The Republic Lesson Plan

If you had to choose, which of the different definitions of justice presented in Book I would you say is the most compelling, and why? Do you feel that Socrates succeeded in refuting that analysis of justice? Why or why not? If not, do you think that there is a better argument available to refute that analysis?

This is an open question, designed to elicit first responses to the material from students. The teacher can expect a number of students to find Thrasymachos's definition of justice particularly relevant, as its appeal to relativism is likely to align with their experience of the world. Just as "history is written by the victors" (or so the saying goes),...