Girl, that's some convoluted logic you got there!

"And the different forms of government make laws democratical, aristocratical, tyrannical, with a view to their several interests; and these laws, which are made by them for their own interests, are the justice which they deliver to their subjects, and him who transgresses them they punish as a breaker of the law, and unjust. And that is what I mean when I say that in all states there is the same principle of justice, which is the interest of the government; and as the government must be supposed to have power, the only reasonable conclusion is, that everywhere there is one principle of justice, which is the interest of the stronger."

- Thrasymachus the Sophist, The Republic, Book I, by Plato, translated by Benjamin Jowett

Sistafriends Socrates and Polemarchus manage to refute the common definitions of justice when Thrasymachus the Sophist interrupts angrily, shouting out some of the things this sistafriend would have liked to add to the debate. His first point is that Justice is defined by whoever is in power, and the laws they create are the standard by which Justice is measured. (Whoo! SistaFriend been workin' her brain cells!)

He's supposed to be the bad guy, but I think Thrasymachus has a really good point. Definitions of Justice do depend on the culture they come from. The girlfriends in The Republic argue that rulers don't always create laws which are in their interest, so if Justice is following the law, but the laws are harmful, then it is not exactly in the interest of the ruler(s). Therefore, Thrasymachus's definition of Justice is not entirely sound.

Girlfriend counters by arguing that when they make a mistake, they can't be considered the "stronger", so his definition still applies. He goes on to say that while skilled artists (like physicians, arithmeticians, or grammarians) might make a mistake, they are not defined by their mistakes. A doctor makes a mistake in treating a patient, but that mistake is not what makes them a doctor. When a skilled artist makes a mistake, their skill fails them, and they temporarily cease to be a skilled artist. So therefore a ruler is a real ruler only when they are making laws that are in their interest.

Okay, Thrasie, you lost me now.