Philosophy: The Classics (Nigel Warburton)

I was expecting more from this book. I read a few pages, two chapters perhaps but I didn't learn anything I wasn't aware. The following are some quotations from the part I've read.

[T]hose who help themselves to more than their fair share are happier than those who are just. (page 59)

Glaucon takes this further, suggesting that those who behave justly only do so as a form of self-preservation. (page 59)

[I]n the rest of the book Socrates attempts to do precisely that; he seeks to demonstrate that justice does pay, and that, besides, it is intrinsically worthwhile. (page 60)

To weed out unsuitable candidates, Plato suggests that in the course of their education potential Rulers should be given various tests to see if they are likely to be bewitched by the pursuit of their own pleasure: their reactions to temptation will be closely monitored and only those who demonstrate complete devotion to the well-being of the community will be chosen to rule. (page 61)

[I]t can only ever be a copy of an appearance and so tends to distance us from the world of the Forms. Second, it appeals to the irrational part of our souls and so tends to disrupt the psychic harmony necessary for justice. (page 68)

[W]ithout the notion that philosophers are particularly good at gaining knowledge of reality, there would be no obvious justification for putting them in charge of the ideal state. (page 70)

Morality is usually thought to involve at least some concern for the interests of others: it wouldn’t make sense to say (using the present-day understanding of ‘morality’) ‘I have developed my own private morality which is entirely selfish.’ (page 77)

[I]n many areas of our lives we have a capacity for choice; in contrast, an ant simply behaves because it cannot deliberate on what it might or might not do. (page 79)

It is the familiar situation when you know what you should do, what would make your life more successful, yet you stubbornly choose what you know to be the worse option. (page 80)

Philosophy argues that God’s knowing that certain choices will be made does not cause those things to happen – human beings can still make choices. (page 90)