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just

2026-01-25 View on smbc-comics.com → 1 revision
just
Votey panel for just
This explanation is incomplete or may contain errors. It was generated by AI and has not yet been reviewed by a human editor.

Explanation

This comic explores the philosophical debate about whether justice is a real, objective concept or merely a social construct imposed by those in power.

The opening panel poses the question: "Do you think justice is a notion outside human behavior, or merely the rules that the powerful impose and the weak endure?" This is essentially the debate from Plato's Republic, where Thrasymachus argues that justice is nothing more than the interest of the stronger party.

One character says "No discussion, we need science!" and proposes an experiment: "Let's take some random person, give them complete and arbitrary power, and watch them. If they pursue fairness, justice is probably in our nature." This is essentially a version of the Ring of Gyges thought experiment from Plato, which asks whether a person who could act with complete impunity would still behave justly.

The result panel shows the test subject declaring: "I am a dinosaur!" -- suggesting that given absolute power, the person immediately devolves into childish megalomania rather than pursuing justice or fairness.

One observer says "Well, I guess this theory's out," while the other notes "Science is theory's cut" (or similar). The final panels show the subject continuing to abuse their power while the observers debate whether this constitutes empiricism.

The comic satirizes both sides of the philosophical debate. It mocks the naive idea that you could resolve deep philosophical questions with a simple experiment, and it also suggests that the cynical Thrasymachean view might be correct -- given unchecked power, humans don't naturally pursue justice; they just do whatever they want, which in this case is pretending to be a dinosaur. The absurdity of the "scientific" test undermines the seriousness of the philosophical question.

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