This recurrent theme is no accident: most cultures have, as a basis for their creation mythos, a utopian view of either the pre-human world or the post-human world. Sociological, this is a functionalist approach that serves to validate what it means Continue Reading...
Socrates' conclusion that the poets and rhapsodes lack knowledge fair? What sort of knowledge does Socrates seem to have in mind? Could there be other kinds? Is Socrates confusing the knowledge necessary to make a work of art with knowledge of what' Continue Reading...
For instance Plato believed that rulers should only rule based on truth and reason and that the way to best live life itself was also based on truth and reason. This is something I agree with very strongly. When it comes to the Iraq war, for example Continue Reading...
Socrates and Plato Greek philosophy held a preeminent place in the middle ages among scholastics like Thomas Aquinas, whose Summa Theologica was an attempt to reconcile faith and reason. The faith aspect was supplied by the Church, but the reason ca Continue Reading...
It is very dark in the cave, and everything, including the face of the person next to them, is in deep shadows. It is never mentioned whether the people are happy or sad, or whether they speak to each other. It is assumed that they speak at least en Continue Reading...
Socrates asked them to come forward with their thoughts if they were "still doubtful about the argument." The two proceed to make a sophisticated argument, contrary to Socrates' points, that were counterexamples to the points about the body and the Continue Reading...
They do not occupy space. Nevertheless, although the Form of a circle has never been seen -- -indeed, could never be seen -- -mathematicians and others do in fact know what a circle is. That they can define a circle is evidence that they know what i Continue Reading...
This is really the extent of Gorgias attempting to remove himself from Socrates' argument, but instead, pulls him deeper into the intellectual trap, for Gorgias has only one misgiving about the entire situation . . . he fears that the crowd of onloo Continue Reading...
Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle are the most famous of the ancient Greek philosophers. All three of them have left a deep impact on the Western philosophy. In this paper we will look at the main points of their philosophies and the impact they left on Continue Reading...
Plato Gorgias Based on your interpretation of "The Gorgias," what is the relationship between philosophy and politics, in a democracy? How does the debate between Callicles and Socrates inform your answer to this question? In the dialogue entitled Continue Reading...
Plato's work is idealistic and, as such, some of the rationale behind many of the conclusions he draws on do not necessarily have a logical or practical motivation. Nevertheless, they are logically tied to most of the assumptions he makes in his wo Continue Reading...
One of the points clarified in this way is then, as mentioned above, Socrates' apparent stubborn foolhardiness in refusing to refute the court's decision. Xenophon notes that Socrates found death desirable over life. This is a point that Socrates h Continue Reading...
" With his bold and sweeping statements about a divine mission to seek out and expose false wisdom, and his assertions that nothing short of death will stop him from completing that mission, Socrates makes it clear that, to him, the vocation of a ph Continue Reading...
Plato's Phaedo and STC's "Christabel" In Phaedo 80ff, Socrates outlines Plato's theory of Forms, particularly attempting to prove that the eternal Forms are of divine origin. Through analogy with the living body and the dead body, Socrates in dialog Continue Reading...
This aspect of the work also confirmed a clear belief that Socrates held, that nothing bad could happen to a good man. Socrates believed this to be a fundamental truth and he believed that he was a good man. As such he was at peace with whatever was Continue Reading...
Plato's Republic And Justice Justice is ultimately an unknowable concept, if we accept Plato's ideas of 'form' or the essential nature of concepts. In the Republic, Plato presents several intelligent and well-thought-out discussions about the nature Continue Reading...
Dialogues of Plato Discuss the following three analogies, tying them in with Socrates' life and mission: a) Gadfly (from "Apology") b) Midwife (implied in Meno) c) Stingray (from Meno). In Ancient Greece, one of the most preeminent philosophers of Continue Reading...
Socrates and the Spiritual ThingsSocrates certainly believed in spiritual things and in God. He professes in the Apology that he only did what he did (teach the youth) so as to be in union with the will of God. Socrates also believed that true virtue Continue Reading...
Essay Topic Examples 1. Socratic Ignorance and the Nature of Evil: This topic explores the concept of Socratic Ignorance, a term derived from Socrates' claim that he knows nothing, and how this admission of ignorance is Continue Reading...
Plato's Symposium is one of the most widely read of his dialogues. It is said to be a departure from the usual style because except for a brief portion, it is not written in dialectical style. Instead, a variety of speakers have the opportunity to pr Continue Reading...
Plato and Augustine vs. Socrates It has been argued that Plato was the best student that Socrates ever had. There have been many instances to justify this view; Plato's works form the core of elements that inform such a claim. Plato described his me Continue Reading...
Plato -- Life and Works Plato was born in Athens circa 425 BC, just after the onset of the Peloponnesian War between Athens and Sparta. He lost his father at an early age, but through his mother's marriage to a friend of the leading statesman and ge Continue Reading...
As a result, Plato is demonstrating social disobedience, by highlighting how anyone who questions authority will face a similar fate as Socrates. (Plato, 2007) In Crito, Socrates has been found guilty of his crimes and is awaiting his death sentenc Continue Reading...
Socrates and Virtue Comparing and Contrasting Virtue in Taoism and Socrates' Philosophy The idea of virtue in Taoism may be compared and contrasted to the idea of virtue in the teachings of Socrates. For Socrates, virtue is related to the pursuit o Continue Reading...
Plato Given that Plato's Socrates is an Idealist and a dualist, the highest form of love is not the sexual or erotic kind, or that of family and friends, all of which are materialistic and impermanent. On the contrary, the highest form of love is fo Continue Reading...
Plato and Death One of the most influential minds in western philosophy describing this search for meaning was Plato. Plato lived from 422-347 B.C, and was born into an aristocratic family in the city of Athens where he became a student of Socrates, Continue Reading...
Socrates is one of the most renowned philosophers of all times. His dialectic method is used in a number of ways and has vital importance in literature and deliberation. In the contemporary era, Socratic or Dialectic Method is the term that is used t Continue Reading...
A philosopher makes "logoi," discusses, and cross examines about virtue, is short of wisdom, and is aware of it. However, in as much as one is a philosopher, one desires wisdom and searches for it. In historical Greek, this notion is virtually a tau Continue Reading...
Finally, Socrates comes to the idea of knowledge as true judgment accompanied by "an account," meaning evidence or reason. In this context, knowledge would mean not only believing something true, but also having a reasonable justification for that b Continue Reading...
Plato's The Republic Throughout the book, the ideas of Plato and his peers center on the social conditions of an ideal republic, which lead each person to the perfect possible life. Socrates, who was Plato's mentor, acts as a moderator during Plato' Continue Reading...
They have done so ever since he made them public, and while a lot of things about society have changed, the fundamental truth of how society handles its problems, its differences, and its dissenters have not. The conclusions that Plato reached in h Continue Reading...
The text deals at length and often with a great variety of matters which bear on the human condition, but there are matters which would certainly have no place in a modern treatise on politics" Therefore, it is rather hard to determine the extent t Continue Reading...
Plato's Allegory Of The Cave If he were simply presenting the idea that humanity is often blind to the fullness and vast resources of the world and what it offers, using the cave as a metaphor would have been enough for Plato to make his point. If t Continue Reading...
From this we need to understand that the existence of entities, beings which superior power and knowledge is accepted. People not only accept that these being actually exist, but they obey their commands. From this one can deduce that morality is c Continue Reading...
Plato on Justice The Greek word which Plato uses to mean "justice" -- dike or dikaios -- is also synonymous with law and can also mean "the just"; as Allan Bloom (1991) notes, Plato uses a more specific term -- dikaiosyne -- in the Republic, which m Continue Reading...
Plato, Epictetus, & Nietzsche When we discuss how Plato presents the most appropriate human attitude toward bodily appetite and/or passion, it is vital to note that Plato's method of discussing philosophy in dialogue -- as though this were a dra Continue Reading...
Plato and Socrates -- Human Soul There are a number of philosophical tenets that have been the subject of intense scrutiny since humans coalesced into formal societies. Who are we as a species? Where do we fit in with the universe? What is morality? Continue Reading...
Butler agrees that a person has to find his or her own state of goodness (32). To go along with what society agrees with or counts as good doesn't mean anything to Plato; majority has opinion but not knowledge. To begin, Goodness itself is related t Continue Reading...
His view is Asian in that it mirrors the view that meaning is found by searching within, that imposing a specific doctrine is not the way to find enlightenment, and that a teacher is a guide rather than a figure of authority. Such ideas are expresse Continue Reading...
Education then is necessary to help prevent the failures of government - for Socrates, an aristocracy represents a rule by the "best" citizens whose educations have centered upon training the warrior-guardians to be swift, philosophic, spirited and Continue Reading...
