Due Tuesday, 3/20 Republic Assignment

In your opinion, is Polemarchus definition of justice, derived from the poet Simonedes, an improvement from his father’s definition?

Well, that is really difficult to decide because of how he revered both. However, I definitely lean more towards it deriving from Simonedes.

What is Simonides definition of justice? Has Polemarchus interpreted him correctly?

Simonedes says that justice is to help your friends and hurt your enemies. That is really how Polemarchus interpreted him, and it was correct I believe.

What problem does Socrates see in the phrase, “helping one’s friends and harming ones enemies”? Why is this not an accurate definition of justice?

Well, he sees that man is generally incorrect about things, and that they base their decisions on their likes and dislikes, so a friend might not be actually good and an enemy might not be bad. But that doesn't stop the person from helping the friends and harming the enemy, which is the reverse of what Simonedes meant. It is not an accurate definition of justice because it is based on emotion.

What lesson do you think Socrates/Plato is trying to prove by having Polemarchus give in to Socrates when his father (Cephalus) would not?

I'm not sure if there really is an underlying meaning. The only thing it could do is cause a rift between father and son, or show that the inexperienced are more likely to change their mind than the experienced.E) Whose argument do you find more convincing, Polemarchus or Socrates? Why? (This should be a longer response, short paragraph, about 5 sentences).When you think about it, Socrates really doesn't have an arguement! All he is trying to say is that Polemarchus is wrong, not putting forward an arguement. Nonetheless, he completely dis-assembled Polemarchus' arguement, and in doing so, took away all credibility from it.