The ring of Gyges, an idea from the Republic, was the inspi…

The ring of Gyges, an idea from the Republic, was the inspiration for the Ring of Power from Lord of the Rings. In the Republic, the Ring of Gyges is used by Glaucon to make the argument that justice is social, and he asks us to imagine what we would do with a perfect tool for concealing crimes if we had it. He expects everyone to say that we would all eventually become criminals. This, of course, is the view taken by Tolkien, as would anyone who adheres to the "tragic" view of man. It is also quite in accord with an economic view of man as someone who responds to incentives. However, Socrates says that justice has an internal component, and a man who acts unjust is destroying himself as well as hurting others. A true philosopher would not act unjust even if he would not be caught for his crimes. Of course the Ring of Gyges is really no different from the Noble Lie, which philosphers use to weave a web of illusion to conceal the true nature of their power. Thus, if we lived in Middle Earth, Plato would be like someone who would say, "the true philosopher can wear the ring of power without serving Sauron". How can generations of political science students be assigned this work to read by professors who keep telling them it's important? When I was younger I dismissed the Republic as idiotic, but now with my experience of evil I better credit the sinister nature of the work. Those professors probably really believe that they are incorruptible. In the Republic, Glaucon never thinks about what would happen if he posed his thought experiment to a true criminal. "Of course my conscience would prevent me from committing crimes," he might well say. The Republic is the most important book of political science because it really is a bunch of self-deluded people and outright criminals weaving a Matrix around us.