Download a free audiobook version of “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring“ and support TED-Ed's nonprofit mission: https://www.audible.com/ted-ed

--

More than 2,000 years ago, the Greek philosopher Plato recounted the legend of the Ring of Gyges in “Republic.” The story of the ring surfaces as the philosopher, Socrates, and his student discuss why people act justly: is it because it’s what’s right? Or because it’s a convention that’s enforced through punishment and reward? Alex Gendler shares the allegory of the ill-gotten, magical ring.

Lesson by Alex Gendler, directed by Vitalii Nebelskyi.

Learn more about how TED-Ed partnerships work: https://bit.ly/TEDEdPartners

Support Our Non-Profit Mission
----------------------------------------------
Support us on Patreon: http://bit.ly/TEDEdPatreon
Check out our merch: http://bit.ly/TEDEDShop
----------------------------------------------

Connect With Us
----------------------------------------------
Sign up for our newsletter: http://bit.ly/TEDEdNewsletter
Follow us on Facebook: http://bit.ly/TEDEdFacebook
Find us on Twitter: http://bit.ly/TEDEdTwitter
Peep us on Instagram: http://bit.ly/TEDEdInstagram
----------------------------------------------

Keep Learning
----------------------------------------------
View full lesson: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/the-origin...
Dig deeper with additional resources: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/the-origin...

Check out our full book recommendation: https://shop.ed.ted.com/collections/t...

Animator's website: http://and-action.net
----------------------------------------------

Thank you so much to our patrons for your support! Without you this video would not be possible! Nevin Spoljaric, Sid Chanpuriya, Anoop Varghese, David Yastremski, Noah Webb, Roberto Chena, Oliver Koo, Luke Pisano, Andrea Gordon, Aleksandar Donev, Nicole Klau Ibarra, Jesse Lira, Ezekiel Raui, Petr Vacek, Dennis, Olivia Fu, Kari Teffeau, Cindy Lai, Rajath Durgada Manjunath, Dan Nguyen, Chin Beng Tan, Tom Boman, Karen Warner, Iryna Panasiuk, Aaron Torres, Eric Braun, Sonja Worzewski, Michael Clement, Adam Berry, Ghaith Tarawneh, Nathan Milford, Tomas Beckett, Alice Ice, Eric Berman, Kurt Paolo Sevillano, Jennifer Heald, Megulo Abebe, isolwi, Kate Sem, Ujjwal Dasu, Angel Alberici, Minh Quan Dinh, Sylvain, Terran Gimpel, Talia Sari, Katie McDowell, Allen, Mahina Knuckles, Charmaine Hanson and Thawsitt.