Genesis. AquinoPhi:100-019Due:3/23/14What are the means of justice? Plato's Republic, written in 380 BC The main questions posed by Socrates are: What is justice? And why should we be fair? What does it mean to be righteous as a soul? What does it mean to be a just city? In Book 1, throughout the Dialogue, Socrates (The main speaker, who was Plato's mentor, died in 399 BC), Cephalus (A wealthy, retired old businessman, head of a business family. ) Polemarchus Cephalus (son and student of Lysias, teacher of rhetoric),Glaucon (also half-brother of Plato), Thrasymachus (a sophist, teaches anything about persuading the masses, people who do not teach accurately.) Discuss what is known to be one of the many virtues, which is justice. Through the many conversations that take place, Socrates then begins a deep philosophical conversation regarding issues of justice. He raises the main questions of the topic in which through dialogue he defends with his rationalistic explanations. Thrasymachus, after hearing Socrates' beliefs with rationalistic thoughts towards justice, objects to what Socrates' definitions for justice are. So Thrasymachus decides, together with his own argumentative nature, to express his definition of Justice. Thrasymachus, believing that justice only works in favor of the strong, even though he says this because he is a sophist, and the sophists believe that they are in power and are good at arguing and expressing their ideas against Socrates who believes that justice is actually a virtue, beneficial and healthy for the soul. Demonstrating that Thrasymachus' concept of Justice is wrong, Socrates states that injustice cannot be a...... middle of paper...... have so that it then becomes a healthy soul. In my opinion, was it successful? Socrates was truly successful because all the men in the circle agreed that 1. Justice is good for the soul and has its reward in itself. 2. A just man is a happy man. As for most of his theories, at least most men were won over by them and did not bother to argue with Socrates after he had formulated his prepositions. Lovers of wisdom like Socrates have a tendency to also love justice. It is wise to be just and it is right to be wise. It is wise to be so only because philosophers are lovers of wisdom and if you love wisdom then you should automatically be a truth seeker and love truth too. Justice is good and is fair to everyone. "I am the wisest man in the world, because I know one thing, and that is that I know nothing." - Plato, The Republic