Is It Better To Live Just Or Unjust?

Bobby Skogsbergh
Philosophy of The Person
Professor Marren
12/12/14

Thesis Question: Is it better to live just or unjust?
Unjust live better

According to Socrates in The Republic of Plato, men can be both just and unjust in terms of who is a friend and who is an enemy, for all humans make mistakes, so each person cannot always be considered just. Thrasymachus argues, “In every city the same thing is just, the advantage of the established ruling body. It surely is master; so the man who reason rightly concludes that everywhere justice is the same thing, the advantage of the stronger” . Socrates accepts his argument but builds on it with the idea that not everything a ruler commands as a law or rule is just or advantageous. The conclusion the two men were
The virtue of justice is “to establish the parts of the soul in a relation of mastering, and being mastered by, one another that is according to nature, while to produce injustice is to establish a relation of ruling, and being ruled by” . Justice is a virtue contained in the soul, and a soul that is deprived of justice is deprived of excellence. Justice is necessary in a ruling society if flourishing is sought, but it needs to be done in moderation and on a fair
Upon Adeimantus’ question of how we are expected to be ruled by “philosophers” and the knowledgeable if they are considered useless. This goes to show that even those who rule or those who are supposed to be followed to make just decisions should not be as praised as they seem. If the philosophers will be criticized for being just, the unjust man should not fear being criticized as