Glaucon, the older brother of the great philosopher Plato and student of Socrates, presents the myth of The Ring of Gyges to Socrates in a book two of The Republic during their discussion on the nature of justice. The Ring of Gyges is the story of a man who finds a ring that gives him the power to become invisible and he uses this ability to do immoral things. Glaucon uses this story to express his claim: "And we can truly say that it is a great proof that a man is just, not voluntarily, nor because he thinks that justice is useful to him individually, but by necessity , because everywhere we think. that he can safely be unjust, there he is unjust. For all men believe in their hearts that injustice is far more profitable to the individual than justice, and he who reasons as I have supposed will say that they are right” (Plato, 359a-2.360d). Glaucon states in these quotes that he believes that injustice that benefits someone personally is not harm to that particular person, but only harm to the people who suffer because of that same injustice. Glaucon believes that people only act justly out of fear that others will see their unjust actions and use them as justification to commit acts of injustice against them. I disagree with Glaucon's assertion that all men abuse the power of the Ring of Gyges. Glaucon uses the story of Gyges' ring to make assumptions about all of humanity and he has not taken into account the complexity of humanity or the wide variety of ways in which the ring could be used. Gyges ring. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why violent video games should not be banned”? Get the original essay The myth of the Ring of Gyges tells the story of Gyges, a shepherd who serves the king of Lydia. One day after a terrible storm and earthquake, Gyges discovers an opening in the earth created by the earthquake. When he descends into this opening, he finds a corpse wearing a golden ring. Gyges takes the dead man's ring then leaves this opening in the earth to meet the other shepherds. Upon meeting the shepherds, Gyges twists the ring on his finger and is shocked to discover that simply twisting the ring on his finger has made him invisible. He twists his ring again and becomes visible again. He tests this trick several times to ensure that it is the twisting of this dead man's ring that gives him the ability to become invisible. The shepherd chose Gyges to go to the king and report to him on the state of the king's flocks of sheep. When Gyges arrives at the castle, he decides to use his new power of invisibility to seduce the queen. After Gyges seduces the queen together, he and the queen plot to kill the king. After killing King Gyges, he takes over the kingdom of Lydia. Glaucon does not use this story to condemn Glaucon for his actions. Glaucon tells this story simply to state that he believes that all men would take what they wanted and do what they wanted if there were no consequences for their actions. Glaucon said to Socrates: "No man would walk away from what does not belong to him if he could safely take what he wanted from the market, or enter into houses and sleep with anyone as he pleased, or kill or get out of prison. whom he will, and in all respects as a God among men” (Plato, 359a-2.360d). Glaucon even goes so far as to say that if a man could possess the ring and resist the temptation to use its great power to commit acts of injustice, that man should not be praised but rather ridiculed andtreated like an imbecile. Glaucon says: "If you could imagine someone obtaining this power of becoming invisible, and never doing harm or touching what belongs to others, the spectators would consider him a most miserable fool, even if they would congratulate him to do it. face one another, and keep up appearances with one another, lest they also suffer injustice” (Plato, 359a-2.360d). Glaucon clearly believes that justice is only necessary to escape punishment and suffering. According to Glaucon, personal gain resulting from immoral acts, if not accompanied by the risk of punishment, is a good thing from the point of view of the person performing these immoral acts. By asserting that all men would abuse the power of the Ring of Gyges for personal gain, Glaucon makes several assumptions about humanity. First, he assumes that all humanity shares his view that justice is good only to escape punishment or suffering. If a man who truly values ​​justice on its own merits came to possess the Ring of Gyges, he would immediately do everything in his power to prevent the ring from falling into the hands of those who would use it to commit crimes. acts of injustice. Glaucon also assumes that whoever decides to use the ring will only use it for personal gain. Someone could use the power of the Ring of Gyges to fight injustices rather than create more of them. Where one man might see the ring as an opportunity to take what he desired, another man might see it as a responsibility to use the ring to make the world a better and safer place. Glaucon assumes that all men would take the path of injustice and this is not the case. Glaucon hypothesizes that all men have the courage to do bad things. Gyges may have been capable of going from being a mild-mannered shepherd one day to becoming a murderer, a thief, and an adulterer overnight, but it's quite a stretch to say that any man could do the same. People may feel guilty for their actions even if they know they have no chance of getting caught. It is possible that the next morning, when Gyges wakes up in the king's bed next to the queen, he feels great remorse for his actions, turns himself in, and confesses to his crimes. For any other man possessing the ring, there is a chance that guilt will prevent him from committing any of the same crimes that Gyges committed in the first place. Author JRR Tolkien offers a counterexample to the Ring of Gyges in his series. The Lord of the Rings. Tolkien, an early 20th century author, wrote three books detailing the journey of a young hobbit named Frodo who finds a ring of great power and sets out on a quest to destroy the ring at great personal risk . Frodo does not embark on this quest alone, he has the help of a few other hobbits, a few men, an elf, a wizard and a dwarf. Frodo's ring has the same power as Gyges' ring. Frodo can put on the ring and become invisible to everyone around him, but when Frodo does this, he becomes exposed to Sauron. Frodo uses the ring several times to escape Sauron's armies, but he does not succumb to the ring's power or give in to the temptation to use it for personal gain. Tolkien gives us the example of a hobbit who succumbed to the power of the ring: his name is Gollum. Gollum was a normal hobbit named Sméagol, but when he discovered the ring, he became obsessed with it and its power. Gollum is depicted as a pale, slimy, miserable creature who no longer resembles a hobbit. His obsession with the ring led him to abandon his own.