Glaucon's view of justice
Topic: Equality and Social Justice · NCERT: Class 11, Ch 4 "Social Justice"
Meaning
In Plato's Republic, set in Athens in the 4th century BC, Glaucon argues with Socrates about justice. He says people fear suffering injustice more than they enjoy doing it. So they agree to make laws and mutual promises (covenants) to protect themselves. They then call whatever the law orders "just". This is an early form of contract theory, the idea that rules come from an agreement among people. Socrates replied that if everyone broke the rules, no one would be safe. So justice serves everyone's long-term interest.
Example
Imagine people who stop stealing from each other only because each fears being robbed. On Glaucon's view, their agreement not to steal is the whole of "justice".
Don't confuse with
- Thrasymachus' view: another speaker in the Republic, he said justice is "the interest of the stronger". Glaucon sees justice as a shared agreement made out of fear, not as a tool of the powerful.
Related concepts
- Justice
- Dharma as justice
- Confucian idea of justice
- Plato's theory of justice
- Giving each person his due