Ring of Gyges

E712315

The Ring of Gyges is a mythical artifact from Plato’s Republic that grants its wearer invisibility, used to explore questions about morality, justice, and human nature when consequences are removed.

All labels observed (2)

Label Occurrences
Ring of Gyges canonical 2
O Anel de Polícrates 1

How this entity was disambiguated

Statements (43)

Predicate Object
instanceOf mythical artifact ⓘ
object in ancient Greek philosophy ⓘ
activatedBy turning the ring's collet ⓘ
appearsIn Book II of Plato's Republic ⓘ
associatedWith Glaucon ⓘ
Gyges of Lydia ⓘ
linked to: Gyges

Plato ⓘ
Socrates ⓘ
centralQuestion whether a just person would remain just if they could act with impunity ⓘ
comparedTo modern examples of online anonymity ⓘ
culturalContext ancient Greek philosophy ⓘ
describedIn Plato's Republic ⓘ
effectOnWearer makes the wearer invisible to others ⓘ
firstKnownAuthor Plato ⓘ
foundBy a shepherd in the story ⓘ
genre myth within a philosophical dialogue ⓘ
grantsToWearer invisibility ⓘ
hasPower invisibility ⓘ
influenced later discussions of moral psychology ⓘ
modern debates on anonymity and ethics ⓘ
languageOfSource Ancient Greek ⓘ
narratedBy Glaucon in Plato's Republic ⓘ
philosophicalRole challenge to Socrates to defend justice as intrinsically good ⓘ
test case for the nature of justice ⓘ
questionRaised Would anyone be incorruptible if they could never be caught? ⓘ
relatedConcept accountability ⓘ
instrumental view of justice ⓘ
moral character ⓘ
psychological egoism ⓘ
relatedMyth story of Gyges in Herodotus (distinct version) ⓘ
relatedWork The Republic ⓘ
linked to: Plato's Republic
setIn Lydian kingdom ⓘ
linked to: Lydian Kingdom
symbolizes impunity ⓘ
separation between appearance and reality ⓘ
temptation to injustice ⓘ
unchecked power ⓘ
usedAs philosophical thought experiment ⓘ
usedInArgument to challenge the intrinsic value of justice ⓘ
to suggest people are just only from fear of punishment ⓘ
usedToExplore ethical behavior without consequences ⓘ
human nature ⓘ
justice ⓘ
morality ⓘ

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (3)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Glaucon → relatedConcept → Ring of Gyges ⓘ
Gyges → associatedWithLegend → Ring of Gyges ⓘ
Papéis Avulsos → hasPart → O Anel de Polícrates ⓘ
linked to: Ring of Gyges