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Comparing Plato's 'Republic And Hobbes' Leviathan

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Comparing Plato's 'Republic And Hobbes' Leviathan
Justice is an important concept that is incorporated in both Plato’s Republic and Hobbes’s Leviathan. Each philosopher has their reasons for choosing the just life. The purpose of the Republic was to explore and identify the true meaning of justice. Plato’s pursuit to find the meaning of justice is based on yearning for greatness in the city and the human soul. In the Leviathan, Hobbes defines justice through the relationship between obligations and self-preservation. In Chapter 15, Hobbes responds to the Fool’s criticism on justice. In the Republic, Plato refutes Glaucon’s argument against a just life. Both of their respective challengers claim that people naturally prefer the unjust life in comparison to a just life. I will analyze how Hobbes and Plato responds to their corresponding critics. Through the investigation of how Hobbes and Plato interpret justice and their different viewpoints, I believe that Plato presented a stronger argument as to why individuals should live a just life. …show more content…
He goes on to say that “when a covenant is made, then to break it is unjust; and the definition of injustice is no other than the not performance of covenant” (215). The Fool stated that,
Every man’s conservation and contentment being committed to his own care, there could be no reason why every man might not do what he thought conduced thereunto, and therefore also to make or not make, keep or not keep, covenants was not against reason, when it conduced to one’s benefit
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