Plato’s Problem
Introduction
Plato’s Meno introduces Socratic’s ethical elements and platonic fundamentals of fictional dialogue that is founded on political occasion and traditional apprehensions. One of the problems mentioned in the Meno is a sudden, prepackaged orator’s trial on whether virtue could be acquired and later used for the greater good. These inquiries demonstrate characteristic features cross-examination and later apply the underpinning ways of acquiring a particular goal. Nevertheless, in the argument, Plato retains a balanced perspective on ethics and the principles governing ethical norms (Mouzala, 2017). Combined with other perspectives, Plato claims that ethical based concepts drive the main aim of any human being. This way, the key objective of any human thought is to conduct himself or herself in an ethical manner rather than the application of the relevant skills and attention to other subject matters of life.
The Main Argument on Ethics
According to Plato republic relies based on balancing unjust with justice so that the society might see the need for jurisdictional institutions. Thus, the systematic interpretation of the law is dependent on the invention of morality and how people perceive the relationships between them and other people (Mouzala, 2017). Simply put, the terms of the agreement on ethical issues might be debatable or even too general to give a distinctive statement on right or wrong placement of the law. In the long run, one has to acquire the basic needs of the conversion of the law into simple logical steps that could be helped in the long run to assist human beings to live harmoniously amongst themselves.
One of the most common aspects of Plato's argument which is normally used and applied in the present society is that the majority is not usually on the right side of the law and that the law might be aligned based on one's moral code. In the long run, Plato's argument hinged on society ad how people tend to interpret the laws they come into contact with (Mouzala, 2017). In some cases, ethical situations might call for civil disobedience hence questioning the effectiveness of the ethical perspectives and the relevance of the underpinning nature of some aspects of the law. In the long run, one could fail to distinguish the line between right and wrong hence giving people the chance to go against the societal norms and break away from the watchful eyes of society. At the end of the day, people's ethical views are under the evaluation of people and government are to decide the main principle of their ideologies running their town and how best to protect their interests. Therefore, the community and people living in a certain society are to determine the main ethical issues which can be applied to all the people uniformly and how the people can break or use the ethical norms to run their affairs within the locality.
As Plato develops his argument further, he claims that all humans have good within their hearts no matter their outward deeds hence the application of certain tendencies to go against the community regulations and norms. Each man and woman has a chance to come up with his or her moral compass which in turn can be used to mark the key tenets of the society (Tovar, 2017). Thus, society can differ as one moves from one community to another based on the needs of the people how they intend to safeguard their resources within the society. Hence, one can assume that ethical issues are based on the principle and attitudes of certain communities toward certain issues. Therefore, wrong or right can be defined or defied within the community but can be an accepted norm in another place in the world. In other words, the main principles of ethical bee challenged or even contradict each other based on the various aspects of the confines of the members of the community. In simpler terms, ethical issues might differ from one place to another based on the underlying tenets of the law or perspectives driving the main human agenda at the moment.
However, the moral standard and the specific moral conclusion demonstrates the normative arguments since one single try to subscribe to explain one ethical code, pushes another ethical system as each ethical system has its norms and customs. More so, one can challenge the varying notion of ethical norms drives the comprehension of customary lines of distinction through the gaining of factual information and perpetual interpretation of the link between conventional ethics and numerous ethical norms between one society and another. Thus, the varying nature of society gives people the right to question some rules and frameworks governing their government and societies (Altman, 2016). For the freethinker, ethical issues should facilitate the needs of the people rather than deny them the right to attain or accomplish certain tasks. In terms of the economic classes and the perception running the day-to-day lives of people tend to push the narrative that the society functions as a moral compass hence people conform based on the opinion of the majority of the people. Along the lines of ethical perspectives, some people say that Plato's perspective relied on the common good and objective function of the entire society. The nature of man is tied to anarchy hence the need to retain normalcy through societal norms and wants of the entire community. Anyone who contradicts society might be deemed as pervasive or deviant. The chance to come up with the nitty-gritty details of ethical needs strains the relationships between people hence forcing them into creating alternative characters to cope with the situations as they seem fit.
One human attribute that forces him or her to rely on ethics is the preservation of life and retaining peace and development. Humans are known to follow the crowd to achieve a common good or achieve a certain goal. Thus, the inclusion of the broader aim of the ethical goals is to attain the collective perspectives of the people while retaining the standardized notions of the community members (Altman, 2016). Once people attain certain objectives, the second aim is establishing the means of protecting the achievements made. In the event that one breaches or goes against the norms of a certain society. Community members are usually ready to rectify the mistake through penalties stipulated within the confines of the community.
People who argued against Plato's perspectives on ethics claimed that there are a defined right and wrong and the two sides cannot be interchangeable. Human beings have always lived together and exchanged ideas about what is right and what is wrong. Also, the aspects of wrongdoing can be tied to the conscious of one's mind. Thus, wrong cannot be mistaken for right. A wrong action is wrong in all of its aspects. Hence, once one gets the chance to separate the two, the meaning of everyone's action counts before doing anything wrong (Altman, 2016). Most of the members of the community are teaching and retaining the performance of each detail of all the actions committed. Moreover, humans are drive by the same principles, even though ethical principles might differ here and there. For instance, if one community believes in ethically conducting themselves for the sake of bringing people together and retaining unity among other neighbors. Humanity is based on the universe hence the commonality of man remains hinged on the final purpose of the issues pertaining to the medium of the angular articulation of the issues hence one tends to give more priority to the primary ethical issues revolving around the society. Thus, one of the main issues about ethics is standardizing the placement and association of one community from the other as people go about their business. This is because people come from different walks of life and their perspective on conflicting ethical issues is always tied to their perceptions surrounding the life of an individual. Whenever there is a disruption of the usual activities within the community people are forced to formulate new strategies so that people may live harmoniously together. Thus Plato focuses on the shift and relevance of present-day society’s and how they achieve a certain level of the piece. In the long run, the aim of Plato was to uniting factual aspects that make people form communities and abide by the laws of the community.
In summary, according to Plato Ethics serve as a collective indicator of the values of a community and how one can relate with the people within his or her community. The variance between the two communities proves that ethics protects the interests of the people of a certain community. More so, the set of regulations permitted to capture the wants of the community while ensuring that anyone who does not support the detailed information of the community practices is kicked out from the people of the community hence ensuring peace and stability due to the observation of critical ethical norms.
References
Altman, W. H. (2016). The Guardians on Trial: The Reading Order of Plato's Dialogues from Euthyphro to Phaedo. Rowman & Littlefield.
Mouzala, M. G. (2017). Aristotle’s Criticism of the Platonic Idea of the Good in Nicomachean Ethics 1.6. Peitho. Examine Antiqua, 8(1), 309-342.
Tovar, D. (2017). Dominic Scott, Levels of Argument. A Comparative Study of Plato’s Republic and Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics. Oxford: OUP, 2015, 235 pp. Archiv für Geschichte der Philosophie, 99(2), 229-232.
