Question: What problem does Socrates point out with Polemarchus’ claim that justice is doing good to your friends and harm to your enemies?
Answer: Socrates points out that our judgment concerning friends and enemies isn't foolproof, and that taking this stance leads us to harm the good and help the bad. Unless we choose our friends according to their virtues and our enemies based upon evil deeds, justice cannot work in this context. Everyone has less than perfect friends, as well as having enemies or people we don't care for, who are good and virtuous people.
Question: At whom is this text directed? Could you please describe some of their characteristics of the audience?
Answer: I wrote 'The Republic' with the purpose of exploring the notion of justice; in particular, if the ‘just man’ could be happier than an ‘unjust man’. The dialogue is meant to get to the core of the very nature of philosophy and I hoped to do this by drawing the blueprint of an imaginary city that is ruled none other than philosopher kings. The point that I wished to make was this; that justice is preferable to injustice, in that justice is the act of doing what is right. I propose …show more content…
They would be predisposed to think that a character named “Socrates” would have all of the intellectual brilliance and moral passion of the historical person after whom he is named. Especially since I often makes special efforts to give his “Socrates” a life-like reality, and has him refer to his trial or to the characteristics by which he was best known; and the aura surrounding the character named “Socrates” would give the words he speaks in the dialogue considerable persuasive power. Furthermore, if I felt strongly indebted to Socrates for many of his philosophical techniques and ideas, that would give him further reason for assigning a dominant role to him in many of his
Answer: Socrates points out that our judgment concerning friends and enemies isn't foolproof, and that taking this stance leads us to harm the good and help the bad. Unless we choose our friends according to their virtues and our enemies based upon evil deeds, justice cannot work in this context. Everyone has less than perfect friends, as well as having enemies or people we don't care for, who are good and virtuous people.
Question: At whom is this text directed? Could you please describe some of their characteristics of the audience?
Answer: I wrote 'The Republic' with the purpose of exploring the notion of justice; in particular, if the ‘just man’ could be happier than an ‘unjust man’. The dialogue is meant to get to the core of the very nature of philosophy and I hoped to do this by drawing the blueprint of an imaginary city that is ruled none other than philosopher kings. The point that I wished to make was this; that justice is preferable to injustice, in that justice is the act of doing what is right. I propose …show more content…
They would be predisposed to think that a character named “Socrates” would have all of the intellectual brilliance and moral passion of the historical person after whom he is named. Especially since I often makes special efforts to give his “Socrates” a life-like reality, and has him refer to his trial or to the characteristics by which he was best known; and the aura surrounding the character named “Socrates” would give the words he speaks in the dialogue considerable persuasive power. Furthermore, if I felt strongly indebted to Socrates for many of his philosophical techniques and ideas, that would give him further reason for assigning a dominant role to him in many of his