Plato's Republic | Book 2 Summary and Analysis

1. Justice as a Convenience (357–367e)

Summary
Glaucon, playing devil’s advocate, argues that justice is a good that is unenthusiastically practiced for the benefits it brings. Justice and law are established by men acting in common in order to avoid being on the receiving end of injustice. Glaucon gives the story of Gyges’ ring of invisibility to show that every man would prefer to act unjustly if removed from fear of punishment, adding that anyone who didn’t would be considered an idiot.

Glaucon then contrasts the life of a perfectly unjust man...


[The entire page is 1265 words long]

Join eNotes

The above is a free excerpt. Get total access to this content with the:

eNotes Pass

Summary and Analysis – Themes – Characters – And much more...