![I only believe that the pragmatists were right when I find it useful to do so... A philosophy webcomic about the inevitable anguish of living a brief life in an absurd world. Also Jokes](http://static.existentialcomics.com/title.jpg)
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The Myth of Er
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!["We need philosophers to be in charge because only they could come up with the best lies to keep these idiots in line"](http://static.existentialcomics.com/comics/TheMythofEr.png)
Despite believing that poets corrupted society because poets did not seek the truth, Plato himself was quite open to philosophers telling lies to an uneducated society. The Myth of Er is a sort of proto Christian Hell idea, which would keep people behaving well because they thought they would be punished in the afterlife. Plato actually thought we should behave well because a virtuous life was genuinely the best life on Earth, but presumably not everyone was going to go along with that.
Despite believing that poets corrupted society because poets did not seek the truth, Plato himself was quite open to philosophers telling lies to an uneducated society. The Myth of Er is a sort of proto Christian Hell idea, which would keep people behaving well because they thought they would be punished in the afterlife. Plato actually thought we should behave well because a virtuous life was genuinely the best life on Earth, but presumably not everyone was going to go along with that.
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