Doing Wrong or Having Wrong Done to You
- This is a preview of the essay.
To view the full text you must login!
One concept from the book Gorgias that I found to be interesting was the argument between Socrates and Polus, on which was worse doing wrong or having wrong done to you. The argument begins when Socrates pushes forward further with the declaration that it is worse to do than to suffer wrong, a claim to which Polus objects.
Polus says that many people who do wrong are happy. Socrates insists, however, that the wicked and evildoers are necessarily unhappy, while unhappier still are those who commit wrong and escape punishment. The question arises why those who commit wrongful acts should be unhappy at all, especially if they become able to get away with the committing of their wrongful act while simultaneously avoiding punishment for it. As the beginning of an answer, Socrates tries to convince Polus maintains that it is more shameful to do than to suffer wrong, and that this greater shame also means it is worse to do than suffer wrong. From this he says, "The more shameful equals the worse." Polus disagrees with this, since he considers neither the good and the fair nor the evil and the shameful to be equivalent.
Socrates states, "that when doing wrong exceeds in being more unpleasant than suffering ne of evil. The idea behind this claim is that without somehow inflicting either pain or evil, something is not bad, wicked, or shamefulis not a cause of suffering...