What is Socrates counterexample to Cephalus definition of justice?

What is Socrates counterexample to Cephalus definition of justice?

Cephalus acts as spokesman for the Greek tradition. His definition of justice is an attempt to articulate the basic Hesiodic conception: that justice means living up to your legal obligations and being honest. Socrates defeats this formulation with a counterexample: returning a weapon to a madman.

What did Socrates say about justice?

Accordingly, Socrates defines justice as “working at that to which he is naturally best suited”, and “to do one’s own business and not to be a busybody” (433a433b) and goes on to say that justice sustains and perfects the other three cardinal virtues: Temperance, Wisdom, and Courage, and that justice is the cause and …

How does Socrates refute Polemarchus definition of justice?

The discussion between Socrates and Polemarchus follows (331d-336b). Polemarchus claims that justice is helping one’s friends and harming one’s enemies and that this is what one owes people (332c).

What does cephalus say about old age?

Cephalus reports that old age has its advantages (apparently including the loss of his once intense and distracting interest in sex), and concedes that his being wealthy makes old age more comfortable than it is for some people.

How does Socrates define harm?

Socrates explained that if a person is harmed they will never recover. He stated. that a horse never becomes better after being harmed. If someone is harmed. their virtue is being harmed as well.

What definition of justice does Socrates draw from Cephalus explanation of the chief advantage of wealth?

Socrates and the elderly man begin a discussion on the merits of old age. This discussion quickly turns to the subject of justice. What is the chief advantage of wealth, according to Cephalus? justice means that you owe friends help, and you owe enemies harm.

What is wrong with Cephalus definition of justice?

The elderly, wealthy Cephalus suggests that justice involves nothing more than telling the truth and repaying one’s debts. The presentation of a counter-example of this sort tends to show that the proposed definition of justice is incorrect, since its application does not correspond with our ordinary notion of justice.

What city does Socrates believe is the best?

the just city complete

What are the 3 classes in Plato’s Republic?

Plato divides his just society into three classes: the producers, the auxiliaries, and the guardians. The auxiliaries are the warriors, responsible for defending the city from invaders, and for keeping the peace at home. They must enforce the convictions of the guardians, and ensure that the producers obey.

What is Plato’s ideal state?

Plato’s ideal state was a republic with three categories of citizens: artisans, auxiliaries, and philosopher-kings, each of whom possessed distinct natures and capacities. Those proclivities, moreover, reflected a particular combination of elements within one’s tripartite soul, composed of appetite, spirit, and reason.

Why is Plato against democracy?

Plato rejected Athenian democracy on the basis that such democracies were anarchic societies without internal unity, that they followed citizens’ impulses rather than pursuing the common good, that democracies are unable to allow a sufficient number of their citizens to have their voices heard, and that such …

What did Aristotle and Plato disagree on?

Aristotle rejected Plato’s theory of Forms but not the notion of form itself. For Aristotle, forms do not exist independently of things—every form is the form of some thing.

Who is better Plato or Aristotle?

Though many more of Plato’s works survived the centuries, Aristotle’s contributions have arguably been more influential, particularly when it comes to science and logical reasoning. While both philosophers’ works are considered less theoretically valuable in modern times, they continue to have great historical value.

What did Aristotle and Plato agree on?

Both Plato and Aristotle based their theories on four widely accepted beliefs: Knowledge must be of what is real. The world experienced via the senses is what is real. Knowledge must be of what is fixed and unchanging.

What is the difference between Socrates and Plato?

One primary difference between these two philosophers is that while Socrates rarely spoke about the soul of the human being, Plato gave a lot of importance to the soul of the human being than its body. Socrates believed in being just, he states that everything has a role to play, and must play it well enough.

Who came first Plato or Socrates?

Socrates came first, and Plato was his student, around 400 BC. The Athenians voted to kill Socrates in 399 BC.