Virtue and invisibility

First, my only comment on the Supreme Court ruling on campaign finance is to quote the headline from Gail Collins’ column in today’s Times:  “Surprise!  The Rich Won One.”  The Supreme Court has become the official arm of the plutocrats who decide our elections.  The five Republicans are doing their utmost to end democracy in the U.S.

Instead, what I want to talk about is Plato and virtue.  In his discussion of virtue, Plato discusses Gyges, a shepherd who finds a magic ring.  Gyges discovers that when he twists the ring a certain way he becomes invisible.  He immediately slays the local king and rapes the queen.  The point of the story is, would we be virtuous if we could get away with it?

I thought about Gyges when I read about a twitter site at Northampton Community College.  Evidently people are saying all kinds of mean and scurrilous things under the cloak of anonymity.  They obviously lack virtue.

What would you do if you could be invisible?  I know I wouldn’t shoplift from Mallard Markets in Lehighton, but I might do something evil at Wal-Mart.  I certainly wouldn’t rob from poor people, but I might do something to the Koch Brothers. Plato never really got into this, but if I did perform acts under the cloak of invisibility that might be illegal, I would consider them highly moral.  Virtuous acts and illegal acts are two completely different matters.  I wish I had that ring.