To be Just, or not to be Just, that is the Question.
(What Makes Socrates Intriguing in Republic Books 1 and 2) Intriguing. What is intriguing? Is it something that fascinates the mind, something that engages a person’s interest? It can be likened to the feathers of a peacock: the blue and green plastered across the birds beautiful body, patterned in such a way that it’s astonishing how nature bestows such a beautiful creature. Or maybe it can be likened to a rainbow in the sky. All the colors imaginable are flying high up in the sky in an arch like shape after a rainstorm. A beautiful ending to sometimes a not so beautiful storm. There is forever going to be objects, people, and places that are fascinating in their own lovely way. What makes …show more content…
It’s so intriguing because Socrates ends up being put to death on accusations of corrupting the youth and of atheism. He states that all he did was make people think, not corrupt the youth and nobody believes him. When the Republic is read, it is made very clear that Socrates is not in fact, corrupting the youth, but making them use their brains and think for themselves. Each person provides a definition and some provide a definition of a famous poet that they cannot back up. Socrates continues to push and push these people to think about their definition and defend it. They get flustered and upset and give up eventually. The thoughts of profound scholars, writers, and rulers were engrained into the minds of these people so deeply that they could not even defend their arguments because they were not their own thoughts. Thrasymachos gets angry and presses Socrates to try to persuade him to attack instead of defend because that is the only way that Thrasymachos will win. This right here proves that Socrates has actually made a man think, for once in his life, but it isn’t enough. Socrates will eventually prove him wrong yet again, because he cannot defend his argument enough. Polemarchos states that justice is doing well for friends and doing harm to enemies. Socrates counters this by asking how one knows justice is only morally good. For all one knows, they could be …show more content…
It’s an ironic and intriguing thought, almost like a mind game. The approach that Socrates takes to criticizing and countering each definition given makes him seem wise and knowledgeable. He doesn’t ever have to take considerable amounts of time to think about what was said and formulate his argument, he just bounded back with a response which he executed with ease. At a point in Socrates and Thrasymachos’ argument, Socrates states that Thrasymachos is smarter and knows more. This is immensely fascinating because it shows that Socrates is actually very smart and methodical in his argument. He knows to never attack in an argument, to always defend. He defends his arguments very calmly and never gets frustrated, instead he frustrates the other guy and lets them attack. It’s quite intriguing because he uses irony, visual aids, and trick questions to prove each and every one of his points without actually revealing what his opinion on the matter is. You can never tell if Socrates agrees with the definition and is just critiquing it to make the other person think, or if he disagrees and actually thinks that they are being erroneous. It’s almost as if Socrates is playing a gigantic mind game with the audience and the characters in the Republic that will all be solved at the end of the book.
(What Makes Socrates Intriguing in Republic Books 1 and 2) Intriguing. What is intriguing? Is it something that fascinates the mind, something that engages a person’s interest? It can be likened to the feathers of a peacock: the blue and green plastered across the birds beautiful body, patterned in such a way that it’s astonishing how nature bestows such a beautiful creature. Or maybe it can be likened to a rainbow in the sky. All the colors imaginable are flying high up in the sky in an arch like shape after a rainstorm. A beautiful ending to sometimes a not so beautiful storm. There is forever going to be objects, people, and places that are fascinating in their own lovely way. What makes …show more content…
It’s so intriguing because Socrates ends up being put to death on accusations of corrupting the youth and of atheism. He states that all he did was make people think, not corrupt the youth and nobody believes him. When the Republic is read, it is made very clear that Socrates is not in fact, corrupting the youth, but making them use their brains and think for themselves. Each person provides a definition and some provide a definition of a famous poet that they cannot back up. Socrates continues to push and push these people to think about their definition and defend it. They get flustered and upset and give up eventually. The thoughts of profound scholars, writers, and rulers were engrained into the minds of these people so deeply that they could not even defend their arguments because they were not their own thoughts. Thrasymachos gets angry and presses Socrates to try to persuade him to attack instead of defend because that is the only way that Thrasymachos will win. This right here proves that Socrates has actually made a man think, for once in his life, but it isn’t enough. Socrates will eventually prove him wrong yet again, because he cannot defend his argument enough. Polemarchos states that justice is doing well for friends and doing harm to enemies. Socrates counters this by asking how one knows justice is only morally good. For all one knows, they could be …show more content…
It’s an ironic and intriguing thought, almost like a mind game. The approach that Socrates takes to criticizing and countering each definition given makes him seem wise and knowledgeable. He doesn’t ever have to take considerable amounts of time to think about what was said and formulate his argument, he just bounded back with a response which he executed with ease. At a point in Socrates and Thrasymachos’ argument, Socrates states that Thrasymachos is smarter and knows more. This is immensely fascinating because it shows that Socrates is actually very smart and methodical in his argument. He knows to never attack in an argument, to always defend. He defends his arguments very calmly and never gets frustrated, instead he frustrates the other guy and lets them attack. It’s quite intriguing because he uses irony, visual aids, and trick questions to prove each and every one of his points without actually revealing what his opinion on the matter is. You can never tell if Socrates agrees with the definition and is just critiquing it to make the other person think, or if he disagrees and actually thinks that they are being erroneous. It’s almost as if Socrates is playing a gigantic mind game with the audience and the characters in the Republic that will all be solved at the end of the book.