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Single Idea 8

[filed under theme 23. Ethics / B. Contract Ethics / 4. Value of Authority ]

Full Idea

Thrasymachus: right is the interest of the established government.

Gist of Idea

Is right just the interests of the powerful?

Source

Plato (The Republic [c.374 BCE], 339a)

Book Ref

Plato: 'Republic', ed/tr. Waterfield,Robin [OUP 1993], p.19

A Reaction

To believe this you would have to believe the powerful control not what is judged to be right, but also the ordinary language which expresses such judgements. Marxism explains that.

The 4 ideas with the same theme [someone who creates trust by enforcing contracts]:

8 Is right just the interests of the powerful? [Plato]
6286 Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy [Jesus]
2375 Suspicion will not destroy a contract, if there is a common power to enforce it [Hobbes]
8016 Fear of sanctions is the only motive for acceptance of authority that Hobbes can think of [MacIntyre on Hobbes]