Download Plato: The Ring of Gyges (Republic Book 2) Imagine there is a

Plato: The Ring of Gyges (Republic Book 2)
Imagine there is a golden ring which makes the wearer invisible. If you wore
the ring and became invisible, what would you do?
Plato’s story is about Gyges, as told by Glaucon, a shepherd who found a cave.
Inside the cave he found the ring and discovered that when he wore it he was
invisible. He used this magic power to kill the king and marry the king’s wife.
Plato’s story is about why we do good, instead of wrong. Deep down we believe
that people who break the law or who do harm to others, are better off.
However, it is not desirable to have something wrong done to us. Plato argues
that this is why society has rules and laws, because we do not want harm to be
done to us. It is a compromise.
Plato says that we are not naturally good or virtuous. He says that we are afraid
of the consequences if we do wrong and it is found out.
In summary, Plato’s story says that everyone is selfish, self-interested and
egoistic.
What is your view of this idea?
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Questions/Answers
1. According to Glaucon's brief, what do most persons act justly? Explain whether you think
Glaucon's explanation is psychologically correct.
Glaucon says that if you look at what people really are, then you will see that they believe to do
wrong is desirable and to suffer wrong is undesirable. Since we do not want to suffer wrong, we
compromise with others and form a compact (a social contract) not to harm each other. These
agreements are the origination of justice in society.
Genetic evidence does not support this theory.
2. If a person could be certain not only that an action resulting in a personal benefit would not
be found out but also that if this action were discovered, no punishing consequences would
follow, then would there be any reason for that person to act morally?
Glaucon believes human beings practice justice in order to avoid the harm that would come to them
if they disobeyed the laws of the society. Thus, it is in our self-interest to obey the law because we
fear the consequences if we were to get caught disobeying the law.
Glaucon's account is in accordance with the cluster of ethical theories such as psychological and
ethical egoism, psychological and ethical hedonism, and ethical relativism. Essentially, he believes
all persons are selfish, self-interested, and egoistic.
3. Is it true that sometimes our self-interest is served by not acting in our selfinterest? Construct an example illustrating this view and attempt to resolve the paradoxical
expression of the question.
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If I am an ethical egoist, then it is in my interest not to tell others. I.e., it is not in my own
interest to tell others I act from self-interest. (Many persons avoid or try to get even with
selfish people; avarice breeds avarice.)
The rational egoist, then, cannot advocate that egoism be universally adopted precisely
because that would be an action not in his self-interest.
To say that an action is right is to say that it is right for anyone in that position. But the egoist
cannot want others to act as he does because this is not in his self-interest.
Hence, ethical egoism cannot be an ethical theory because any theory must be
universalizable, or it is not a theory.
4. Quite often people are pleased when they can help others. Analyze whether this fact is
sufficient to prove that the motive for helping others in ultimately one of pleasure or of selfinterest.
We can distinguish between "selfishness" and "non-selfishness" by looking at the object of the want
in the action of an individual.
If I want something for myself, the action is selfish. If I want something for someone else, then even
if it gives me pleasure, the act is not selfish.
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After all, as Rachels writes, isn't the unselfish person precisely the one who derives satisfaction
from helping others? The selfish person would be the one who helps grudgingly.
Other exceptions to self-interested actions include:
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Sometimes people ordinarily do what they do not what to do. For example ...
Actions which are means to an end--going to college in order to get a good job, working to
get a paycheck, going to the dentist, exercising, and so forth.
Actions which are a result of an obligation or a duty--keeping promises, studying, staying in
good health, and so forth.
5. According to Glaucon, how does the practice of justice arise? On the view he expresses,
would there be any reason prior to living in a society to do the right thing? Does the practice
of ethics only make sense in the context of living in a society?
Glaucon believes human beings practice justice in order to avoid the harm that would come to them
if they disobeyed the laws of the society.
Glaucon proposes a mind-experiment: the myth of the magic ring of Gyges. Note how his account
relates to the ad populum fallacy.
If anyone had a ring that would make him invisible, then that person would be a fool not to use it for
personal advantage. Whether one were just or unjust, with such a ring, that person could do almost
anything he wanted without fear of being caught. Both the unjust and the just person would use its
magic powers because one would be a fool not to do what personally pays him much better.
According to the implications Glaucon's view, ethics or the social contract is possible only in
societies.
It is important to notice that in this essay from the Republic, Plato is using Glaucon's account as a
challenge for Socrates to overcome.
Source: http://philosophy.lander.edu/ethics/notes-gyges.html#3.
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