"Imagine you found a ring that made you invisible. You could do anything-take what you wanted, harm your enemies, advance your interests-with absolute impunity. No one would ever know. No consequences would ever touch you. What would you do? The Thought Experiment That Changes Everything This thought experiment appears in Plato's Republic (359d-360d), where Glaucon challenges Socrates with the story of a shepherd named Gyges who discovers exactly such a ring. Using its power, Gyges seduces the queen, murders the king, and seizes the throne."
"Glaucon pushes Socrates further. He wants proof that justice is worth choosing not just for its results-reputation, rewards, avoiding punishment-but for itself, for what it does within the person who practices it. To make this case clear, Glaucon constructs an extreme comparison (360e-362c): Imagine the most just person who has the reputation of being completely unjust. He does everything right internally but is universally condemned, punished, and even tortured as if he were the worst criminal."
A ring that grants invisibility and absolute impunity enables its possessor to take whatever they want with no external consequences. A shepherd named Gyges uses such a ring to seduce a queen, murder a king, and seize a throne, illustrating how power can enable wrongdoing. Many assume that absence of punishment would lead people to behave unjustly and increase their happiness. A parallel appears in Tolkien's One Ring, which grants power while corrupting possessors; innocent bearers resist longer but cannot avoid corruption indefinitely. Glaucon demands proof that justice is valuable for its internal effects, not merely for reputation or reward.
Read at Psychology Today
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