MARIANO, ZNYX ALELI J.

BSE-FILIPINO 1

Module 3

Activity 1: The Ring of Gyges

I. Introduction

A. Background

The Ring of Gyges is a mythical magical artifact mentioned by

the philosopher Plato in Book 2 of his Republic. It grants its owner the power to

become invisible at will. Through the story of the ring, Republic considers whether an

intelligent person would be just if one did not have to fear any bad reputation for

committing injustices. Gyges was a shepherd in the service of the king of Lydia. He

found a ring, which turned him invisible when he twisted it onto his finger. Gyges used

this power of invisibility to commit unjust acts; he seduced the queen and then worked

with her to create a plan to kill the king, and take over the kingdom.

B. Theoretical Framework

Plato became a student of Socrates who gave great influence to him to the

extent that Socrates is usually the main character in many of Plato's writings. Plato's

Theory of Forms asserts that the physical world is not really the 'real' world; instead,

ultimate reality exists beyond our physical world. And Socrates says, “The only true

wisdom consists in knowing that you know nothing.” Socrates put emphasis on

knowledge all his life because he believed that “the ability to distinguish between right

and wrong lies in people’s reason not in society.” Learning was the only thing, Socrates
was concerned about because according to him, only learning can help a person to

have a clear and universal idea of right and wrong.   Socrates had a belief that “a divine

inner voice” guided him to be a man of virtue, as Jostein Gaarder claims, “conscience

told him [Socrates] what was right.” 'Conscience' makes a person aware of right and

wrong and the awareness comes only from learning.

C. Statement of the Problem

There are many circumstances in human life to make extreme decisions. Times

when we first need to think about the outcome of something before we do. The main

problem of this study is if I were given the opportunity to have a ring like Gyges, that

every time I wear this ring, I will become invisible. How I will going to use this

opportunity? Will I use it for good or for bad? On the other hand, just in case I decide to

take that chance to do evil what would be those evil things? What would be the negative

consequences of those evil things to my victims? Another one is what the ultimate fate

of the society if every individual has a ring similar to Gyges.

II. Presentation and critical analysis of Data

A. Reality

The reality of life is based on its state in life. If its state is difficult, it will probably

think of doing evil. Maybe if I do something bad by being invisible, the first thing I will do

is take money from the bank so I can buy necessities or I will buy property. Using this

money I can buy everything that I want. Second, I will repay the people who hurt me by

planning something bad for them so that they will suffer too as they did to me. Last,

maybe I will kill people who abuse or rape who kill innocent children because they have
no mercy on their victims. Maybe if I do those evil things, it will have a lot of impact not

only on me but also on the victims or people I will harm. Like for example, stealing

money that is not mine, the outcome of this act is that the bank can go bankrupt and

many people will be affected especially the employees and people who put money in

this bank. Secondly, retaliating against people who hurt me, when I did that thing I was

not fair because I hurt them without them knowing. Lastly, the consequence to the

victim is, he will experienced the thing he did to other people. But killing a person is

strictly forbidden by God. It is a great sin against God. So the consequence of this act is

that I sinned not only against that person but against God. Because I believe that all our

actions have an inherent responsibility and in every sin we commit there is a human law

to be judged.

B. Reflection

Socrates also argues that the just life is more pleasurable than the unjust life. But

in this case scenario, what is the ultimate fate of the society wherein every individual

has a ring similar to the ring of Gyges. Maybe then there will be a great commotion in

that area or someone else will die. Many will fight or be hurt because what people do is

purely selfish. There will also be more thieves and will lose privacy in life. In other

words, there will be no peace in that place because only evil deeds will prevail. Many

women or young people will be abused by exploitative people.

C. Response

Plato believed that reality is an imperfect reflection of a perfect ideal called the

Forms. He demonstrates the effect of this dual reality and the need for education in his
Allegory of the Cave. Like the dualism of reality. Plato also believed that humans are of

a dual nature: body and mind. But according to Plato, the main lesson of the Ring of

Gyges was there were those who would chose to be good simply because of doing well.

A bad person could be as happy as or perhaps even happier than a good person to

refute those who said that Plato tries to prove that we can never be truly happy unless

we're living a virtuous life. Plato argued that the purest and most secure form of human

happiness consists in tranquility or peace of mind or spiritual harmony or perhaps a

good conscience.

III. Summary, Conclusion and Recommendation

The Ring of Gyges is a fiction written by Philosopher Plato. It is based on the

character of Gyges where he becomes invisible in the ring he finds. He had the

opportunity to do what he wanted. In life, many temptations will come to us. Perhaps

some of these we cannot control but we must remember that every action or decision

we make, will have an impact on our personality. Let us not forget that even if we have

a ring like Gyges, we should not hurt our neighbor or worse kill because if no one sees

what we have done, God sees us and time will come we will pay for all our

wrongdoings. Because no matter what life throws your way, no matter how unfair it may

seem, refuse to play with the victims. Be a warrior and work through with courage, love

and positivity.

Reference

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ring_of_Gyges
https://medium.com/indian-thoughts/the-ring-of-gyges-is-justice-always-self-interested-

f67b4689f742

NAME: MARIANO, ZNYX ALELI J. BSE-FILIPINO 1

Module 3

Activity 2: Eutyphro Problem

I. Introduction

A. Background

The Euthyphro dialogue occurs near the court of the archon basileus (king

magistrate), where Socrates and Euthyphro encounter each other; each man is present

at the court for the preliminary hearings to possible trials. Euthyphro is an orthodox and

dogmatically religious man, believing he knows everything there is to know about holy

matters. He often makes prophecies to others, and has brought his father to trial on a

questionable murder charge. Euthyphro has come to present charges of murder against

his own father who, after arresting one of his workers for killing a slave from the family

estate on Naxos Island, tied him and threw him in a ditch where he died of exposure to

the elements without proper care and attention while Euthyphro's father waited to hear

from the exegetes about how to proceed.

B. Theoretical Framework
 As early as Plato’s dialogue Euthypro, were advocating theories that claim such

things as whatever is morally obligatory is obligatory because God commands it. There

is a range of such theories offering one description that adequately characterizes them

all in very difficult. Some theorists focus on the moral obligatoriness of actions, others

on the moral virtue of traits of character. Some theorists take God’s commanding as

creating the obligation. Maybe other people are against one's beliefs but that does not

mean he is against his beliefs as a person. In my opinion, the theory of this study why

so people do bad things because of anger or envy and the thought that everyone has

the right to do what they want without thinking about the consequences of what they will

do.

C. Statement of the Problem

In this dialogue of Plato many questions can be asked about his problem. But the

main problem of this dialogue is "What is Euthyphro's Dilemma or Euthyphro's

problem?"

The Euthyphro Dilemma is a philosophical problem concerned with a view of morality

related to theism. The Euthyphro Dilemma asks: do the gods love good action because

it is good, or is good action good because it is loved by the gods? But according to

Divine Command Theory why accepting the belief that “right actions are right because

God commands them” and why accepting the belief that “right actions are commanded

by God because they are right”.

II. Presentation and critical analysis of Data

A. Reality
 Plato's famous question regarding the nature of goodness is whether something

is good because God calls it good, or does God call that thing good because it is good.

A defender of Divine Command Theory might respond that an action is morally right

because God commands it. However, the implication of this response is that if God

commanded that we inflict suffering on others for fun, then doing so would be

morally right. We would be obligated to do so, because God commanded it. But in my

opinion, God’s love good deeds because they are good because no one will love evil

deeds. In a person's life, we have many mistakes that we can correct if we want to

because God knows how to forgive those who come to him. “Right actions are

commanded by God because they are right” because for no one will be commanded to

do evil unless they are contrary to the truth.

B. Reflection

There are two problems with this question for us a believer of God. First, if

something is good because God simply called it good, it would appear that God can say

that anything is good and that it will be good. This may include things we naturally call

evil, such as rape and murder. But we do not want morality to depend on God's

declaration alone, so this view is not good for the believer. However, if God simply

reports the goodness of something, it turns out that God is not the standard of goodness

and He seems to depend on an external standard not His own standard. Our actions

have an associated responsibility, so let us not make it an obligation to do well to others

but do it naturally within us. At the end, by doing right, we can show that God's

command to us is good and will benefit us and others.

C. Response
 As Christians, we must uphold God's sovereignty and His natural goodness.

Thus, we do not want an unreasonable standard or a standard that exists separately

from God. Best of all, God is both good and infinite in power. Therefore, God's very

nature can be the standard of goodness and God can base good on his declaration of

goodness to Himself. God's nature does not change and He is naturally good; therefore,

His declaration of the goodness of something is reasonable and always true. His will is

always just and His declaration is always right. In my opinion, in every action we take,

and it must contain the will of God not only because it is what we know to be right but it

is a way of our submission to God.

III. Summary, Conclusion and Recommendation

In summary of this, the purpose of establishing a clear definition is to provide a

basis for Euthyphro to teach Socrates the answer to the question: "What is piety?"

Ostensibly, the purpose of the dialogue is to provide Socrates with a definitive meaning

of "piety", with which he can defend against the charge of impiety in the pending trial.

Socrates wonders what Euthyphro means by "looking after the gods." Surely, the gods

are omnipotent, and don't need us to look after them or help them in any

way. Euthyphro's final suggestion is that holiness is a kind of trading with the gods,

where we give them sacrifices and they grant our prayers. The goodness of an object is

determined by its purpose. God has set the purpose of all His creation. There is a

definite purpose in everything He did and anything that hinders this purpose is evil. In

the end, something is good if it fulfills its purpose. Because God created all things,

according to His good nature, He is truly the standard and declarer of goodness. And

good works are a gift from God to us as well as to all who believe in Him
Reference

https://www.thoughtco.com/platos-euthyphro-2670341

http://classics.mit.edu/Plato/euthyfro.html