So he must be stripped of everything except justice, and his situation must be made the opposite of the first man's. Doing no injustice, let him have the greatest reputation for injustice, so that his justice may be put to the test to see if it is softened by bad reputation and its consequences (361c, d).

loss, while Plato sees it from outside that realm in the sphere of absolute truths. Clearly, an absolute truth is more viable and defensible than a personal interest, and that is what this paper will prove: that justice is a higher order than personal advantage and as such must be adhered to regardless of the consequences to self, and further, that happiness is associated with acting justly whether one receives a reward for justice or not.

The argument Glaucon raises against the absolutism of justice is exemplified in his story of the man who discovers a gold ring that allows him to become invisible. The man uses that power to commit adultery with the king's wife and "along with her, set upon the king and kill[ed] him. And so he took over the rule" (360a, b). To further develop his argument, Glaucon supposes that there were two such rings, and the other one was put on by a just man who refused to do wrong regardless of the temptation. The unjust man would be perfectly unjust and would get away with it, while the just man would be perfectly just but would be maligned as unjust:

Glaucon sets these two men at extremes to prove his point-that happiness does not come from being just b

Some common words found in the essay are:
Glaucon1 Glaucon, Plato's Republic, evil government, argument glaucon, personal property, unjust perfectly,
Approximate Word count = 1012
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)