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The Republic by Plato represents ten Books and each one originally fit onto a single papyrus scroll. Much of the writing consists of dialog between Socrates and others interested in his notions. After a discussion about justice proceeds in a manner one might expect of Socrates, it takes a startling turn as Thrasymachus asserts that he knows what justice is and suggests the definitions others present are “nonsense.”
In Book 1 of The Republic, Thrasymachus says, "I declare justice is nothing but the advantage of the stronger" Robbery and violence generally represent injustices but when practiced wholesale by rulers becomes justice, because it serves the interest of those stronger rulers. In this approach, since the rulers do not obey the laws they impose on citizens, they are essentially unjust but still able to claim they are just, in a sense. At one point, Thrasymachus says, "You will understand it more easily, if you consider the perfect injustice; one which makes the unjust man most happy and makes those who are wronged but unwilling to be unjust miserable."
According to Thrasymachus, tyranny is a type of wholesale plunder but if a citizen commits theft or violence, they will face disgrace and punishment. When someone robs or commits atrocities against a whole nation and then reduces them to slavery, however, the people will eventually forget ugly names like theft or violence, only to call him fortunate, in spite of any past unmitigated atrocities.
To Thrasymachus a tyrant is happy and fortunate because he breaks the very rules of justice that he imposes on the weak. What a weak citizen calls "justice" is essentially slavery and the strong need not obey those rules. Later, philosophers like the aristocrat Niccolo Machiavelli, will expand these notions to challenge traditional morality.
After listening to Thrasymachus, Socrates refutes him: “If the weak can prevent the strong from becoming a tyrant and then taking what they want, they are in fact strong! As one might expect the voice of the master quiets Thrasymachus but at the beginning of Book 2, Glaucon and others renew arguments that anyone would be unjust, given the opportunity, if injustice brings personal happiness. The students ask Socrates to prove that it is better to be just, since unjust individuals often enjoy happiness with rewards as just people suffer poverty and disgrace.
In much of the rest of The Republic, through the words of Socrates, Plato attempts to prove that just individuals are actually happy, while unjust people, such as tyrants, generally tend to be unhappy because inner peace cannot be bought with gold.
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