Clearly, his moral standing is highly dubious, if not completely tarnished. If the Gyges ring were to fall into my possession, I would attempt to do something just to make the world a better place - but what I consider to be just, others might consider to be unjust. For example, I am opposed to many of George W. Bush's actions as President of the United States. I believe that, through his actions, he is personally responsible for many instances of death and destruction, not the least of which has resulted from starting a war that never should have been a war, as there is not a single shred of evidence that affirms this war is being fought for a good reason. Yet more and more people continue to die each day as a result of it.

Thus, if I had the Gyges ring, I would try to figure out a way to use my invisibility so as to somehow punish George W. Bush. Now, I'm not saying that I would actually kill George W. Bush. As I believe killing to be morally wrong, then it follows that it is wrong to punish a murderer with murder. but, assuming I can take liberties with the original story of Gyges ring and perhaps extend the ring's capabilities a bit, updating them to 21st century technology, I would probably do something like trap the American president in a room for several days and make him watch gruesome footage of the carnage he has been responsible for. Since I do not believe President Bush is fully aware of his actions - as I do not believe him to be either an intelligent...

Still, Socrates would likely object to the scenario that I have proposed above. He would say that I am contradicting myself when I say that I would not want to kill President Bush, yet I would still do something considerably cruel to him. In this, Socrates is correct. But I would respond that, since I am doing something positive for the benefit of mankind, my actions are, in fact, just.
Thrasymachus would likely be a lot more sympathetic to the scenario that I have proposed above. In Thrasymachus's view, justice is not a universal standard; rather, it belongs to whoever happens to be the strongest in any given scenario. Were I to possess the Gyges ring, then I would naturally be in a much stronger position than George W. Bush - a position that I am not currently in today. At the same time, I would attempt to convey to Thrasymachus that his view is not one that I agree with one hundred percent. If one were to subscribe wholeheartedly to Thrasymachus's view, then one would be in a position to defend tyranny, fascism, and all sorts of horrors that are, in reality, indefensible and morally wrong.

A guess the moral of this story is, then, that morality is not so easy to define - at least not as easy as Plato would have us believe.