A PERSPECTIVE ON THE DEBATE ABOUT JUSTICE BETWEEN SOCRATES AND CALLICLES: IMPLICATIONS FROM AL-FARABI

Year 2025, Volume: 33 Issue: 1, 615 - 629, 26.03.2025

Burçin Aydoğdu

https://doi.org/10.15337/suhfd.1594771

Abstract

The debate on justice between Socrates and Callicles in Plato’s Gorgias presents a clash of perspectives. Callicles contends that justice arises naturally from the dominance of the stronger over the weaker, reflecting the primal order of nature. In contrast, Socrates advocates for a conception of justice grounded in virtue, emphasizing harmony and self-discipline as the foundation of a just society. Al-Farabi, a later interpreter of Plato’s works, offers a synthesis of these seemingly opposing views in his Ideal State, where he defines justice in two distinct senses. The first, natural sense of justice, aligns with Callicles’ perspective, while the second, civil sense of justice, corresponds to Socrates’ vision of justice as a product of societal conventions. This paper explores whether Al-Farabi reconciles these dual definitions of justice and examines the implications of his interpretation for understanding Plato’s evolving philosophical viewpoint.

Keywords

Plato, Socrates, Callicles, Al-Farabi, Justice

SOKRATES İLE KALLİKLES ARASINDAKİ ADALET TARTIŞMASINA DAİR BİR PERSPEKTİF: FARABİ’DEN ÇIKARIMLAR

Abstract

Platon’un Gorgias eserinde, Sokrates ve Kallikles arasında adalet üzerine yapılan tartışma, farklı bakış açılarının bir çatışmasını sunar. Kallikles, adaletin doğanın ilkel düzenini yansıtarak güçlülerin zayıflar üzerindeki hakimiyetinden doğal olarak ortaya çıktığını savunur. Buna karşılık, Sokrates, erdeme dayalı bir adalet anlayışını savunarak, uyum ve özdisiplini adil bir toplumun temeli olarak vurgular. Platon’un eserlerinin daha sonraki asırlarca yorumlayan Farabi, İdeal Devlet adlı eserinde, görünüşte zıt olan bu görüşleri uzlaştıran bir sentez sunar. Farabi, adaleti iki farklı anlamda tanımlar: Doğal anlamda adalet, Kallikles’in görüşüyle uyumlu iken; medeni anlamda adalet, Sokrates’in, adaletin toplumsal kurallardan kaynaklanan bir kavram olduğu yönündeki anlayışıyla örtüşür. Bu çalışma, Farabi’nin bu iki farklı adalet tanımını uzlaştırıp uzlaştırmadığını ve onun yorumunun, Platon’un değişen felsefi bakış açısını anlamak üzerindeki etkilerini incelemeyi amaçlamaktadır.

Keywords

Platon, Sokrates, Kallikles, Farabi, Adalet

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