From the selections of Plato’s Republic assigned for class reading, (1) what is the strongest argument that an unjust life is preferable to a just life? (2) How does Socrates’ vision of the soul and philosophic life counter the praise of the unjust life? (3) Is Socrates’ vision a persuasive rebuttal of the apparent advantages of living unjustly?
Be sure to address all three parts of the prompt, but format your response as a single, cohesive essay, not as individual answers.
Thesis template/example: The strongest case for living an unjust life is presented by X when he says that… Socrates uses the argument Y to rebut X. Socrates’ attempt to defend a just life is/is not persuasive because it does/does not effectively defeat X’s argument.
Republic sections to read and use for Essay:
1) Book 1, primarily the discussion with Thrasymachus beginning at 336b (p. 12)
2) Glaucon’s defense of injustice (including “Ring of Gyges”): 358e-361d (bottom half of p. 37-top of p. 40)
3) Allegory of the Cave: 514a-521d (p. 208-middle of p. 215)
4) Myth of Er: 614b-321c (very bottom of p.319-326)