At this point in the novel I saw Thrasymachus's flaw and also the reason why Socrates has silenced Thrasymachus. Injustice, in my opinion, may be better as a short-term plan for pleasure, but in the long run the unjust man will be condemned by just men of his evil deeds, thus leading to his downfall. This is a point Thrasymachus failed to see, and thus his argument was too unilateral. .
After Thrasymachus's defeat, Glaucon steps up to challenge Socrates. Glaucon's first argument is that doing injustice and not being punished for it is much more pleasurable than suffering injustice at the hands of unjust rulers and practicing justice. Glaucon's brother, Adeimantus, backs up his brother's speech by stating that an unjust man with a deceivably just reputation(which is almost always the trait of the perfectly unjust man) is also better than the just man. But Socrates counters these two strong speeches by proclaiming that, if a man is unjust, he will not only be condemned by men, but by God as well. And even though there may be no Supreme Being that controls the Earth and its neighboring planets, injustice will still cause harm, leading to more injustice and finally the destruction of the world. However, injustice leads to more injustice, as well as justice leads to more justice. Therefore, if the following is considered true, then unjust men leads to more unjust men, and then what would happen if unjust men ruled the world. There would be many intense conflicts, which would lead to violence and hatred, and finally, the destruction of mankind. So therefore in the end, unjust men would lose.
Socrates continues with his argument by saying that persons of worth should be given the greatest respect and authority, which includes the Greek gods as well. This act will most definitely lead to injustice. Socrates polishes off the remainder of his argument by stating that the way of life of a man should be a guardian of the State; for they have courage and are never too lazy to protect the city from an enemy.
