In class today, we finally learned the Socratic view of
justice. Since he compares the soul to what
I would call a fine tuned machine that must have a perfect balance of reason,
spirit, and appetite, it can be easily inferred that if this balance is wrong
it will cause problems for the individual.
Some may say that it will even make someone unhappy to be an unjust
individual. I agree that for certain
people, being unjust would plague their life and make them miserable creatures;
however, I cannot help but look to extreme cases such as Jeffrey Dahmer and
think differently about Socrates’ opinion.
If I cheated on my significant other I would feel disgusted with myself
and would not have peace in my life until I got this balance back together, but
that is not true for everyone. Some people
simply find the utmost joy in what is wrong and unjust. Whether that is a mental issue or not, it is
true that Dahmer found pleasure…even sexual pleasure…from the pain and
suffering of other human beings. Even
when people like Ted Bundy apologize for their wrong doings before they are
executed, it does not mean they were remorseful at all. They could just simply be making sure they
are right with God so they will not be damned or something to that extent. I would much rather believe that humans are
naturally good creatures that desire justice in their own lives, but I believe
history has shown that there are some people who love doing evil and have no desire to have
their soul “in order”. This is not to
say that I believe the world is going to hell in a hand basket, I just believe
that people have the ability to do these “inhumane” actions that we see in
those extreme cases.
I agree with the idea that there are those in this world who have a sadistic approach to things and for this reason Socrates' view is not applicable to every human being. This being said, it is also important to note that in many cases there are exceptions to rules, however the rule is still valid. Although Socrates' view cannot apply to every individual, it does apply to 99% of the population as sociopaths and psychopaths (those who favor injustice and lack conscience) only make up less than 1%. For this reason, I support Socrates' view and believe that it can be considered universally relevant.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Caroline’s view and also agree that it is important to recognize the true elements of the soul which most contain reason, spirit and appetite. I also agree that balance is critical within these three elements and if there is imbalance that causes many of the evil mistakes in the world. Although, most people are good and live a very balanced life there are still some exceptions to these rules which is why we still live in time where horrific crimes do occurs on a daily basis. These individuals’ imbalances cause them to lash out in anger or to behave sporadically. These criminals are the absolute exception to the rule which why I personally agree with Socrates view but they do not represent the majority of people around the world.
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