Justice and Injustice

Where it surfaces

• Dialogues

  The central theme of the Republic, explored through Socratic questioning and the challenge posed by Thrasymachus.

• Euthyphro

  The dialogue examines the nature of piety as a part of justice, questioning whether actions are pious because the gods love them or loved because they are pious.

• Euthyphro

  The dialogue explores the relationship between piety and justice, with Socrates arguing that piety is a part of justice, and questioning whether prosecuting one's father is just.

• Apology

  Socrates argues that his philosophical mission is just and divinely ordained, while the charges against him are unjust and based on prejudice.

• Apology

  Socrates argues that it is unjust to kill him, as he is a divine gift to Athens, and that his accusers commit a greater evil by seeking his death.

• Crito

  Socrates argues that it would be unjust to escape punishment because it would violate the laws of Athens, which he has implicitly agreed to obey.

• Crito

  Socrates argues that it is never just to do wrong or to return evil for evil, even when one has been wronged by the state.

• Gorgias

  Socrates argues that it is worse to commit injustice than to suffer it, and that the just life is the only happy one.

• Gorgias

  Socrates argues that doing injustice is worse than suffering it, and that punishment is necessary for the soul's correction.

• Republic

  The central theme of the Republic, examining what justice is and why it is preferable to injustice.

• Introduction and Analysis

  Justice is defined as each part of the soul or class in the state doing its own business, a harmony of the whole; injustice arises when parts interfere with each other's roles.

• The Republic

  Explored through the choice of lives and the just ruler's obligation to serve the state.

• Book I

  The central theme of the chapter, as Socrates and Thrasymachus debate whether justice or injustice is more profitable and virtuous.

• Book II

  Central theme: Glaucon and Adeimantus demand a defense of justice for its own sake, not for its external rewards.

• Book IV

  Justice is defined as each part of the soul or state doing its own work, while injustice is the meddling of classes or parts, leading to ruin.

• Book VIII

  The chapter contrasts just and unjust lives by examining the decline from aristocracy to tyranny, culminating in the tyrant's soul.

• Book IX: The Tyrannical Soul and the Superiority of Justice

  Socrates demonstrates that injustice, especially in the tyrannical man, leads to inner slavery and misery, while justice brings harmony and true happiness.

• Book X

  The entire discussion is framed around the choice between just and unjust lives, with the Myth of Er illustrating the eternal consequences of that choice.

• Introduction and Analysis

  The chapter contrasts the justice and virtue of the primitive Athenians with the gradual degeneration and iniquity of the Atlanteans, leading to divine punishment.

• Introduction and Analysis

  The discussion contrasts the righteous man who becomes like God with the unrighteous man who grows more unjust. The penalty of injustice is not death but the fatal necessity of becoming more unjust, and two patterns of life—blessed and divine versus godless and wretched—are set before humanity.

• Introduction and Analysis

  Correction cures injustice in the soul, analogous to medicine curing disease in the body.

• Introduction and Analysis

  Addresses the natural sense of right that prevails across classes and the crises that raise the sense of freedom and justice.

• Introduction and Analysis

  The chapter explores the distinction between just and unjust actions, the classification of voluntary and involuntary crimes, and the role of the legislator in remedying injustice.

• The Preamble

  Defines justice as the rule of the opinion of the best in soul or state, and injustice as the dominion of anger, fear, pleasure, and desire.

• Excursus on the Relation of the Laws of Plato to the Institutions of Crete and Lacedaemon and to the Laws and Constitution of Athens

  Plato's laws aim to achieve justice through impartiality, reformative punishment, and protection against corruption.

• Laws

  The argument that the just life is also the pleasantest is central, with the legislator using persuasion to make citizens choose justice voluntarily.

• Book II

  The dialogue argues that the just life is also the most pleasant, and that the legislator must persuade citizens that justice leads to happiness, while injustice leads to misery.

• Book III

  Explores the relationship between justice, temperance, and the proper ordering of society.

• Book VI

  The Athenian Stranger emphasizes that the legislator should look to justice, distributing natural equality among unequals, and using the equality of the lot only when necessary to avoid faction.

• Book IX

  The Athenian Stranger defines justice as the dominion of the best opinion in the soul, and injustice as the tyranny of passions and desires over the soul.

• Book X

  The Athenian argues that divine justice ensures souls go to appropriate places based on their virtue or vice.

• Book XI

  The laws aim to ensure justice for orphans, regulate fair dealings, and punish wrongdoing, with a focus on moral and legal rectitude.

• Book XII

  The discussion of false witness and the distinction between voluntary and involuntary loss of arms highlights the pursuit of justice in legal judgments.

• Lesser Hippias

  The dialogue examines whether justice is a power or knowledge, and whether the just soul is better able to do both good and evil voluntarily.

• Lesser Hippias

  The discussion ties voluntary wrongdoing to the soul's power and art, questioning whether the just man or the unjust man is better.