Clever In Music And The Nonmusical Person example essay topic
381 words
Book I of Plato Republic sets the tone for the remainder of this piece of writing. It is in Book I that the reader is introduced to the method of argument and response that is so well documented in the remainder of Plato Republic. Thrasymachus, one of the antagonists in Plato Republic, makes his entrance in Book I, arguing with Socrates on many subjects, such as justice being the advantage of the "stronger", so to speak. Thrasymachus begins his reasoning about justice being, in actuality, the advantage of the stronger, meaning that justice belongs to those who are in power. Mainly, he means the rulers of the cities. These rulers decide what laws are to be declared (and many of these laws benefit the rulers themselves), and therefore justice is always in the hands of the powerful. Socrates takes another approach to this view. He starts his rebuttal by getting Thrasymachus to agree that one person is musical and another nonmusical, and that the musical person is clever in music, and the nonmusical person is not clever in music. Also, he convinces Thrasymachus that the things that the musical person is clever in, he's good in, and the things he is not clever in, he is bad in (349 e). Socrates responds to these acquisitions by saying that all crafts are in the service of that which they are set over -- medicine over a patient's health, ship-building over a ship and crew, etc. It ought to then follow that the craft of ruler ship sets the ruler out for his subjects' benefit.
Thrasymachus notes that the just man gets less, and is therefore less happy, than the unjust man. He declares that injustice is a virtue, since by dishonesty and thievery one can get far in life. Socrates notes that, if justice is a craft, then this makes no sense. Musicians all tune their instruments to the same key, and doctors all give similar diagnoses when correct. In both these cases, a desire to rise above and outdo one's colleagues is a sign of ignorance and vice, not virtue, since it generally means being incorrect. The craft of justice ought to be the same.
