PLATO AND PHILOSOPHY Overview What is justice? This meta-ethical…

PLATO AND PHILOSOPHY Overview What is justice? This meta-ethical…

PLATO AND PHILOSOPHY OverviewThe Republic

What is justice? This meta-ethical question, asking about a moral concept, is the centerpiece of Plato’s most famous dialogue, . Unlike many of Plato’s short dialogues, this is a long book. We cannot even begin to attack it properly. However, we can carve out a nice piece that will help us to not only understand more about justice, but also about the nature of the Socratic style of argument.

Socrates had a particular type of question and answer method for getting at Truth, which came to be known, not surprisingly, as the Socratic method. Teachers today, particularly in the United States, pride themselves on using the Socratic method. However, simply asking questions is not enough. Many think that if they don’t lecture, if they don’t just tell students what is what, and they ask questions, they are using the Socratic method. Not so. There is much more to it than that. Getting a better understanding of the Socratic method, the method that all philosophers use, and the one thing that binds all philosophers together, will be our task in this Case.

Case Assignment

In The Republic, we will be looking at the passage where Thrasymachus argues that Justice is whatever is in the interest of the stronger, in section 336b. ([336b] Several times in the course of the discussion Thrasymachus had made an attempt to get the argument into his own hands, and had been put down by the rest of the company, who wanted to hear the end. But when Polemarchus and I had done speaking and there was a pause, he could no longer hold his peace; and, gathering himself up, he came at us like a wild beast, seeking to devour us. We were quite panic-stricken at the sight of him.)

•  At what point do you think Socrates really starts to take control of the argument?

Expectations

Don’t give me a play-by-play statement, but rather try to find the point where the tide turns in Socrates’s favor. This is a judgment call. There is no right answer. I am not going to say, “No, the argument turned two sentences earlier.” However, I do want you to give me solid reasons why you think the argument works the way it works.