Republic, Plato conceptualizes the concept of the good primarily in terms of justice. Justice in turn extends from and manifests as harmony, both at the macrocosmic or universal levels as with the movement of the celestial bodies, and at the microco Continue Reading...
In other words, like Plato, the body is inferior and its substance is irrelevant for true and certain knowledge. The intellect with its faculties (judgment, imagination, memory, free will, etc.) is most important. The sixth meditation is the crucia Continue Reading...
theorists regarding political stability, the ideas and opinions of Aristotle, Plato, and Thucydides will be mentioned by thoroughly analyzing the viewpoints of these theorists in their books such as: Aristotle's "The Politics" And "Nicomachean Ethic Continue Reading...
Self-Reflection and the Philosophical Mirror In Plato's Socratic dialogue in Apology, Socrates makes the bold declaration that "the unexamined life is not worth living" (Apology 38a). Since I am a great believer in the value of self-examination, thi Continue Reading...
Epistemology and Philosophy of Socrates and Plato Epistemology is the theory of knowledge. It attempts to answer such questions as: How does one acquire one's knowledge? What is knowledge? What is possible for us to truly know? Epistemological inqui Continue Reading...
Free Will and Determinism What is free will, according to philosophic interpretations? What is determinism -- and how is it different from free will? What do philosophers say about free will and determinism? These questions will be answered in this Continue Reading...
Q2. Plato believed that, just as skilled craftsman should confine themselves to making shoes and warriors should confine themselves to fighting, only 'the best' should rule. Individuals with great aptitudes to be philosophers should be selected and Continue Reading...
This, then, is what takes us to the argument that false rhetoric is the greatest danger to democratic rule. Imagine what kind of leaders we would have if only false rhetoric existed? False rhetoric allows for the use of lies, manipulations, "spin" Continue Reading...
Human Nature A Comparison of Hobbes' and Plato's Philosophical Views Trying to understand how a philosopher arrives at the reasoned opinions they put on paper is essential to also understanding what they wrote. The how is often a matter of the peop Continue Reading...
Justice Given by the Character Thrasymachus in Plato's Republic Is Incorrect The objective of this study is to prove that the theory of justice given by the character Thrasymachus in Plato's Republic, using only Plato's arguments in Books 1 and 2 i Continue Reading...
Plato: Ok then maybe it does not matter if people are inherently good or bad, but how does all this matter into the things in life that matter? Confucius: But this does matter because the way people act towards each other- the way people govern or t Continue Reading...
Salvaging Democracy consent of the governed) then one is not in a democracy, though democratic elements may exist. America, for example, was founded as a republic and not as a democracy (though with time it has shifted towards being more ogliarchical Continue Reading...
'" (p. 42). This clearly indicates that Thrasymachus was not won and while Socrates ended the argument on a good note but it was more his own approval of his views than Thrasymachus'. We can thus say with confidence that Thrasymachus was also a wise Continue Reading...
Happiness is perhaps the most illusive, but most sought after mental state in life. Like all human experiences, happiness is also a very subjective state; different things make different people happy. This is why it is so difficult to say what happin Continue Reading...
That is, Aristotle did not reject the notion of falsehood that Plato sees in mimesis and therefore in all poetry -- epic and tragic -- but instead accepts this falsehood and asserts that is not necessarily detrimental in and of itself. This is acco Continue Reading...
Political Philosophy II: Theories of Freedom To answer the questions of why De Tocqueville and Mill think that democracy is a threat to the liberty of the individual and whether they are right, this paper will show that both De Tocqueville and Mill Continue Reading...
Ring of Gyges: A Retelling Once upon a time, long ago, long before H.G. Wells penned his science fiction classic, The Invisible Man, long before Tolkien created his epic saga of the one ring that would rule them all, there lived a shepherd by the n Continue Reading...
Man and the Right Government Plato's work has been much criticized as class bound, as many thought it reflected the moral and aesthetic standards of an elite in a civilization were slavery was a natural thing for many. Plato tries to depict the adv Continue Reading...
Moral and Emotional Responses to the Challenge of Thrasymachus Might makes right. So suggests the character of Thrasymachus in Plato's "Republic." In other words, justice and morality is merely defined by who is stronger. The proper role of morality Continue Reading...
Federalist Papers are a series of 85 articles about the United States Constitution. These are a series of eighty-five letters written to newspapers in 1787-1788 by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay, urging ratification of the Constitut Continue Reading...
Barstow, Marjorie. "Oedipus Rex as the Ideal Tragic Hero of Aristotle." The Classical Weekly, vol. 6, no. 1, 2-4, 1912. Print. Barstow observes one of Aristotle's fundamental points in her essay, which is that "Aristotle finds the end of human ende Continue Reading...
Heidegger and Hitler Proponents of Heidegger's metaphysical viewpoint are reluctant to identify a relationship between it and the opprobrious Nazi regime which Heidegger supported from 1933 to 1945. Critics of Heidegger, however, view the relationsh Continue Reading...
Here the emphasis is on complete neutrality, the child being exposed to all different ways of thinking and believing (Cahn, p. 421). In the end the child will make his own choice as to what is best. Such complete freedom; however, rests upon a notio Continue Reading...
There are several examples in the text, like when Gulliver must urinate on a fire to put it out or when the scientist in Lagado attempts to turn human waste back into food. Swift is showing us that we can preach what we want to about mankind and his Continue Reading...
In this example, morality is decided by the gain, pleasure, and other self-interest of the individual donning the ring. Such individuals would more than likely obtain this gain by committing illicit activities, such as robbing a bank, but use their Continue Reading...
Instead, he challenges the reliability of the person who claims knowledge, by asking him for a definition that would hold for all circumstances. The point is not to ascertain whether he is right in this case, but to see whether his claim could hold Continue Reading...
Almost all contemporary political theory and political philosophy can be traced to a handful of essential source texts, including those written thousands of years ago. Plato’s Republic and his Protagoras dialogue also include elements of metaph Continue Reading...
Christian Biotechnology: Not a Contradiction in Terms Presented with the idea of "Bioethics" most people in the scientific community today immediately get the impression of repressive, Luddite forces wishing to stifle research and advancement in the Continue Reading...
Grotesque If one goes back to Plato and examines what the Greek philosopher had to say about beauty and truth, one discovers the foundation of the transcendental spirit in the West. The Greek philosophers -- Socrates, Plato, Aristotle -- more or le Continue Reading...
Benito Mussolini History is full of many people who have made their mark for various reasons. Some of these people have made a profound difference because of the value they brought to their countries, and others have names that will remain more infa Continue Reading...
Similarly the Ayurvedic tradition of India emphasized rest and relaxation and nutritional well-being, along with various mentally stimulating exercises. Ayurvedic resorts are still popular in the East. Buddhism is also viewed as an avenue out of de Continue Reading...
American Democracy A nation wherein the masses elect representatives to the government, thus ensuring the law is shaped by public opinion (so long as this opinion is Constitutional) is considered a republic. This was the aim of America's Founding Fa Continue Reading...
To achieve his ends man gives up, in favour of the state, a certain amount of his personal power and freedom Pre-social man as a moral being, and as an individual, contracted out "into civil society by surrendering personal power to the ruler and ma Continue Reading...
Roman Empire in Greece & the East The gradual "Romanization" of the Hellenistic world is attested to solidly by material culture: architectural, archeological and numismatic evidence abounds to show that the Romans would have a real and substant Continue Reading...
More recently, Miedzian (1991) has studied peer pressure, the socialization process, and military impact that has resulted in violence becoming standard behavior in males, and Thompson (1991) has demonstrated that violent acts are more often perform Continue Reading...
Art of classical antiquity, in the ancient cultures of Greece and Rome, has been much revered, admired, and imitated. In fact, the arts of ancient Greece and Rome can be considered the first self-conscious and cohesive art movements in Europe. Style, Continue Reading...
NDEs A near death experience is a collection of cognitive and emotional responses to an encounter with death, whether that encounter is related to a sudden accident or to an illness. The phenomenon has been recorded throughout history, and in variou Continue Reading...
Visions of utopia -- or more commonly, dystopia -- permeate the canon of literature and the arts. Thomas More's Utopia builds upon prior literature on the subject, like Plato's Republic. In More's Utopia, the author builds himself into the work as a Continue Reading...
Race, Ethnicity, And Utopia The idea of a perfect society is very important in human cultures everywhere. Most cultures and religions talk about a time long ago when the world was perfect. Stories of long lost "golden ages" or the "Garden of Eden" h Continue Reading...
