The Art of Justice in Athens

Throsimachus admires the man who is bold enough to commit any number of so called injustices. On this view, justice is simply whatever benefits the strong. Common conceptions of justice help the weak rather than the strong because they keep the strong in line and allow the weak a share in decision making. After this dialogue between socrates and throsimachus, book one of the republic comes to an end. When book two opens, glaucon and adiamantus complain that socrates's refutation of simachus has left them unsatisfied. They would like to be convinced once and for all that justice really is better than injustice.