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read or familiar with the topics covered in Plato’s republic
I want A or A+ for this assignment without getting call due to plagiarism
you have 2 options for this assignment
option 1:
You pay back your debts and when you loan something you expect it back; you approve of social justice, i.e., the dedication of individuals to communal values both by promoting and defending them; finally, you obey the law, expect others to do so and respect those who are law abiding. In Book 1 of the Republic Cephalus speaks for the first view. Polemarchus for the second, and Thrasymachus fools around with the last. These three views spell out examples of justice. But do you know what these examples share in common? What makes each just? In a word, can you answer the question: What is justice? Does it make sense to you to say that your standpoint when thinking about this question is outside, free of, your cave, i.e. of your culture? If not, why not? Maybe a bit of both? Does the Noble lie allow for the same standpoint?
option2:
At Book 2’s beginning Glaucon and Adeimantus challenge Socrates to defend justice by dealing with two issues. Glaucon’s (358b-362d) argument boils down to stating that if Socrates wants to defend justice, he must show that it is an intrinsic good. This means that if a person is just, they can’t be motivated by wanting a reward or fearing punishment. Adeimantus (362e-367e) adds that Socrates must deal with stories about the gods, which promise rewards and punishments in this life or in Hades after death. These stories influence people to be just in order to gain favor from divine powers.
Socrates offers a simple, almost elegant solution to Glaucon’s and Adeimantus’ concerns. Plato portrays him coining a new word “theology (379a),” which in our text is translated as “speeches about the gods.” Socrates point boils down to two points. 1. He assert that stories about the gods must show them to be, in effect, removed from interfering in any way in human affairs, and, 2. That Hades is not a fearsome place. Socrates’ first point implies that life would be better if there were not divine providence, i.e. the rule and guidance of a divine authority over human affairs.
What was Socrates undertaking to accomplish by getting rid of the gods? What was his goal? Are there alternatives that are consistent with justice as an intrinsic good?
Helpful Note:
(For the issue of the gods, the most relevant parts of the Republic you could re-read are Book II 378a to the end of Book II; at 379c there is the phrase “speech about the gods;” this translates the Greek word “theologia,”, i.e. the origin of our word “theology.” It is the only neologism I know of in all of Plato’s writings. For Hades start of Book III up to 387d.
