The Ring of Gyges: My Precious Essay Example

in their minds. With the ring, if they chose to become a leader, there is the question of how much power a leader should have. It is apparent a leader with this ring would have almost endless power, but the extent which they use it varies. The ring would enable a leader to deceive the public, even though he, or she, may think it is in their best interest.That does not mean it is in their best interest.

One may say that certain individuals, like Gandhi, Lincoln, Socrates, or Jesus would be able to have the ring and not abuse its power. All human beings, however, maintain the bias of their opinions. Any of these people, in an effort to do what is right, may make undesired and unforeseen consequences; where as someone with limited power would be forced to look at consequences because there is only so much that they can do. The absence of something like the Ring of Gyges forces people to work together to achieve their goals and in doing so passes ideas through many filters and creates, opefully, leaders that are more accountable to the people. Corruption is common enough without the option of ultimate power. Power has a way of making people stray from a “good” path.

As rational human beings we can try and figure out the world around us, but we also try and rationalize what we think to be right, as well as our actions. When people do something and they are not sure about the righteousness of their action, they start rationalizing. They may say; “that would’ve happened anyway,” or “it will benefit in the

long run. People start to develop strong opinions and with the power of the ring, the opposition is rendered useless. With no counter arguments, people are not subjected to the ideas of their peers but instead subject their own ideas on everybody. The Ring of Gyges would be too powerful for any person.

There are many noble and just people in this world, but they are still human. They are still subject to the same things that define us as human; opinion, ration, desire. Very few can quench their desires. Very few can be completely honest with themselves. But none can escape the power of opinion. Bibliography Plato, The Republic.