Essay/Term paper: Socrates: psychic harmony is the greatest good

Essay, term paper, research paper:  Philosophy

Socrates: Psychic Harmony Is The Greatest Good


Erika Hall
516-78-2200
Philosophy 120

Socrates believes that psychic harmony is the greatest good, and that
the result of it is moral (rational) behavior. He also believes that if you
have a healthy body and soul then you are in psychic harmony with yourself. He
says that this is good intrinsically and instrumentally. Which means that it is
good for its own sake and the sake of the consequences. Therefore, immoral
behavior is a result of an unbalanced personality and leads to irrational
behavior. Psychic harmony is a psychological condition and makes one moral,
which according to Socrates is a social condition. Psychic harmony has no
motivation. You either have it or you don't. Moral behavior comes from your
own beliefs and desires. If one is bad or unjust in the social sense it is
because of their sensuality, greed, or vanity. This is because of a disordered
psychological condition. According to Socrates where there is "psychic
harmony," the motives for injustice in the social sense will be eliminated.
I believe that Socrates is correct. If you are at peace with yourself
you are also morally right towards society. Those that aren't are usually
immoral and don't do what is considered right by others. I do not think it is
possible to be in psychic harmony and yet act immoral. It may be possible,
however, that if one is immoral, and wishes to be moral, they could learn to be
in psychic harmony if they really wanted it.