I was reading over the notes taken in
class to try to come up with a concept of what to write about. The
one thing that struck me was the quote by Thrasymachus “justice is
the advantage of the strongest”. Also in my notes was the phrase
“bad boy” and I said to myself this is the Greek version of James
Dean in Rebel Without A Cause.
The quote struck me the way it did,
because of how accurate it came across. Where Cephalus and
Polemarchus's claims on justice seemed untrained in their focus,
Thrasymachus made a claim that had a lot of real world application.
What is perceived as “justice”
benefits the strongest group. Men restricting what women can do with
their bodies is built upon this concept of morality and in essence
justice. It benefits men to confine women. Men taking away a woman's
options to make decisions for herself is harming the woman and not
the man. It benefits men to restrict women this way.
The Black Lives Matter movement
revolves around this concept of Thasymachus. There is no justice in
killing unarmed black men, but the powers that exist allow for it be
portrayed that way. It's hard to imagine a white woman being treated
the way Sandra Bland was. Or a white man being choked to death like
Eric Garner. Justice wasn't built to protect them the way it protects
the people in power.
Who ever wields the political power is
the one who will be defining what justice is. If women made up 95% of
the political power for and extended period of time, some form of
male oppression would more than likely occur justifying this concept
of “menism”. If the power structure was reversed in regards to
ethnicity, the concept of White Lives Matter could be made. It
benefits the people in power to make justice something that protects
and promotes their interests.
I think your view on justice being the advantage of the strongest, is a good one. It shows that justice can be bent or formed into something that benefits a certain group of people. I think it is important to take this in consideration when trying to determine what is just and what is unjust. What is just to some, can be considered completely different to someone else because of different levels power or strength. This is why I agree with your statement. Justice is something that can be shaped into something that benefits a group of people.
ReplyDeleteJames, your article is very thought provoking. It made me think of many relevant issues in respect to Thrasymachus' definition of Justice in ways I wouldn't usually. The part I liked about it was when you touched the issues of minorities and women. I wish you could go into more detail and make an article for each subject.
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