Do you agree or disagree with Socrates?

Question

...when he says that "It is never right to do a wrong or return a wrong or defend one's self against injury by retaliation"?
Do you agree or disagree? Why or why not?

Answer 1

i agree. but of course thats how wars get started. lol

Answer 2

There are three statements Socrates raises in this quotation. It is easiest to deal with them in turn.

"It is never right to do a wrong." This is a truism, for if what was being done is right, it would no longer be a wrong.

"It is never right to return a wrong." This statements states that a person should not, when wronged, return the favor by wronging the person who wronged him. Naturally, if it was right to do this, you would not be wronging the person who wronged you. Thus, this is still a truism.

The interesting part of the quotation is the last part. "It is never right to defend one's self against injury by retaliation." In my view, self-preservation is the rare instance when acts of violence against another may be justified. It is always better to avoid situations in which one must either retaliate or be injured, but in an imperfect world, they can arise. I will grant that self-defense is employed too often as an excuse for violence when other avenues of dispute resolution are available, but to categorically say that this retaliation is always wrong is incorrect.

I'm sure Socrates is not threatened by my disagreement, but I can't see where he was coming from with that statement.

Answer 3

yes, of course he is right. He is talking about perfection, mankind at its best. However, this world that we live in, and these people with whom we share it, are not perfect, and neither am I. What is right is not what I always do. I try. I do pretty good, but if I were tested, I don't know. My emotions could very well get the better of me. Pride. Anger. Even if I manage to behave perfectly, it won't make the world perfect. So, there's a good chance I would just say, "to hell with it. I'm not going to let some idiot get away with injuring me. He's gonna pay, and all these other idiots are gonna think twice before they mess with me." But if I was cool, cooler than Martin Luther King, cooler than Ghandi, cooler than The Dalai Lama, so cool that I was willing to give up all my possessions, all my desires, and even give up my life for what I believe in, then I would live by Socrates's ideal.

Answer 4

I mostly agree with Socrates on this because it is noble. But I also feel for Nietzsche on this point as well who said it is inhuman to act in that way. What I mean is while Socrates' ideal is right, in actuality we shouldn't expect to be perfect.

Answer 5

He's got the moral high ground. There is a middle ground, which Ann Ree Colton deals with in her "Watch Your Dreams," which is neither Divine nor nasty. Rather, the "lesser of two evils" when the Divine seems impossibly idealistic.

cordially,

j.

p.s. Http://www.coasttocoastam.com radio has an interesting guest this Thursday http://www.seandavidmorton.com

Answer 6

It is very very hard to do, but I have found in the end, in one's heart, it is best. Vengance is mine sayeth the Lord" and I do believe that to be true. I taught elem school for years, and I knew what hell some of those kids had been thru and why they acted out so, being raped as infants and all, so I try very hard not to judge, because only God knows what lies in the heart of a person

Answer 7

So striking back is never a good idea.

And he is not the only one who suggested that. Just think of "turn the other cheek"

Answer 8

If you are protecting yourself retaliation may be your only recourse. Therefore..no

Answer 9

I agree. This is noblest of thinking. But how many of us could follow?