The Ring of Gyges by Glaucon
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The Ring of Gyges by Glaucon.
The Ring of Gyges is a story written by Glaucon illustrates the readers to evaluate their own sense of morality. Gyges was a shepherd who worked for the king of Lydia. One day he found a dead body lying in cave with a golden ring. Gyges took the ring and wore it to a monthly report for the king. While he was playing with the ring, Gyges noticed that when he turned the ring inside, he became invisible. He also found that if he turned the ring back, he became visible again. Eventually, he decided to use the magic power of the ring for his own gain. In the end, Gyges seduced the queen of the kingdom, had her help Gyges to murder the king, and he became king of the Lydia. The story of Gyges ring shows us even a moral man will eventually become immoral when he believes that he can avoid the punishment from his actions. I agree with Glaucons view and this is a story with a message that it is true today: people are only following laws because they are afraid of punishment for breaking the laws. If the people have no fear of the punishment, they might become immoral people. There are many people that work in politics or have law careers who become immoral because they believe they are above the law.
First of all, in politics, the people choose a person who will work for the government to develop their own country and the people hope that this person will do what is right. However, if the story of the ring of Gyges is right, we should be careful with the person we choose. Anyone who gains power also gains the ability to use power in the wrong way. For example, the people who work for U.S government gain access to many types of secret information such as news about global events being concealed, new kinds of medicine, or insider company information. [bonus item]. This information can be used for the gain of the person possessing it. Moreover, the power that people have in politics can also be used hurt other people or other countries in the world. Politicians can start wars with other countries based on information that might be fake or accuse people of being Nazis to have them thrown in jail. [bonus item].
Secondly, people who work in laws often have the ability to use their authority in wrong way for their own benefit. Everybody is supposed to be controlled by the law. If one commits a crime, they have to be punished. Attorneys are used to help make sure the law is being executed properly and being an attorney comes with a certain amount of power. Just like in the story of the Ring of Gyges, power of the ring can be used to get away with murder. An attorney might use his knowledge to make fake evidence or use loophole to help a criminal. [bonus item].In addition, the judges can also use their authority in immoral ways to for their own benefit. Judges are probably constantly approached with offers of bribes to change the verdict of