In a selection from Plato’s Republic, Socrates and Glaucon participate in a dialogue that presents the notion that justice is a trait of the human soul constructed by three parts. Socrates claims that the only way to encourage justice in the world is to encourage the tripartite nature of the soul. In order to be a just person, one’s soul must act such that the appetite craves only what reason deems acceptable, the spirit endeavors to act, while reason rules supreme over the soul. Only while the soul properly functions per these guidelines, justice can prevails and humans can claim to be a just people.
By analogizing justice in this way, Socrates, and therefore Plato, argue that justice is an inherent trait borne from the very souls and psychology of humans. I do not agree with this. Humans are biologically wired with certain instincts; instincts to survive, protect what is theirs, and, in females, to care for their young. They instinctively strive to achieve certain goals based on their desires. In this way, I do agree with Plato’s ideas.
However, humans are fundamentally wired to either act as predators or prey and in a way, Plato discusses this although it is in different terms (he states there are people who do injustice, predator; and those who suffer it, prey). The way that I mean it though is that there are people (predator) who seem to be hardwired to stand up for people (prey) who are too weak to do so. Therefore, the appetitive and spirited nature of humans follow Plato’s ideas. The rational is a different story.
Justice is not a characteristic born to humans. There is not a “justice” gene, unless you’re Superman maybe. Justice is a principle thought up by humans to create a stable and fair society. It is something that came from the minds of great rational thinkers. There’s the crux of Plato’s argument. The principle came from rationality that came from the mind, not biology. Humans are not born with a natural rational complex; it is something that comes with learned knowledge and wisdom. As a species, humans are capable of becoming rational but I think everyone could agree that when a child is merely a few days old, there isn’t a significant amount of rational thought going on.
Plato says that rationality is the sign of an evolved soul. Rationality is not tied to the soul. It seems that what Plato describes as the soul, should actually be called human nature. From that standpoint, justice is better described as a rational strategy used by those biologically driven to protect the prey of society and society itself.
A question that I have regarding this stance is that do you believe that all people who are not "prey" are automatically "predators" or is there a sort of middle ground between them? I believe that the people you describe as "predators" who stand up for the weak are different than those that are actually preying on them, but that is just my opinion. I do agree with you on the fact that justice is not born to humans and that is a learned characteristic that comes through experience and teaching. Someone's own beliefs of justice has to be influenced by something that the person has heard, seen, or been taught by someone other than themselves.
ReplyDeleteI understand your question. You seem to have answered at least part of it for yourself though. Just as "predators" are not the same as those who prey on the weak, not everyone who is not a predator is "prey." There is a middle class, so to speak, that choose to remain passive and are neither weak enough to become prey nor domineering enough to be considered predators. That is not to say that they do not have the biological tendencies to act as predators, it is that they choose to remain indifferent to any injustices that may be happening.
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