#glaucon

Socrates and Glaucon. Drawn for my supervisor.

© 2022 Antonia Alksnis

IS JUSTICE DELAYED JUSTICE DENIED?

Why the time to fight back is now

By Krisha Sandhu

"If we're just gonna accept the system that treats you better because you're rich and guilty than if you are poor and innocent then...we can't claim to be just" Bryan Stevenson, played by Michael B Jordan, states in his closing statement towards the end of the movie 'Just Mercy'. These were the words that resonated with me when the time came to think about the theme of this month's issue. The Trial of Derek Chauvin, the death of Sarah Everard, the ongoing massacre in Myanmar. All these events are so much bigger than I am, so much bigger than you are. These events are a culmination of decades and decades of oppression - the oppression of Black people in America, the oppression of women all over the world, the oppression of innocent people by authoritarian governments.

So then let me pose a question to you, my dear reader, what does justice look like in all these different situations? - What is justice?

Is it a social contract that keeps people from hurting each other like Plato writes in 'The Republic", or is it more?

It's a crazy thing to ask, considering that I've heard the word 'justice' repeated more times the past few months than I have my whole life. But it's one that needs to be asked.

In 'The Republic', Plato discusses the concept of justice through the character Glaucon, who discusses the old Greek story of Gyges, in which a man discovers a ring that gives him the power of anonymity. Glaucon goes on to say that it doesn't matter whether or not you were 'just' before putting the ring on, it is inevitable for one to succumb to that power, and that's ok. According to Glaucon, if you had the opportunity to secretly do bad, while still keeping your reputation, you would. If we had this sort of power no one would be able to be trusted. Thus, for Plato, the idea of justice is self-interested and thus really not justice but a form of injustice.

I disagree with Glaucon....and effectively Plato.

Justice is not self-interested. If justice were self-interested Saffiyah Khan would have had no reason to defend a woman wearing a hijab. Statutes of Confederate generals wouldn't have been forcibly removed by protestors. The NBA wouldn't have had a sit-out after the shooting of Jacob Blake by a White Police Officer.

Justice is selfless. The very foundation of it relies on the fact that people stand up for people. George Floyd wasn't just another unnamed young, Black man shot by a White Police, people made sure that his name was known. People went out in the streets every night to ensure that his name was heard, and his assailants - the people who murdered him were charged. The Trial of Derek Chauvin in is a step in the right direction, one that may not have happened had people not stood together, had people not stood up for someone who could not speak for themselves.

The question I want to leave you with while you read this issue of The Aether is: What does justice look like to you? and what are you going to do about it?

(To the tune of ‘Jingle Bells’)

A day before, I went  Down to the Piraeus, A Sophist I would be; My knowledge surely best.

I thought that none would speak Above my mighty tone, But then some asshole with his friend, Polecmarchus brought home.

Oh, Socrates, Socrates,  Please don’t bother me. I just want a tyrant to  Be a man that’s happy,

Oh, Socrates, Socrates,  Please don’t bother me.  Justice is a fool’s game (If you want more, pay me).

His beard was full and white, His rhetoric absurd. His speeches were a drag, He’d only define words.

I thought that with Glaucon, He wasn’t full of shit,  But then the guy said that he was  A devil’s advocate.

Oh, Socrates, Socrates,  Please don’t bother me. I just want a tyrant to  Be a man that’s happy,

Oh, Socrates, Socrates,  Please don’t bother me.  Justice is a fool’s game (If you want more, pay me)

So Socrates went off, He went on a tirade, He spoke of many things,  A city he had made.

It was a lousy place, Philosophers were king,  And then towards the end he said That only some could sing. 

Oh, Socrates, Socrates,  Please don’t bother me. I just want a tyrant to  Be a man that’s happy,