The Ring of Gyges

The Ring of Gyges

The story about of The Ring of Gyges ' is a question of morality that compels the reader to ask himself and evaluate his own morality , that is , whether or not he considers himself moral or immoral . Although morality is not all-or-nothing , given the complexity and thoroughness with which Socrates developed this virtue , and the number of prominent people who argued for and against his stand , the story is a simple , yet direct , method of assessing personal virtuosity

Happiness , according to Socrates , [ .] does not consist in being

br delivered from evils , but in never having them (p . 72 . From this statement , he elaborated on the nature of what is good by differentiating the state of happiness of three men : a sick man who refuses treatment because of fear of pain , a sick man who seeks cure and a healthy man (who did not get sick . Following from Socrates statement , the healthy man is therefore the happiest among the three followed by the sick man who wants to get cured , and least of all the sick man who refuses treatment . From this analogy , Socrates further elaborated on the virtue of justice /morality by likening it with the cure : A man who wants to get cured (or a man who wants to get rid of the evil that contaminated him ) is a virtuous man . But more than that , of course , is the good man who prevents evil from beseeching him . On the other hand , the sick man who...