Cephalus Vision Of Justice In Plato's Republic

In Plato’s Republic, the images of justice are perceived differently between several characters in this novel. Cephalus, Polemarchus, and Thrasymachus, all present contrasting ideals of justice compared to the one envisioned by Socrates. Using the art of rhetoric, Socrates utilizes argumentation to identify the faults in each individual’s vision of justice, and how his unconventional perception of justices can change their entire society. The first vision of justice discussed in The Republic was Cephalus. Cephalus describes justice as honesty. However, Cephalus’ juvenile definition of justice can partially be due to his economic status. The novel displays that Cephalus is a man who inherited his wealth through instead of earning his fortune. This could contribute to why Cephalus’ vision of justice provides only a “surface” view without go in-depth to seek for a greater truth to the word since he has always lived a privileged lifestyle. More so, Cephalus states that that a man who is truthful and returns what they have borrowed from another person is what justice is. However, it seems that Cephalus’ view a man’s life as unjust if the summation of his lifespan has been …show more content…
If a person became insane, to give them back a weapon that was rightfully theirs would be favored. It would be honest and truthful to give back what is theirs, but the impact of that decision causes casualties, affecting the whole of society. Socrates ends the discussion with Cephalus by saying it is impossible to be right all the time while also not hindering the truth in the process. Socrates persuades me to be his side, due to Cephalus’ vision of justice being right only in certain cases. Socrates’ opinion demonstrates a more situational and realistic viewpoint compared to Cephalus. Cephalus’ justice poses more harm than good since the concept of “giving back what is owed” hold extreme and unforeseeable