Friday, September 4, 2015
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Justice has many meanings depending on how you use the word. However, the word itself is very difficult to describe, but Socrates puts in words as close as you can get to a perfect definition of it. Just as Socrates says in the Republic every person has three main parts and the one part that should be in control is reason. I think reason is our moral guider. Even though the human body is scared of punishment, if given the chance like in Glaucon's story majority of humans would feel guilty afterwards. That is because majority of humans have reason as the primary agent. Even if you took away the punishment the thrill of unjust would feed the appetite, but the after thought of what you did will pain you because people contain reason within the soul. Which might be the origin of guilt. Now, if we were to have appetites as the primary agent most of us would take full advantage of the ring and cause unjust that benefits us. If you throw reason out the door and only have appetites I think that murder, lying, and stealing would become the normal way of life for unjust people. By that statement I mean people wouldn't look for revenge or something to do to the injust person because in their eyes that's how they live. However since the world is mixed up like a tossed salad you have the normal people who abide by reason which make up the justice system of the world and the injust people who abide by appetite there's a constant battle for what most people call justice. That is locking the person in jail or giving them what they deserve. So, justice is like a card board box pyramid. You can take the middle box away(justice) and it might still be standing, but it's weakened and might fall(because of the unjust).
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It is true about if society did not have reasoning, there would be theft, murder, rape, and so on. We as a society separate ourselves as humankind from beast because of ability to use reason. In the animal kingdom we tend to think that animals do not use reason but they do not murder, rape, or steal. If we lived in a world without reason and ruled by appetites we might not need to act unjust or just to other individuals because their would be a need. We would not steal because we would not have the reason to covet someones car, and we would not murder because it would only be in self defense or to guard a territory like in the animal kingdom. You are right about how these actions would become the norm and will be considered basic primeval instinct or everyday life. Not that I do not disagree with you, just another way to look at it. Good quoting from they readings.
ReplyDeleteYou've made some really great points here. I agree with what you say about throwing reason out of the window. If we did that and let our appetites take over, what would our world become? It would be a madhouse. People killing people for the hell of it. Stealing because we're fueling our needs rather than thinking about what's right and wrong. The cardboard box simile really puts it into perspective as well, because without some form of justice, our society would crumble if pushed with a small force.
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