justice and sovereignty essays

justice and sovereignty essays There are two basic questions in this world. Who governs? And to what ends do they govern? These questions raise concerns over the limits of power given to people. How much power is just? In their writings, Plato, John Locke, and Robert A. Dahl address the question of what is the meaning of justice and sovereignty. Each of them has distinct definitions on what justice is and how it can be applied to power. In The Cave, Plato writes that justice comes from truth. In Platos opinion truth is the path to ultimate good. It is supreme over everything else in this universe. He allows truth to guide his perception of what justice is and should be. Plato thought that justice had to come from that which was absolute. Knowledge and those things that are irrefutable led to truth. Truth in turn led to reason, which led to the ultimate good, which in Platos eyes was wisdom. Without having a vision of their truth, no one can act with wisdom either in his life or in matters of state. Plato believes that in order for someone to reach justice, they must first find out what the truth is. Therefore Plato was saying that in order for one to be just, he/she must also be knowledgeable. They must understand all of the facts surrounding them and accept them as being true to them. Because Plato believes that justice should be based upon truth and knowledge, he then also believes that philosopher kings should be the ones who carry out justice. Since justice derives from wisdom, which guides the minds of the philosopher kings, it is only right that they are the ones who should rule over the people. The philosopher kings will rule over the people justly and unselfishly because their only desire is to reach the absolute truth without any personal gain. While in theory Platos ideas are very reasonable they lead one to believe that they are un ...