Plato:

I found plato to be very interesting. He said lots of things that made me go "Wow, that's interesting." I also furrowed my brow in confusion at some passages. The part where he explained things he said made me think...a lot. All in all, Plato was one wise man whom I learned a lot from by reading this section of his book.

Affirmative Action:

I am not entirely sure how I feel about affirmative action. Being a white male, a dominant group in Universities, it makes my decision somewhat partial to the fact that someone could be taking a spot above me that isn't neccessarily "better" (for lack of a better descibing word) than me. I believe that it is fair to let someone who has a disadvantage getting placement somewhere ahead, but again I feel that if I do not feel bias, than why is a bias effecting me and my rank/standing at a College or University. In the end, I will be happy in whatever I do so if people pass me up because they didn't have the advantages I had, then so be it because those advantages allowed me to be where I am, and being at a University is pretty damn good so I'll let anyone go ahead of me. In the end, it doesn't come down to who is ranked higher or who went where. If you show that you are dedicated, it doesn't matter if you are black, asian, female, latino, male or white, someone who you want to hire you for a job (meaning someone unbias and fair) will hire you. End of story. If they don't then they are just terrible and that is another argument to be had.

Justice and Law.

The comparisons between justice and the soul and law and the mind are very accurate. Justice is truly what is right, when everything is striped away, and the truth is spoken, justice is served. The law, on the other hand, has to do with what appears to be right, or who appears to be the most right. A court of law is a court of minds. Everyone knows that if they hire a crappy lawyer they have a good chance of loosing a case. Should this be right? Is it justice if one man knows more than another and exploits another's idiocy for the sake of making money for himself? Law is not justice, and never will be.
A great example of this can be seen in Billy Budd. The deck sergeant puts him on the spot, claiming he did something terrible (which I can't remember). Billy cannot answer because his tongue is tied, something that happens often when in high pressure situations. If he does not answer, he will be thought to have done this terrible deed. He cannot answer so he lashed out at the sergeant in frustration and kills him. The law may say that he was innocent of the other crime he was accused of so he shouldn't be charged for lashing out on the sergeant (who was known to be evil). Many of the captains wanted this because they thought it was fair to Billy, but the head captain upheld justice and had Billy Budd killed. At the end of the movie, right before he is hung, Billy praises the captain, most likely for upholding justice even in wavering circumstances. Beautiful.

Law and Justice.


I agree with much of what this packet said. I do believe the law and justice are two different things that have a hard time coexisting peacefully with each other. Doing the right thing as a human is not always what the government, sadly enough, wants. It is sad that some people (myself included) follow the law in times when morality is in question, only because it is the authority. We do not want to get in trouble, which is also posses the question of how much does fear have an impact on the American people and the government? The Law is the LAW!!! Right? We have been raised, most of us, to obey it, but when laws don't protect, or help someone in need, or when laws abandon people and leave them in the dust, where is our sense of morals and ethics? They are restrained by the law because that is what we have been taught. Sad world we live in. Great packet.