Glaucon the son of Ariston Ariston of Collytus, was the father of the Greek philosopher Plato. Legend holds that he was descended from Codrus, the ancient king of Athens. Diogenes Laërtius on the authority of Speusippus and others, relates a story that "Ariston made violent love to Perictione, then in her bloom, and failed to win her; and that, when he ceased to offer violence, Apollo appeared to him in a dream, whereupon he left her …Ariston of Athens
Classical Athens
The city of Athens during the classical period of Ancient Greece was the major urban center of the notable polis of the same name, located in Attica, Greece, leading the Delian League in the Peloponnesian War against Sparta and the Peloponnesian League. Athenian democracy wa…
Who is Glaucon in Plato's Republic?
Glaucon is featured in several of Plato's dialogues (the Parmenides, Republic and Symposium) and is widely considered to be one of Socrates' more sophisticated interlocutors.
What happened to Glaucon in Plato's Socrates?
As Plato's dialogues of Socrates do not refer to Glaucon's passing, he most likely died in or around Athens after Socrates. Glaucon is featured in several of Plato's dialogues (the Parmenides, Republic and Symposium) and is widely considered to be one of Socrates' more sophisticated interlocutors.
What is Glaucon’s story?
Glaucon’s story is part of a well-known political tragedy that swept up many of Plato’s friends and fellow citizens, including Socrates. The evidence for his personal tragedy, however, is deeply embedded in the text. Like a three-dimensional image hidden within a two-dimensional picture, it requires a special adjustment of the eyes to perceive.
What did Glaucon do in the Battle of Megara?
Glaucon and at least one of his brothers fought against the Megarians in the Battle of Megara, with the Athenians victorious in 424 BC, during the height of the Peloponnesian War against Sparta and their allies. The brothers are commended for their "godlike" virtues in battle and for the strength of the bloodline by Socrates in the Republic.
What is Glaucon's view of justice in Plato's Republic?
Glaucon gives a speech defending injustice: (i) justice originates as a compromise between weak people who are afraid that suffering injustice is worse than doing it (358e-359a); (ii) people act justly because this is necessary and unavoidable, so justice is good only for its consequences (story of the ring of Gyges' ...
What is Glaucon's challenge in the Republic?
Glaucon proposes a test to Socrates: compare the life of a completely just person with the life of a completely unjust person. Justice is vindicated only if Socrates can show that the just person's life is better.
What is Glaucon's challenge to Socrates in Republic II?
In Book II, Glaucon challenges Socrates to show him that justice is a good in itself, that it allows one to be happy in private, and is more beneficial than doing injustice whether one has the reputation for justice or not, even among the gods.
What is Glaucon arguing?
Glaucon argued that by nature humans are selfish and unjust, and that justice is not good in itself; instead justice is a consequential good (it is only valued for the beneficial consequences). Glaucon told the story of The Ring of Gyges to illustrate his point that justice is always self-interested.
What is the significance of Glaucon's challenge to moral philosophy?
In order to force Socrates to a proper defence of morality, Glaucon will praise the immoral life to the utmost of his power, so that Socrates will respond by praising morality (or justice) as it ought to be praised. Glaucon's explanation of the origin of morality clarifies the position that he is expounding.
What does Glaucon want from Socrates?
Glaucon really wants to hear Socrates praise justice entirely for its own sake and not for the sake of its consequences. Even though he believes justice is better than injustice, he's going to play the devil's advocate and defend injustice.
Who is speaking in Book 2 of the republic?
Socrates believes he has adequately responded to Thrasymachus and is through with the discussion of justice, but the others are not satisfied with the conclusion they have reached. Glaucon, one of Socrates's young companions, explains what they would like him to do.
What is the point of Glaucon's challenge to morality in Plato's Republic?
Glaucon challenges Socrates to defend his claim that acting justly (morally) is valuable in itself, not merely as a means to some other end (in this case, the reputation one gets from seeming just).
What is the ring of Gyges summary?
When given a ring, a shepherd named Gyges becomes invisible and anonymous. Through his invisibility he seduces a queen, kills her king, and takes over the kingdom. Plato argues that the Ring of Gyges- invisibility and anonymity- is the only barrier between a just and an unjust person.
Who is Socrates philosophy?
Who was Socrates? Socrates was an ancient Greek philosopher, one of the three greatest figures of the ancient period of Western philosophy (the others were Plato and Aristotle), who lived in Athens in the 5th century BCE.
What is the significance of Glaucon's story?
Glaucon’s story is part of a well-known political tragedy that swept up many of Plato’s friends and fellow citizens, including Socrates. The evidence for his personal tragedy, however, is deeply embedded in the text. Like a three-dimensional image hidden within a two-dimensional picture, it requires a special adjustment of the eyes to perceive.
Where did Socrates and Glaucon get arrested?
This battle occurred on the very road, and at roughly the same spot, where Socrates and Glaucon are playfully arrested in the Piraeus by Polemarchus at the beginning of the Republic.
What is Copernicus' main work?
In his main work, On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres, Copernicus draws on what the philologist František Novotný describes as Plato’s “metaphysical heliocentric argument from the Republic ” —his characterization of the sun as the god and ruler of the visible sphere and image of the Good, the unifying source and highest principle of reality.
What is Plato's Republic?
Perhaps the best measure of the richness and complexity of Plato’s Republic, the most influential work of political philosophy in the Western tradition, is the remarkably broad spectrum of intellectual accomplishments it has inspired over the centuries.
Who is the logician who criticised Plato?
While Henckel von Donnersmarck reflects the fundamental tension between the Republic ’s teaching on the Good and the tyranny of Callipolis, the logician Karl Popper is uncompromising in his criticism of Plato.
Who led the Khmer Rouge?
Cambodia’s Khmer Rouge, led by a Marxist who was radicalized while studying in Paris, appear to have followed almost to the letter Socrates’ advice to purify the old regime and initiate the new one by sending everyone over the age of ten to the country. [1] .
Did Socrates have any lasting effect on Glaucon?
Plato scholars rarely ask whether Socrates had any lasting effect on Glaucon, and the few who have done so almost always suppose that, by the end of the dialogue, Socrates did manage to persuade him that the just life is preferable to the unjust one.
What Is Glaucon 's Argument On The Republic? Do You Find It Persuasive?
What is Glaucon’s argument in the Republic? Do you find it persuasive? Give reasons for your answer. Glaucon’s argument in book II of Republic concerns the issue of justice. From the outset Glaucon explains that justice is a social contract that emerges - between people who are roughly equal in power - for the reason being that the pain of experiencing unjust actions is greater than the benefits accrued from inflicting it. (Plato, 2008) In this essay I will first outline his argument and explain
What are Socrates and Glaucon's views on Republic II?
In Republic II, Glaucon and Socrates pose the question of whether justice is intrinsically good, or instrumentally good. Further, the two men wish to discover which life is best - the just life or the unjust one. While Glaucon argues that the unjust life is best, Socrates argues that the just life is truly better. In this paper, I will summarize both Glaucon’s and Socrates’ arguments, and provide a critical analysis of the opposing views. Glaucon begins Republic II by describing different types of
What is the human nature of Plato's Republic?
Human Nature and Moral Theory in Plato’s Republic In Chapter 2 of Republic, Glaucon uses the Myth of the Lydian Shepherd to portray a pessimistic view of human nature. Plato, the author of Republic, uses his brother Glaucon to tell the Myth of the Lydian Shepherd. We are led to believe that Plato takes the myth and its implications on human nature very seriously by use of a personal character. The argument, originally given by Thrasymachus, contends that at the root of our human nature we
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Who wrote the Republic?
v. t. e. The Republic ( Greek: Πολιτεία, translit. Politeia; Latin: De Republica) is a Socratic dialogue, authored by Plato around 375 BC, concerning justice ( δικαιοσύνη ), the order and character of the just city-state, and the just man.
How did Isocrates parody the Republic in his work Busiris?
It has been suggested that Isocrates parodies the Republic in his work Busiris by showing Callipolis' similarity to the Egyptian state founded by a king of that name.
What does Polemarchus say about Socrates?
While visiting the Piraeus with Glaucon, Polemarchus tells Socrates to join him for a romp. Socrates then asks Cephalus, Polemarchus, and Thrasymachus their definitions of justice. Cephalus defines justice as giving what is owed. Polemarchus says justice is "the art which gives good to friends and evil to enemies.".
Which two regimes did Plato find in speech?
While Plato spends much of the Republic having Socrates narrate a conversation about the city he founds with Glaucon and Adeimantus "in speech", the discussion eventually turns to considering four regimes that exist in reality and tend to degrade successively into each other: timocracy, oligarchy (also called plutocracy), democracy and tyranny (also called despotism).
When was the Republic written?
Republic. The Republic ( Greek: Πολιτεία, translit. Politeia; Latin: De Republica) is a Socratic dialogue, authored by Plato around 375 BC, concerning justice ( δικαιοσύνη ), the order and character of the just city-state, and the just man.
Is the Republic a theoretical work?
The above-mentioned views have in common that they view the Republic as a theoretical work, not as a set of guidelines for good governance. However, Popper insists that the Republic, "was meant by its author not so much as a theoretical treatise, but as a topical political manifesto" and Bertrand Russell argues that at least in intent, and all in all not so far from what was possible in ancient Greek city-states, the form of government portrayed in the Republic was meant as a practical one by Plato.