Glaucon, older brother of the great philosopher Plato and student of Socrates, presents the myth of the Ring of Gyges to Socrates in book two of La Repubblica during their discussion on the nature of Justice. The Ring of Gyges is the story of a man who finds a ring that gives him the power to become invisible and uses this ability to do immoral things. Glaucon uses this story to make his point: "And this we may truly say is a great proof that a man is just, not voluntarily or because he thinks justice is good for him individually, but necessarily, because everywhere someone thinks that can easily be unjust, here it is unjust. Since all men believe in their hearts that injustice is much more advantageous to the individual than justice, and whoever argues as I have supposed will say that they are right" (Plato, 359a– 2.360d) Glaucon states in that quote that he believes that injustice that benefits someone personally is not bad for that specific person, but is only bad for the people who suffer from that same injustice. Glaucon believes that people act justly only out of fear that others will see their unjust acts and use them as justification to commit acts of injustice against them. I disagree with Glaucon's statement that all men would abuse the power of the ring of Gyges. Glaucon uses the story of the ring of Gyges to make assumptions about all of humanity and failed to consider the complexity of humanity and the wide variety of ways in which the ring of Gyges could be used. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay The myth of the Ring of Gyges tells the story of Gyges, a shepherd who serves the king of Lydia. One day, after a terrible storm and an earthquake, Gyges finds an opening in the earth that had been created by the earthquake. When he descends into this opening he finds a corpse wearing a gold ring. Gyges takes the dead man's ring and then leaves through this opening in the earth to go and meet the other shepherds. During the encounter with the shepherds, Gyges turns the ring on his finger and is shocked to discover that the simple act of turning the ring on his finger had made him invisible. He turns his ring again and becomes visible again. He tests this trick several times to make sure that twisting this dead man's ring is what gives him the ability to turn invisible. The shepherd chose Gyges to go to the king and report on how the king's flocks of sheep are doing. When Gyges arrives at the castle he decides to use his newfound power of invisibility to seduce the queen. After Gyges seduces the queen together, he and the queen plot to kill the king. After killing King Gyges he takes control of the kingdom of Lydia. Glaucon does not use this story to condemn Glaucon for his actions. Glaucon tells this story simply to state that he believes that all men would take what they want and do what they want if there were no consequences for their actions. Glaucon tells Socrates that "no man would keep his hands off what is not his when he could safely take what he likes from the market, or enter houses and lie with anyone at his pleasure, or kill or release from prison." who would, and in all respects be as a God among men” (Plato, 359a–2.360d). Glaucon even goes so far as to say that if a man could possess the ring and resist the temptation to use its great power to commit acts of injustice, this man should not be praised but instead should be mocked and called mad. Glaucon says, “If you could imagine someone whohas the power to become invisible and never do anything wrong and never touch what belongs to others, the spectators would think him a miserable idiot, even if they would praise him." look each other in the face and keep up appearances with each other for fear that they too might suffer injustice” (Plato, 359a–2.360d). Glaucon clearly believes that justice is necessary only to escape punishment and suffering. Personal gain through immoral acts , if it does not involve the risk of punishment, is a good thing from the person's point of view. These immoral acts according to Glaucon When it is stated that all men would abuse the power of the ring of Gyges for their own personal gain, Glaucon makes several assumptions. on humanity.First of all, it assumes that all humanity shares his opinion that justice is useful only to escape punishment or suffering , he would immediately do everything in his power to prevent the ring from falling into the hands of those who would use it to commit acts of injustice. Glaucon also assumes that anyone who decided to use the ring would only use it for their own personal gain. Someone could use the power of the Ring of Gyges to fight injustice instead of creating more. Where one man might see the ring as an opportunity to take what he wants, another man might see it as a responsibility to use the ring to make the world a better and safer world. Glaucon assumes that all men would take the path of injustice and this is not the case. Glaucon makes another hypothesis that all men have the courage to do evil things. Gyges may have been able to transform from a gentle shepherd one day and then become a murderer, a thief, and an adulterer overnight, but it is quite an exaggeration to say that any man could do the same. People can feel guilty about their actions even when they know there is no chance of getting caught. There is a possibility that the next morning, when Gyges wakes up in the king's bed next to the queen, he feels great remorse for his actions and turns himself in and confesses to his crimes. For any other man who possessed the ring, there is a possibility that guilt could prevent him from committing any of the same crimes Gyges committed in the first place. Author JRR Tolkien offers a counterexample to the Ring of Gyges in his Lord of the Rings series. Tolkien, an early 20th century author, wrote three books detailing the journey of a young hobbit named Frodo who finds a ring of great power and embarks on a quest to destroy the ring at great personal risk. Frodo does not undertake this quest alone: ​​he has the help of other hobbits, some men, an elf, a wizard and a dwarf. Frodo's ring has the same power as Gyges' ring. Frodo can slip on the ring and become invisible to everyone around him, but when Frodo does so he is exposed to Sauron. Frodo uses the ring several times to escape from Sauron's armies, but he does not succumb to the ring's power or give in to the temptation to use it for personal gain. Tolkien gives us the example of a hobbit who succumbed to the power of the ring: his name is Gollum. Gollum was an ordinary hobbit named Sméagol, but when he discovered the ring he became obsessed with it and its power. Gollum is depicted as a pale, slimy, miserable creature who hardly resembles a hobbit anymore. His obsession with the ring led him to give up his health, personal care and other basic needs to focus solely on his "precious one." Frodo is eventually able to.