Justice As A Common Good: Socrates Against The Sophists And The Theoretical-Political Contributions To The Field Of Law

Abstract

This text discusses the foundations of democracy in ancient Greece. Classical Antiq-uity was the birthplace of politics as a form of consensus determined from the ration-alizing dialogue of public life. There, on the one hand, we have the Platonic philoso-phy defending ethical values based on universal principles, such as the value of the common good. On the other hand, there are the sophists, who argue that values are always particular and are expressions of power, as asserted by the sophists Thra-symachus or Protagoras. Socrates, on the contrary, affirms that ethics is a universal good, and can be learned and theorized by all men, even slaves, who can raise themselves morally. In this text, we will base ourselves on Plato's analysis expressed in The Republic on the concept of Justice (Dikê), where he argues with the sophists about its value and scope in the life of the polis and the relations between citizens.