Thrasymachus Definition Of Justice

What is justice? Why do men behave justly? Is it because they fear the consequences of injustice? Is it worthwhile to be just? Is justice a good thing in and of itself regardless of its rewards or punishments? Speaking through his teacher Socrates, Plato attempts to answer these questions in the Republic. In book I Thrasymachus, a rival of Socrates makes the claim that justice is nothing but the advantage of the stronger. It does not pay to be just because those who behave unjustly naturally gain power and become the rulers of society. Justice is what unjust rulers say is right through the rules that they make. It is injustice that is the source of happiness#. Plato sets out to disprove Thrasymachus' argument and provide an accurate definition of justice through which he will demonstrate that justice is good and desirable and it is in our best interests to adhere to it. Plato claims that there are two kinds of justice, individual and political. Since the city is larger than the
The just city "will be governed, not like the majority of cities, by people who fight over shadows and struggle against one another in order to rule, but by people who are awake rather than dreaming."# Plato argues that the reluctance the philosopher king has to rule makes him the most fit to rule, for he will rule as a sense of obligation rather than for personal gain and power. #This insures that the city is governed according to the laws of reason and not according to the lust of unnecessary