Discussion – Ring of Gyges

Discussion – Ring of Gyges

The story of the Ring of Gyges is about a shepherd who discovers a magical ring that makes one invincible. During a meeting with other King’s shepherds, he turns the ring’s setting inward and discovers that others cannot see him based on their comments. On turning the ring’s setting outward, he becomes visible again. After discovering the capability, he organizes a trip to the King’s palace as a messenger, where he seduces the Queen to assist him in killing the King.

Suppose everyone had such a ring; the world would be full of impunity. One of the main lessons from the story is how people do right because they are afraid of being caught (Ruggiero, 2015). If everyone possesses the Ring of Gyges, they could make themselves invincible and do wrong things because of the certainty of not being caught. The Ring of Gyges is akin to how influential and wealthy individuals operate in war zones. Such individuals engage in illegal activities knowing they will not be caught since they understand the justice system is weak. Therefore, if everyone possessed the Ring of Gyges, anything that helped an individual achieve happiness would pass as the “right” thing.

Based on the analogy from the Ring of Gyges, people are individually responsible for their morals. Everyone should do the right thing, whether they are being watched or not. Doing the right thing is more of an internal conviction than something that can be enforced externally (Menezes, 2021). The story also implies that people who do wrong go into depths to justify their actions for fear of being discovered. On the contrary, just individuals have no motivation to justify their actions because doing right fulfills them. If everyone in the world possessed the ring of Gyges, the interpretation of right or wrong could have been different.

References

Menezes, L. M. B. D. R. (2021). The Gyges’ Ring in Plato’s Republic. Anais de Filosofia Clássica, 30, 111-129. https://revistas.ufrj.br/index.php/FilosofiaClassica/article/view/46288/29262

Ruggiero, V. (2015). Thinking critically about ethical issues (9th ed.) Mcgraw-Hill Education.

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Discussion – Ring of Gyges

After reading about the Ring of Gyges in both the module and the book, consider what would happen to our society if everyone had such a ring. What would the world look like? And, importantly, what does that imply about right and wrong?