Three perspectives regarding justice: Calicles, Protagoras myth and the noble Socratic lie

Abstract

Plato’s political conception, as well as the theory of justice that emerges from it, forgo conventional categories which define the dominant political theories in fifth century Athens. The impossibility to circumscribe them within these theories impedes the comprehension of Plato’s assertion according to which justice is a natural reality. By asserting it, the philosopher draws a parallel between two realities which, according to ancient Greek thinking, constitute two opposite poles in the antinomy between positive law and what is known natural law or νόμος κατὰ φύσιν. As paradoxical as it may seem, considering justice as a natural reality confers to the political project developed in the Republic its own logic and orientation. According to this orientation, Plato is able to use a Phoenician myth as a foundation to his political project and to materialize the lessons that emerge from it under the form of a series of prescriptions, whose objective is to lead the existence of the City members on the path set by natural justice.