Andrew Ajaka

Mr. Stein

Legal Ethics

Due: 9/22/16

Platos The Myth of Gyges

1. I do think that people will break laws and violate traditional moral vales if they were

confident that they wouldnt be caught. This is because of the degree to which peoples

own moral values and ways of life are based off of the population around them and how

depending on the environment and the type of people around them, even ones most rigid

moral code can break. This also works in reverse, to the point where if we dont think

that anyone will be able to judge us differently for the way we act, such as the breaking

of laws in this particular case, then we will not be as hesitant to do crazy and what may

normally seem erratic things, such as break laws. This goes even further when you state

that they are certain that they wont be caught. Most human beings, especially children,

have a tendency to do everything you tell them not to do, but can be restrained through

the controls of laws and rules as they grow up. Through the removal of such laws from

the equation, the child-like aspect of ourselves will surge to the surface and we will do

what it is we should not be doing.

2. I believe that Glaucons viewpoint of what people say is wrong to do is, in itself a

desirable; on the other hand, it is not desirable to suffer wrong and the harm to the

sufferer outweighs the advantage to the doer. I believe that as a species, we have a

tendency to find what is commonly referred to as wrong as seductive and exciting, due to

the romanticism of rebellion as it is not only represented in the media but even
throughout our educational teachings of revolts. I believe that this is why most people

tend to pay more attention at the introduction of events such as the American Revolution,

or the French revolution, and there have been movies about such major events in history.

Even the revolts of 1848 are portrayed in such a romantic lens in films such as Les

Miserables. I think this attributes to why most kids want to dress up as Darth Vader, the

Joker, or Jafar when they go trick or treating then they would want to dress up as some

lame good guy who does everything correctly. I also think that this viewpoint is more

correct due to the fact that he mentions how it is, in fact, not desirable to suffer wrong

with the harm of the sufferer outweighing the harm done to the doer, going to a more

evolutionary perspective of how we are almost wired to do whatever possible to survive,

whether it stray from our fight or flight instincts or to our sensitivity to pain (such as a

burn, or a cut) allowing us to react quickly and save as much as we can of ourselves.