PHI 105 Week 2 DQ 1 Thought Experiment — The Ring of Gyges

According to this story, there is a shepherd, Gyges, who is out tending his flock one day when all of a sudden there is a huge storm and earthquake. After the terror has passed, Gyges goes over and looks into the giant chasm the earthquake has opened in the earth. Inside he sees a giant metal horse. He climbs down and looks inside the horse and sees a skeleton with a ring on his finger. Gyges takes the ring off and puts it on. He steps outside and calls to his sheep, but they wander around him, bumping into him as if he is invisible. Gyges soon figures out that if he turns the stone on the ring, he actually becomes invisible. Gyges, using the ring and his new found invisibility, goes off to the palace where he gets into all sorts of trouble, not the least of which includes seducing the queen, killing the king, and taking the throne.

The tale was well known in the time of Plato and, if you read closely enough, you might see similarities to modern tales, such as The Lord of The Rings. Glaucon argues that if there were two rings and you gave one to a just man and one to an unjust man, they would both act the same.

Are we just because society tells us to be or because that is part of human nature? If you had Gyges’s ring, what would you do with it? Finally, if someone gets pleasure from helping others or from doing good deeds, should these actions be considered selfish?

From Matt Lawrence, Philosophy on Tap: Pint-Sized Puzzles for the Pub Philosopher (Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell, 2011), 93. Adapted with permission.

APA Writing Checklist

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