Question

What is the meaning of the below quote from Plato The Myth of Gyes?

"Suppose now that there were two such magic rings, and the just put on one of them and the unjust the other; no man can be imagined to be of such an iron nature that he would stand fast in justice. No man would keep his hands off what was not his own when he could safely take what he liked out of the market, or go into houses and lie with any one at his pleasure, or kill or release from prison whom he would, and in all respects be like a God among men"

Answer 1

Answer-

As the ring is connected with injustice because it tempted Gyges and gave him the power to do as he pleased. The ring takes away consequences for you and Glaucon seemed to be arguing that if we took away all of the consequences for our actions then people would satisfy every desire; if we could break the rules and get away with it, we would. The story of The Ring of Gyges raises the point that people will most likely act unjust when unobserved, as this seems to be a rational choice. According to Glaucon, only a fool would act morally when unobserved; his actions would be seen as irrational, as people tend to do right only when they cannot get away with doing wrong.

Glaucon believed that justice is something like an arrangement we come to. It is only valuable because it keeps a certain order and security. The reason why we have systems of justice is only because we want to keep people who would commit injustice, and abuse the rules, out. Therefore, he is claiming that justice itself is really a form of self-interested injustice.

Glaucon also stated that by nature people are unjust; for example, if you gave a just person a ring, which made you invisible, they would instantly go out and be unjust because although the law can coerce them to act according to the law out of fear of punishment, it cannot convince them that what is natural is unnatural.

According to Adeimantus, people do not value justice itself; instead, they value the reputation and reward that comes with being just. If people only act justly out of fear, then this shows that justice is purely self-interested, and thus, not really justice, but a form of injustice.

Both Glaucon’s and Adeimantus’ arguments suggest that justice is desirable so you can make sure injustice does not happen to you; so, it appears to be the case that people act justly because they are motivated by selfish reasons. The story of Gyges’ ring bolsters both of their arguments because it tells us that people only act justly out of fear of being found out and punished. Therefore, people act justly for selfish reasons, for example, for a good reputation. Thus, Glaucon and Adeimantus’ arguments suggest that no one acts just willingly, and that justice is always self-intereted.