Do you agree with Plato about what most people would do if they had a ring of Gyges?
The ring of Gyges was a mythical ring that when worn and the collet turned inwards the wearer would turn invincible. Plato thought no man would stand iron in nature and not falter in his or her moral ethics and stand fast injustice with the ability to turn invisible as seen with Gynes (Lawrence 14). With the ability to turn invincible people would no longer be just, go on sprees taking what isn’t theirs and committing crimes as in people in their hearts believe that injustice is more profitable. In agreement with Plato, I believe that people with this level of freedom will likely lean on the unjust, this is because in the current society most people are guided by our desires with a gluttonous appetite for material wealth which often are clouded by a false sense of loyalty, emotional attachments which often may be unhealthy.
People are guided by self-interest anything deviating from one’s personal interest is usually associated with personal gain. This is seen in the society with people working at jobs and their willingness to bend institution regulations for their own personal gain. Many institutions face fraudulent activities from the personnel entrusted by the institutions to protect their assets. A ring of Gyges will lead to a rise in unjust activities rather than promote a more just environment. The current society gives a way for people to bottle their anger and issues in fear of the law put in place for them to protect them. From a United States perspective where currently there is racial strife between the justice systems with racial indifferences in the country, this has led to a countrywide increase in crime with people looting on the cover of the ongoing pandemic affecting the whole world. People are seen with the cover of the face masks breaking into stores and stealing with the cover of a protest. An invisibility ring would encourage people to commit more crimes including money heists in banks, this having no way to be traced back to them. This is expected in the society where elites work less for higher pay and the working class work so much for just a fraction of what the elites get. People in return believe that to get to the top you need not play by the rules, with everyone’s desires on the line it’s so had to stand with your morals with this kind of power at hand.
In objection to the argument, People are not always as selfish as to be highly bent on their self-interest to discard their moral values so as to have some gain over the populous. People make moral decisions every day without any influence from the authoritative system to guide them in the right part. As seen by peaceful protests shown in the United States, some parts of the country at least. Also seen by the police officers showing remorse over the actions of one their own, even though the general public has had zero faith in the police admitting when there wrong as they normally are thought to hide behind the law, their badges being the absolute symbol for authority and being right. People can’t be paged as criminals and unjust just because they hide under masks. People may try to abstract their true nature but in face of injustice, they are able to make just decisions, respecting the law, their own moral accord, and be ethical enough to fight for the right thing without they themselves being unjust to be heard.
Though people aren’t always selfish and fight for their own interests alone, with the right opportunities presented to them they will lean on the unjust not only to fight for what they believe to theirs but also what is right. This can be seen in the authoritative system using immoral and highly unethical means to fight for justice, the unconventional police shooting of unarmed civilians for their racial differences, even make unlawful arrests and judgment based on false evidence. This in itself shows the people how unfair the world is with the societal ethics being manipulated constantly by the people in power, creating a questionable sense of morals and ethics in the people who look up to them. The ring of Gynes in people’s hands will give an opportunity like no other, giving them the power to become invisible meaning the walls of ethics and morals which are strongly bound by the societal laws and regulations finally come down. The people not using this power for illegal, immoral, and unethical activities will be seen as idiots.
Morality and Ethics in the current society are upheld by the justice system put in place. Without the prison of laws and regulations to guide us through fear and hope, society would collapse into chaos. The laws hold accountable everyone to their own individual actions, consequences are faced directly as no one hides in a mask. However, this does not mean that people want to obey the rules all the time be ethical because under the covers of everyone’s homes people have their own agendas. The ring of Gynes being an opportunity of a lifetime could facilitate acts of high terrorism like assassinations, this on a society that celebrates the ancient ways of ninjas who basically trained and lived their lives as assassins. People with this power would most likely dwell on revenge; this can be either on the system that wronged them, broken up couples as seen with an increasing rise in domestic violence in the current society, and even on the justice system that wronged them by playing roles as vigilantes. War and violence is the most primal instinct for people to understand each other.
Work Cited
Lawrence, Matt. Philosophy on Tap: Pint-Sized Puzzles for the Pub Philosopher. John Wiley & Sons, 2011.