the contents are important and meaningful for you . List its precepts . ( You will need to do this on the Final Exam .)
After you have assembled and posted your personal ethics statement , responded to what others may have said to you and thought about what you have posted to others , then take your statement and use it to work through the famous case of the Ring of Gyges .
One of the great examples of ethics and morals in all of literature comes from Plato who wrote about the Ring of Gyges in
The Republic , Book II , starting at paragraph 359a .
For those who wish to read the whole story , it is in the Doc Sharing tab and here is a link to the story -- Ring of Gyges .
The story goes that Gyges was a shepherd in the service of the King . In a most unusual circumstance he came upon a dead man , removed the man ' s ring , and discovered that it made him invisible . He conspired to take the periodic report of the shepherds to the King -- once there he seduced the Queen and eventually took control of the Kingdom by conspiring with the Queen . Plato continues the story :
" Suppose now that there were two such magic rings , and the just put on one of them and the unjust the other ; no man can be imagined to be of such an iron nature that he would stand fast in justice . No man would keep his hands off what was not his own when he could safely take what he liked out of the market , or go into houses and lie with any one at his pleasure , or kill or release from prison whom he would , and in all respects be like a God among men . Then the actions of the just would be as the actions of the unjust ; they would both come at last to the same point . And this we may truly affirm to be a great proof that a man is just , not willingly or because he thinks that justice is any good to him individually , but of necessity , for wherever any one thinks that he can safely be unjust , there he is unjust . For all men believe in their hearts that injustice is far more profitable to the individual than justice , and he who argues as I have been supposing , will say that they are right ."
This story raises up the question of what sanctions prevent people from just taking any liberties they are inclined to take .
The whole subject of ethics , seen in large scale , is that of accepting and living under moral standards .
1 . Using YOUR personal ethical statement that you have created , what would you do if you had that second ring ?
2 . What else within this course helps in responding to this fictitious situation or in explaining it ?