|
Learning Objectives: - Ring of Gyges
-
Understanding which age-old question the "Ring of Gyges"
answers;
-
Familiarity with the famous "Ring of Gyges" dialog;
-
Glaucon's explanation to the origin of justice or law;
-
Glaucon's explanation as to why people are just;
-
Glaucon's explanation as to why people act as they do;
-
Glaucon's rebuttal to justice being valuable for its own
sake and not for the rewards it brings;
- A
deeper philosophical understanding on the attainment of
happiness after reflecting on the "Ring of Gyges" and
selected quotations.
===============================================================
What age-old question does Plato's "Ring
of Gyges "answer?
Plato's Myth of Gyges answers the age-old question: "Why do
people do what they do?
(Book
#2 of Republic, Glaucon's story)
(1) Do people act as they do
because of the the pleasure it eventually yields
( there is a joy in giving, in loving...study leads to a
refined intellect and a good position in the working world)
(2) OR Do people do what they do out of fear of getting
caught?
What is "The Ring of Gyges" story"?
An everyday common shepherd
was shepherding his sheep when "Boom." out of nowhere. an
earthquake occurs.
It left a chasm in the ground. The shepherd went to investigate.
There he saw many treasures, including a hollow brazen horse,
having doors.
In the horse was a dead body having nothing on but a beautiful
gold ring..
Gyges took the ring.
Later Gyges noticed that when
he wore the ring and turned it, he was invisible to the world.
So what do you think he did?
1. He seduces the queen
2. Together they conspire against the king & kill him
3. They take control of the kingdom
Which leads us to the
question - What would we do if we had the ring?
The behaviorist theory
of morality states we act according to reward and punishment.
Certainly, being corporeal we are inclined by pleasure and pain.
So this is partly true.
Some say we are more than body; we have a rational intellect and
will that rise above physical pain and may even be willing to
endure physical pain for a greater good. We may endure a
sacrifice for those we love. We might rush in a brutally hot,
burning building to save a loved one.
Gyges says the just and
unjust man would act exactly the same if both possessed the
ring.
Why would this be?
To quote Timmons, Conduct
and Character, "In a famous passage from The Republic,
Glaucon (one of the characters of the dialogue) argues to
Socrates that, by nature, human beings are egoists
strongly inclined to pursue their own self-interests. Thus
'those who practice justice do so against their will because
they lack the power to do wrong.'" (Timmons, Conduct & Character
23)
The just man would no longer fear getting caught for doing
evil. The only thing that keeps people straight, according to
Glaucon, is the fear of getting caught, of being thought less
of. Goodness is nothing but a show. Goodness is also a masque
for cowardness to get caught. Man's inherent nature is
not to be good, because man is only good out of fear. Why, for
example, would a young child listen to his parents, and why does
man pay taxes? According to Gyges, they are good only to avoid
punishment and to look good.
We are like a charioteer - says Plato, being pulled by opposing
forces. The impulses of the body are like an untamed steed. Yet
the voice of reason brings us into balance. Our rational power (not will
or desire) finds harmony and balance.
The deepest truths, however, cannot be discovered by everyone,
according to Plato. It takes a philosopher.
The point of philosophy is not what people do, but what people ought to
do.
Background Information:
As we enter Book II of Plato's Republic, Thrasymachus, a sophist, has
just pointed out that the unjust man is the successful man. The
unjust man is more
intelligent and uses injustice as a source of strength, which, in turn,
brings happiness.
Glaucon (Plato's brother) comments that he has never heard an
argument which has convinced him that the just life is really better
than the unjust life. It appear the just life is a difficult one and
only worthwhile for its rewards. Glaucon wants to hear Socrates' comment
to these popular claims, not that he himself necessarily believes these
claims.
Keep in mind Socrates believes justice is good for its own sake,
regardless of the consequences. It is good in the same way that
health or knowledge is good.
What are the three main points that Glaucon tries to get across?
Glaucon's First Point - The origin of justice
Originally there was no law. People did as they wanted. The stronger
took advantage of the weaker, but they lived in fear of each other.
Eventually people decided it would be better if there were laws to
protect each other from harm: "I won't harm you & you don't harm me."
Whatever is ordained by law becomes "lawful and just."
Right conduct means following these (arbitrary) laws. Justice
arises from expedience from the need for protection rather than from
eternal truths,
Glaucon's Second Point - The Difference Between the Just and
the Unjust Man
Glaucon claims if the just and unjust man were each given a ring
of invisibility, both would act exactly alike.
The unjust man would continue to act unjustly.
The just man would be a fool to continue to act justly because he could
not be caught or punished. The just man would have no reason to continue
acting justly. Just men act justly because of the consequences.
Glaucon's Third Point: It is Better (and Happier) to Seem Just
Than To Be Just
Glaucon paints a scenario of a persecuted just man who people think is
unjust and stupid - as contrasted to an unjust Machiavellian man who
people think is kind, just, wise, helpful, courageous, resourceful...
Glaucon asks, "Which man is happier?"
What is Socrates' view?
As the Republic continues Socrates insists that
goodness, happiness, and justice are intertwined.
If asked, "What is the good life?" the answer is, "A life lived in
virtue, with justice. Without goodness, there is no happiness."
Socrates later point is that what is really harmful to a man is
not pain or suffering or injustice inflicted by others, but one's own
injustice.
============================================================
Questions for discussion
Happiness and The Ring of Gyges
-
What would be a fun thing to do if you had a "Ring of Gyges"?
-
Would we act the
same way as we do every day if we had a ring?
-
Do
you agree that people "just"
only because they fear being found unjust? Why are people just?
-
Do
people want others to think well of them and thus respect and love
them; this is why we are good -
not for goodness itself but for fear
of being found out and not loved as much.
-
Would the just
and unjust act the same if they wore Gyges ring? To what extent?
How?
-
To what extent
are we hypocrites?
-
Who is happier,
the praised unjust man (Glaucon's view) - or the unpraised
just man (Socrates' view)?
Are there different kinds of happiness?
-
Do people do what
they do involuntarily? Are we free agents or are we determined by
the environment? Are we the Lord & Master of our fate?
-
How can we best teach others to be just - both children and
co-workers?
-
Once again, reflect on the first question: Imagine an action you
would take if you had the ring. What is it that now
prevents you from taking that action? Is that action good or bad?
-
Read the
following quotations on happiness. Do you agree with all of them? Do
you have a favorite? Aristotle said that the man who is happiest is
the man who is leading a good life, doing what he should be doing.
What do you believe brings happiness, and why is it that this brings
happiness?
Quotes on Happiness
Happiness cannot come from without. It must come from
within. It is not what we see and touch or that which
others do for us which makes us happy; it is that which
we think and feel and do, first for the other fellow and
then for ourselves.
--Helen Keller
I am more and more convinced that our happiness or our
unhappiness depends far more on the way we meet the events
of life than on the nature of those events themselves. Karl Wilhelm Von
Humboldt
A grateful heart is a happy heart. L. Walkup
Happiness cannot come from without. It must come from within. Helen Keller
Happiness is not achieved by the
conscious pursuit of happiness; it is generally the by-product of other
activities.
-- Aldous Huxley (1894-1963), Vedanta for the Western World, 1945
Your unhappiness is not due to your want of a fortune or
high position or fame or sufficient vitamins. It is due not
to a want of something outside of you, but to a want of
something inside you. You were made for perfect happiness.
No wonder everything short of God disappoints you. --
Fulton Sheen
"The ancient Greek definition of happiness was the full use of your
powers along the line of excellence." — John F. Kennedy,
From O, the Oprah Magazine December 2003
My happiness is not the means to any end. It is the end. Ayn
Rand (1905-1982)
To be learning something is the greatest of pleasures. Aristotle (The
origin and development of poetry)
It would add much to human happiness, if an art could be
taught of forgetting all of which the remembrance is at
once useless and afflictive... that the mind might
perform its functions without encumbrance, and the past
might no longer encroach upon the present.
--Samuel Johnson (The Idler)
======================================================================================
END OF LECTURE |
