there is a conflict of interest, the stronger is always the just? Justice favors the strong. However, in the dialogue with Glaucon, Plato argues how ‘justice’ is often conceived as a shield of the weak to protect them from the vagaries of the strong, but it may also be argued that ‘justice’ is the construct which the strong deceives the weak with to preserve the state with clearly demarcated strong and weak, lest the oppressed rebels and brings about chaos and social disruption. The idea of ‘justice’ preserves the hierarchy of the state as it ideologically limits class conflict and extreme oppression. For Plato ‘justice’ is a responsibility, which is desirable and ought to be enforced but in no way safe from the manipulation for the interest of the

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