Views of Justice in the Eyes of
Thrasymachus and Contemporary Society
Pols 312: Early Western Thought
Dr. Losco
9/19/2006
Fall Semester 2006
In most people’s eyes, justice in the eyes of
Thrasymachus would seem to be different and irrelevant to justice in
the eyes of today’s society, however despite the differences in the
time period in which justice is being viewed, similar contexts can be
drawn between the two. Justice is a concept that has been around for
hundreds of years and has continued to be debated and questioned in the
modern era. By looking at justice in the early days of Thrasymachus,
Socrates, and modern society and the aspects that impact justice, such
as, politics, society, and those who teach it, we will achieve a
clearer picture of how similar justice is in the eyes of Thrasymachus
and modern society.
In the Republic, Thrasymachus
expresses to Socrates that “justice is in the advantage of the
stronger,” or the will of the stronger. Socrates disagrees with this
definition and goes on to prove that it is a wrong philosophical view
of justice, however this does not mean that Thrasymachus view of
justice is completely wrong or that it isn’t a valid opinion stemmed
from political, social, and personal factors. To understand the nature
of Thrasymachus’ opinion, we must first understand a little bit about
his personal life.
Thrasymachus was a sophist who taught
philosophy and politics to wealthy young men in ancient Greece and was
known to use reasoning and inquiry to question truth. The general
public had a respect for such men and acknowledged them as teachers and
presenters of the truth. Those educated by Thrasymachus would have most
likely, carried the same view of justice as their teacher. Like those
he educated, Trasymachus, would have been educated by someone of the
same background thus gaining many of his views on justice from that
person along with his experiences in Athenian society and politics.
Like Thrasymachus, modern society’s view of
justice stems from our teachers. Even though these teachers vary from
our parents to classroom teachers, they all were taught by someone
similar to themselves and were taught according to experiences
witnessed in society and politics. For example, in schools today,
we are taught that justice is the quality of being just and conforming
to principles of righteousness, as given to us by our government. Thus,
like Thrasymachus, our definition of justice ties us to our society and
politics.
Thrasymachus’ definition of justice; the will
of the stronger, is influenced by the Athenian society surrounding him.
In Athenian society white males were the dominate beings. In the family
structure they held much of the power and were the ones to be educated,
leaving women to be seen as second class citizens. Along with females,
slaves and metics were considered non-citizens, who held no power.
These discrepancies in Athens’ social structure would have had a large
impact on Thrasymachus’ view of justice because of its promotion of a
hierarchy of power within society. Society was set up so that the
stronger were given privileges and rights proving that the will of the
stronger was justice in society.
Much like society in Athens, modern society in
America has a system of hierarchy that defines justice. Most of the
hierarchy in modern society is based on money and social class. The
more money you have and the higher up in society you are, the more
power you have. Within modern society, having the right to vote is also
a sign of power and like the metics in Athenian society, foreigners
entering into America are also not allowed to vote even though they are
living under the laws of society. Even though our definition of
justice may appear different then Thrasymachus’, it is still set up and
defined by the most powerful in society. For example, in the definition
of justice according to modern society, we are to conform to principles
of righteousness as set up for us by our government. But we must ask
the question, who is our government? The answer to this is simple;
those most powerful in society or those with high incomes and social
standing. These people are the ones who define for us what principles
of righteousness we are to follow. Thus, much like Thrasymachus said,
justice is the will of the stronger, even in modern society.
Society was not the only influence on
Thrasymachus’ definition of justice; Athenian politics also had its
place in the definition. In Athens there were three groups of governing
bodies, an assembly, a council of 500, and a court. These were made up
of citizens of Athens who were interchanged every couple of years so
that every citizen was in some way involved in politics. However, as
mentioned earlier citizenship was not extended to everyone who lived in
Athens, thus leaving those who were not citizens without the power or
influence to make decisions for the society they lived in. Like
society’s hierarchy, this political system left justice in the hands of
the stronger.
Like Athens, justice in the modern United
States is also defined by our political system. This is easily accepted
considering our political system of democracy stems from that of
Athens’. As mentioned above in modern society, our government, made up
of those from higher social classes and those with money, decide for us
what justice is. For example when we go to court, we go expecting and
having faith in the judge that the right decision will be reached and
justice will prevail. According to our government, the judge’s decision
is the right decision and the determining factor of what justice is in
the case. Thus like Thrasymachus said, justice is the will of the
stronger. Justice is the judge’s decision made according to law, which
was set up by those in society who are the strongest.
Most people would see justice in the eyes of
Thrasymachus as different from justice in the eyes of modern society
because of the difference in time periods however, despite this
difference, similarities can still be drawn between the two. Justice is
one of many concepts that bridges the gap between modern society and
Athenian society hundreds of years ago. By looking at this connection
of justice between the two and aspects that impact justice, such as,
politics, society, and those who teach it, a clearer picture of the
similarities between justice in the eyes of Thrasymachus and modern
society can be achieved.
Professor Comments: Professor Losco wrote at the bottom of the paper:
"You do a fine job of presenting Thrasymachus's conventional view of
justice and relate it to our traditions. But you really don't address
the adequeacy of the definition or impact on how nations present their
political aims and policies." He also gave me a 12/15 on this paper.