The Intelligent Troglodyte’s Guide to Plato’s Republic, 2016a

14 The Challenge
See 360e-362c. Socrates thinks that justice is desirable, not only for its
consequences, but also for its own sake. Most people grant only that it is desirable
for its consequences. So Glaucon asks Socrates to prove that justice is desirable
for its own sake. But in order to be absolutely sure that Socrates doesn’t end up
appealing in his argument to subtle consequences such as the pleasure people take
in being admired as a righteous person in an unrighteous world, Glaucon asks him
to prove, in addition, that a just person with a false reputation for injustice –
“whipped, stretched on a rack, chained, blinded with a red-hot iron, and . . .
impaled” for crimes he did not commit – is actually happier than an unjust person
with a false reputation for justice, someone rich, powerful, apparently serving and
cared for by the gods, loved by his friends, and respected by his enemies. In other
words, Socrates is asked to prove not only that justice is desirable for its own sake,
but that it is overwhelmingly desirable, more worth pursuing for its own sake than
death by torture is worth avoiding. This is a remarkable challenge, and it elicits a
remarkable reply. The conclusion is not reached until Book IX.
Can you meet this challenge? On the one hand there is the undetected crime
boss, living in his comfortable seaside home, doing what he loves to do
(managing his business partnerships), going sailing in his spare time, looked
up to by his neighbors for his civic involvement and generous support of
local charities, his carefully laundered investments earning steady returns.
On the other hand there is the just man, a city council member (and the only
one not taking bribes), striving to uphold the dignity of the unfortunate
people being trod underfoot by the mob boss and his organization, framed
for a hideous crime he did not commit, caught, beaten, spat upon, tried, and
facing crucifixion. Which man is happier?
Some people suppose that the mob boss will eventually suffer from a bad
conscience and be miserable. What is a conscience? Does everyone have
one? Does conscience cause everyone to feel guilty about the same things to
the same degree?