Book 2 of the Republic

Glaucon -

1. Is there a type of good that we desire for its own sake, not for its consequences?  (357b)

2. Is there a kind of good that we like both for its own sake and for its consequences? (357c)

3. Is there a third kind of good, solely for the consequences, which includes gymnastic exercise, medical treatment and the rest of activities from which money is made? (357c)

358a - Socrates believes justice is a good both for its own sake and its consequences.

358e - What justice is and where it comes from.
For those unable to escape injustice and choose the other.

Doing injustice is good, but suffering injustice is even worse. So, to escape the worse, they set down a compact "neither to do injustice, nor suffer it."

All law proceeds from this compact, and this is the genesis of justice-- a mean between the best and the worst.

359b - Any man who is able to do injustice and escape the consequences would do so.
Even those who practice justice, do so unwillingly.

360c - No man is willingly just .  (Kant would say no.) Morality requires intention. We choose to be good. It's not an accident.

360e - the strategy that Glaucon proposes for the unjust man to pretend to be just and get away with it only works as long as his crimes remain undiscovered. Lying is a successful strategy only as long as your lies are believed. The loss of reputation (i.e., no one trusts you) renders this tactic useless as a means of hiding the truth. It also presupposes that the gods can be deceived, or that God is evil, or that no god exists.

361b - Maybe the question of who is happier: the just man or the unjust man-- is the wrong question. Is justice good for its own sake? How do we measure or identify what is good?

362c - Do the gods care for justice? If so, can mortal man deceive the gods?

362e - Adeimantus (brother of Glaucon) "if cities tell us anything, it is by their laws. (Bloom, 448)

364 - perversion of the gods by human beings.

365b - There is no advantage in my being just.

365c - The seeming overpowers even the truth and is the master of happiness.

366a - If we are just, we won't be punished by the gods. But if we are unjust, we shall gain and get off unpunished by persuading the gods with prayers.

366c - Except for someone, who from a divine nature cannot stand doing injustice, or who has gained knowledge and keeps away from injustice.

How do we determine what is the common good?
Is there a good which is common to all men?
Is the common good in harmony with justice?