No One Wants What is Bad

A detailed Summary of No One Wants What is Bad


In the following pages I will present Socrates' argument that "No one wants what is bad," (11) and my own view on this statement. What does the statement," No one wants what is bad" (11) mean; you might ask. In the Meno Socrates explains that people make choices, some of which might be harmful to them, without truly understanding the final results of their choice. Is this a possibility, or could Socrates be mistaken? Can people willingly make a choice for the bad when they know it will cause them harm or make them miserable? Socrates says no, and I have to disagree with him. I believe sometimes that choice is the only one available and certain people will choose it. Let's find out.

Socrates states that "No one wants what is bad," (11) and his argument is as follows. Bad things harm those who possess them. There are two groups of people, those who desire the good and those who desire the bad. Those who desire good things have made a decision which will cause them no harm or make them miserable. Those who desire the bad must believe it to be the good (10), and can be broken into two further groups with this distinction. One group that believes the bad is in reality good, such as a King who gathers as much we


Or the case of the terminally sick person, to end their life because they are miserable may indeed be the good. Upon closer examination and after weighing the impact on the people around them who can decide. To say no one can make a choice for the bad knowing it is bad is impossible to do. We can only base what they did upon our impression of the events. What feelings it stirred in us. What feelings it stirred in them. Who are we mere mortals to presume what is the good or the bad? Who gave us the power to make that assumption? Socrates was a very bright man, but I think his whole argument is incorrect. You must have all the answers to make this determination, and as even Socrates says, knowledge is not possible.

alth as possible, with no concern for his subjects.

Socrates' response to the case of the rapist would be this, the man who killed the rapist was not thinking correctly and therefore had made a mistake in judgment. No one wants to be miserable and so he was mistaken about what was good and bad. He believed what he was doing was the good.

As for the case of suicide, I believe he would use a similar argument. No one wants to be miserable, so suicide would not be considered the bad. If life is just misery then death would be considered the good. This shows that they really wanted the good, not a mistake in their reasoning abilities.



Some common words found in the essay are:
Let's Body, Meno Socrates, , choice bad, bad choice, cause harm, harm miserable, desire bad, bad mistake, bad 11, bad cause, suicide viable option, suicide viable, bad harm, cause harm miserable, bad cause harm,

Approximate Word count = 1396
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Miscellaneous

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