In Book 2 of Plato's Republic, Socrates states, "It is appropriate for the rulers, then, if anyone, to lie because of enemies or citizens for the good of the city. But no one else may have anything to do with it. On the contrary, we will say that for a private individual to lie to such rulers is a bad mistake as for a sick person not to tell his doctor or an athlete his trainer the truth about his physical condition, or for someone not to tell the captain the things that are true about the ship and the sailors, or about how he himself or one of his fellow sailors is faring-- indeed, it is a worse mistake." (REEVE, 69)
The reason I chose this quote out of the many others was that it spoke to me on a personal level. During this time, the high power (the Gods) meant everything to the citizens. In this sense, it is saying that the God's are allowed to lie since it'll only be beneficial. However, that's not always the case. I want to provide a solid example of this on my terms. I want to paint the picture of a scenario I deal with every day at crew. In the boat, there are 8 rowers, which back in the day they referred to them as oarsmen. There is also one other person, called a coxswain. To bring it back to the time period of Plato's time, the coxswain would be seen as the God (the higher power) and the rowers as the other citizens. The coxswain uses a phrase, "fake it until you make it" I know being a coxswain I have lied to the rowers about small things to ensure that they remain focused and calm. However, if I were to lie and said I tightened all the bolts and didn't we would have a serious issue when it came down to the riggers and parts of the boat breaking or falling off. Sometimes a higher power lying is a good thing while in other cases it's an even bigger mistake.
The reason I chose this quote out of the many others was that it spoke to me on a personal level. During this time, the high power (the Gods) meant everything to the citizens. In this sense, it is saying that the God's are allowed to lie since it'll only be beneficial. However, that's not always the case. I want to provide a solid example of this on my terms. I want to paint the picture of a scenario I deal with every day at crew. In the boat, there are 8 rowers, which back in the day they referred to them as oarsmen. There is also one other person, called a coxswain. To bring it back to the time period of Plato's time, the coxswain would be seen as the God (the higher power) and the rowers as the other citizens. The coxswain uses a phrase, "fake it until you make it" I know being a coxswain I have lied to the rowers about small things to ensure that they remain focused and calm. However, if I were to lie and said I tightened all the bolts and didn't we would have a serious issue when it came down to the riggers and parts of the boat breaking or falling off. Sometimes a higher power lying is a good thing while in other cases it's an even bigger mistake.