Journal Entry # 4 THE REPUBLIC BOOK II THE ULTIMATE CHOICE The Republic (Book II) revisit the issue

discussed in book one. The idea of justice and injustice and whether one is better than the other. According to Socrates, Justice in the long run pays better for it is the road to happiness. Socrates says that justice is in the most beautiful class of all: the class of things we choose to have for their own sake and for the sake of their consequences. I happen to agree with him. Singer better explains using Ivan as an example in his The Ultimate Choice. Ivan Boesky with all his wealth was not satisfied and his desire to have more and more lead eventual demise. His point is that Justice is what you choose. Glaucon says that "justice is practiced only under compulsion, as someone else's good - not our own." Glaucons argument is that people follow laws out of fear of getting caught. This is to some extent true. Some people follow laws out of fear but others do so because it causes in discomfort and it is in their nature to be just. His reasoning that we follow laws as someone elses good is not true. We follow laws because it helps keep society in order. Justice is not about the exterior but rather how one view oneself internally. Singer argues that selfishness is the root of injustice, therefore if people curbed their self interest they would be able to become just. Singers position is strengthened by his explanation of the ethics and self interest. He explains that although man is always between the pull to advance ourselves or to do the right thing, the pull between those two shows sense of righteousness for an unjust man would never ask himself about the ethics of what he is doing. The just man is much happier because he doesnt have a guilty conscience therefore Singers position is much stronger.