Premium Essay

Applying Plato's Methods In The Natural World

Submitted By
Words 867
Pages 4
When it comes the Plato’s methods in the natural world, I look at it as if he ranks people in society as to how well they can perform for certain duties/jobs. Like Plato mentioned, he felt that not everyone was capable of holding public office. Plato looked at humans having different parts of their “souls” that make up how they are able to function in society. He says that individuals are characterized by rational elements such as the soul being motivated by one wanting to obtain wealth/sexual desire, one wanting to be courageous wanting to win honor for doing good in life. Plato felt that these parts of the human soul could become off balance and one could begin to overpower one another causing a person to have problems in society with one …show more content…
Like Plato, Aristotle also divided the human souls into two parts as being the rational and non-rational. It seems as if one part of the soul is for so called reason which would be for human’s to make the “important” decisions in life and to be able to have success in society. The other part of the human soul is for appetite and desire. When looking at these two, I see it as one being able to work with others in society and to be able to do what is best for all of society, and the other one (appetite and desire) is more for doing what you feel is best to benefit yourself. Aristotle looked at the approach of wanting to make sure that people in society performed well along with properly functioning to what is best suited for all of those involved in a community and not being beneficial for people as individuals. When reading about Aristotle’s theories in the natural world, I look at it as everyone is in it together to help each other out. No one particular person “specializes” in one thing. For example: someone who becomes a teacher is not only a teacher, they do several different tasks/deeds in society. They may also be a baker, farmer, or pastor. I feel that Aristotle is looking at methods in the natural world that everyone helps everyone and society is far better off that way. Aristotle’s traditions seem to be popular in society today. In today society, we look at this as a “jack of all trades” type of person or someone who is capable of doing several different jobs/duties in society. This is also of importance to understand because it also continues to go on in our society

Similar Documents

Premium Essay

Philosophy

...Alexander, the Great. The Greek Triumvirate & the Three Oriental Sages * Although the teachings of the Three Oriental Sages and the Greek Triumvirate are dissimilar, they however, have a resembling view on the soul of man. * The Oriental sages and the Greek triumvirate believed that man’s soul pre-existed his body. * The Greek triumvirate believes that man, in his original and ideal existence as a soul or a « pure mind », knew all things by direct intuition and had all knowledge stored in his mind. However, when man was banished into his world of sense, man blurred out and forgot almost everything he ever knew. * The Greek triumvirate posited that the present problems of man was caused by ignorance or lack of knowledge and that the only way for man to solve these problems is by recalling all his previous knowledge. * However, while they believe in the vitalityt of looking into one’s self as a method to resolve man’s problem, there are still major differences when it comes to the ‘specifics’ of their ideologies. Socrates * He was born in Athens circa 469 B.C. and died in 399 B.C. * He is known as one of mankind’s greatest teachers. * During his times, the task of inculcating critical thinking in the society was way more difficult compared today. * The people who occupied the high positions in society were more impressed by Socrates’ efforts, as his philosophy questioned the very attributes on which the society was standing tall. ...

Words: 1611 - Pages: 7

Free Essay

Plato

...Practical Philosophy November 2001 Plato’s theory of Love: Rationality as Passion Lydia Amir 'I … profess to understand nothing but matters of love.' Socrates in Plato’s Symposium. times, when due to their education and to political changes, women earned the right to love and to be loved as equals to men. When one dispels these misunderstandings related to the popular notion of Platonic love, one finds a great richness and depth in Plato’s theory of love. In explaining why love is so important to us and yet why it fails us so often, Plato’s view of love seems applicable to our time. It is common knowledge that a very high rate of divorce threatens our marriages. We expect a lot from the sexual passion we call love, but usually end up disappointed when the romance goes away. Yet we keep getting married, thinking that we are going to be the ones that will beat the system. If we fail, we change our partner and try again. We end up our love life as we began it, confused, afraid and as disappointed as we were hopeful. The malaise that characterises our love lives naturally finds its way to the philosophical consulting room. In this paper I shall attempt to show how Plato’s view of love can be helpful both in dispelling our confusion about love and in proposing some solutions to our suffering. A comprehensive account of Plato’s complex theory of love, an exhaustive presentation of the controversies involved in interpreting it or a thorough discussion of the problems it creates...

Words: 7450 - Pages: 30

Premium Essay

Love

............................. 18 3.3 MODERN PHILOSOPHY: FREUD ................................................................................. 27 4. COMPARATIVE EVALUATION............................................................................ 37 CONCLUSIONS ............................................................................................................. 40 REFERENCES................................................................................................................ 43 Introduction The starting point of this paper is the question: “What is love?”, or, in other words, how can we understand or even define the concept of love? To clarify this question we have to approach the problem systematically. Love is no natural kind, nor is it a substance of an abstract kind. It seems to be an empirical phenomenon, since...

Words: 19634 - Pages: 79

Premium Essay

Essay

...for and against life after death. • Reincarnation. • Rebirth. • Resurrection. • Immortality of the soul. Introduction. Humans have refused to accept that this life is all we get for thousands of years. As a result of this refusal, humans have developed various theories to explain that when our bodies cease working, there is some kind of existence that takes place after this. Obviously, before getting into this debate, it is important to agree on what is meant by the word ‘death.’  ‘…when respiration and other reflexes are absent; consciousness is gone…an absolute and total loss of the brain function that cannot be reversed.’ This is a medical definition and is based upon medical methods of determining physical (brain) death. These methods are generally the use of an electroencephalograph (EEG) to determine brain function, an examination of pupil size and reaction and obviously, a check of blood flow (pulse), heart beat and respiration. It is generally accepted that once a body exhibits brain stem death, i.e. that there is no activity in the most primitive part of the brain, that death has occurred. What makes a human being? Theories concerning life after death are all interested in whether or not there is a part of the human body which survives the death of all the physical parts and where (or indeed when) it goes. There are a number of theories exploring what makes up a human being, but the basic distinction that you need to be aware of...

Words: 4935 - Pages: 20

Premium Essay

Philo

...Business Ethics (Supplementary Lecture Notes) Mr. Joel C. Porras “Watch your thoughts, they become words. Watch your words, they become actions. Watch your actios, they become habits. Watch your habits, they become character. Watch your character, they beconme your destiny.” ANONYMOUS Preliminary Notions: A. Etymological: The word ethics comes from the Greek word “ethos” ,meaning : custom, a habitual way of acting character, a meaning that the Latin terms “mos” , “moris” also connote. Among the Greeks , “ethics” meant what concerns human conduct/human action. B. Descriptive: Largely a concern of cultural anthropologists and sociologists. Its task is to describe how some person, members of a culture or society address all sorts of moral issues, what customs they have, and so, how they are accustomed to behave. C. Met-ethics: Concerns itself with the meanings of moral terms: like good and bad, right and wrong, duties and rights, etc. Hence the concern is with the understanding of the use of these terms, their logical forms and the objects to which they refer. Sometimes the concern of meta-ethicist is even more fundamental: What is the possibility of moral philosophy. D. Normative: Ethics is normative, not in the way that logic is, namely. With regard to the correctness of our thinking, but with regard to the goodness of our living, the right orientation of our existence. It is a practical science, not simply because it treats human action,...

Words: 17119 - Pages: 69

Premium Essay

Ethics

...Metaethics Metaethics is a branch of analytic philosophy that explores the status, foundations, and scope of moral values, properties, and words. Whereas the fields of applied ethics and normative theoryfocus on what is moral, metaethics focuses on what morality itself is. Just as two people may disagree about the ethics of, for example, physician-assisted suicide, while nonetheless agreeing at the more abstract level of a general normative theory such as Utilitarianism, so too may people who disagree at the level of a general normative theory nonetheless agree about the fundamental existence and status of morality itself, or vice versa. In this way, metaethics may be thought of as a highly abstract way of thinking philosophically about morality. For this reason, metaethics is also occasionally referred to as “second-order” moral theorizing, to distinguish it from the “first-order” level of normative theory. Metaethical positions may be divided according to how they respond to questions such as the following: * Ÿ  What exactly are people doing when they use moral words such as “good” and “right”? * Ÿ  What precisely is a moral value in the first place, and are such values similar to other familiar sorts of entities, such as objects and properties? * Ÿ  Where do moral values come from—what is their source and foundation? * Ÿ  Are some things morally right or wrong for all people at all times, or does morality instead vary from person to person, context to context...

Words: 21310 - Pages: 86

Free Essay

The Impact of Landscape Aesthetics on the Experience of Highway Users

...The Impact of Landscape Aesthetics on the Experience of Highway Users 2016 Contents Chapter 1........................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 7 Introduction ................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 7 1.1 Background to the study .......................................................................................................................................................................................... 8 1.2 Problem Statement .................................................................................................................................................................................................. 9 1.3 Purpose of the Study.............................................................................................................................................................................................. 13 1.4 Study Objectives .................................................................................................................................................................................................... 13 1.4.1 Ultimate Objective ......................................................

Words: 14676 - Pages: 59

Free Essay

Psychology

...of Philosophy Department University of Lagos. Akoka, Lagos. Nigeria Correct Counsels Limited Research. Counselling. Publishing. Book Supply First published 2003 Correct Counsels Ltd. P. O. Box 53 Akoka, Lagos. C E. Kolawole Ogundowole, 2003 ISBN: 978 -37004 - 0 – 5 This book is copyright. All rights reserved under the Copyright La Enquiries should be addressed to the Publishers. Printed in Nigeria by: Mustard Press Enterprises 16, Ogundola Street Sungas-BAriga. PREFACE A few words about the overall objectives of the course is appropriate as a starting point. Historically, philosophy was the first form of theoretical knowledge. As a rational theoretical tool of comprehending the world, philosophy arose in ancient Greece in stiff battle with mythology and religious consciousness. It came out to lay the foundation for the evolvement of scientific consciousness and the emergence and development of the sciences - Mathematics, Astronomy, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, etc. In an environment rife with various and varying superstitions and myths, the study of the History of Science and Philosophy of Science becomes crucial, lest science itself falls within the ambit of mythology and superstition and becomes another form of myth even in the hands of the tutored. The study of the History of Science is particularly important since it is within its realm that the development of science can be made bare and the process clearly...

Words: 54229 - Pages: 217

Free Essay

Essential Thinkers

...A618C90F-C2C6-4FD6-BDDB-9D35FE504CB3 First American paperback edition published in 2006 by Enchanted Lion Books, 45 Main Street, Suite 519, Brooklyn, NY 11201 Copyright © 2002 Philip Stokes/Arcturus Publishing Limted 26/27 Bickels Yard, 151-153 Bermondsey Street, London SE1 3HA Glossary © 2003 Enchanted Lion Books All Rights Reserved. The Library of Congress has cataloged an earlier hardcover edtion of this title for which a CIP record is on file. ISBN-13: 978-1-59270-046-2 ISBN-10: 1-59270-046-2 Printed in China Edited by Paul Whittle Cover and book design by Alex Ingr A618C90F-C2C6-4FD6-BDDB-9D35FE504CB3 Philip Stokes A618C90F-C2C6-4FD6-BDDB-9D35FE504CB3 ENCHANTED LION BOOKS New York Contents The Presocratics Thales of Miletus . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Pythagoras of Samos . . . . . 10 Xenophanes of Colophon 12 Heraclitus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 The Scholastics St Anselm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 St Thomas Aquinas . . . . . . . 50 John Duns Scotus . . . . . . . . . 52 William of Occam . . . . . . . . . 54 The Liberals Adam Smith . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106 Mary Wollstonecraft . . . . 108 Thomas Paine . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110 Jeremy Bentham . . . . . . . . . 112 John Stuart Mill . . . . . . . . . . 114 Auguste Comte . . . . . . . . . . . 116 The Eleatics Parmenides of Elea . . . . . . . 16 Zeno of Elea . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 The Age of Science Nicolaus Copernicus . . . . . . 56 Niccolò Machiavelli...

Words: 73655 - Pages: 295

Premium Essay

Leadership Ethics

...TURUN YLIOPISTON JULKAISUJA ANNALES UNIVERSITATIS TURKUENSIS SARJA - SER. B OSA - TOM. 348 HUMANIORA Essays on Business and Leadership Ethics Tuomo Takala TURUN YLIOPISTO UNIVERSITY OF TURKU Turku 2012 ISBN 978-951-29-5010-2 (PRINT) ISBN 978-951-29-5011-9 (PDF) ISSN 0082-6987 Painosalama Oy – Turku, Finland 2012 A note from the writer I was born in 1955 and am a professor of management and leadership at the University of Jyväskylä, with a solid academic track record. My main academic work has been research in the area of business ethics and corporate social responsibility (CSR). Based on my research I have written around a hundred publications, of which about fifty can be seen as scientifically significant, in one way or another. I started as a business leadership major at the University of Jyväskylä in 1977. General studies sparked my interest in philosophy, and in time I became more and more interested in it. I graduated as a Master of Economics in 1982, at which point I had already done Advanced studies in Philosophy. Nevertheless, I did my postgraduate studies in economics and began to study corporate societal responsibility in 1983. At the same time I continued my studies in philosophy and graduated as a M.Sc (Philosophy) in 1986, the same year when I finished my licentiate’s work on societal responsibility for the Business Studies program in the University of Jyväskylä (Ph.D in Economics 1991). At that time, I was already also interested...

Words: 22290 - Pages: 90

Premium Essay

Myun

...Metaphysics From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to:navigation, search This article is about the branch of philosophy. For the work of Aristotle, see Metaphysics (Aristotle). |Philosophy | |[pic] | |Branches[show] | |Aesthetics | |Epistemology | |Ethics | |Logic | |Metaphysics | |Social philosophy | |Political philosophy | |Eras[show] | |Ancient | |Medieval | |Modern | |Contemporary | |Traditions[show] | |Analytic | |Continental | |Eastern | |Islamic | |Marxist | |Platonic | |Scholastic | |Philosophers[show] | |Aestheticians | |Epistemologists...

Words: 48829 - Pages: 196

Premium Essay

Good Life

...mTELECOURSE STUDY GUIDE FOR The Examined Life FOURTH EDITION author J. P. White Chair, Department of Philosophy Santa Barbara City College contributing author Manuel Velasquez Professor of Philosophy Santa Clara University This Telecourse Study Guide for The Examined Life is part of a collegelevel introduction to philosophy telecourse developed in conjunction with the video series The Examined Life, and the text Philosophy: A Text with Readings, tenth edition, by Manuel Velasquez, The Charles Dirksen Professor, Santa Clara University. The television series The Examined Life was designed and produced by INTELECOM Intelligent Telecommunications, Netherlands Educational Broadcasting Corporation (TELEAC/NOT), and Swedish Educational Broadcasting Company (UR) Copyright © 2007, 2005, 2002, 1999 by INTELECOM Intelligent Telecommunications All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the written permission of INTELECOM Intelligent Telecommunications, 150 E. Colorado Blvd., Suite 300, Pasadena, California 91105-1937. ISBN: 0-495-10302-0 Contents Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . v Lesson One — What is Philosophy? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ....

Words: 78103 - Pages: 313

Free Essay

Fascism

...Christians – north African wealth family from – found enlightenment in Christianity. Once he joined became one of the early scholars trained in greek – regulized Christian theology. Influence on western world – top four or five who influenced. Confessions and City of God his writings…look up! What’s the purpose of improving human society – complex – why do it? Can human society be made better? Why bother, what is the point, justification? Takes effort, misery involved, change, unknowns, takes energy, takes risks. HAPPINESS – justification for improving society. What do you have to have to be happy? What is happiness – PHI 101 – happiness according to whom? Lack of misery; literally the elimination of misery. Secondly, food – gives pleasure – Happiness is lack of human misery and maximizing /pleasure and happiness. Bliss 24/7 – hedonism Epicureanism – eliminating misery and maximizing happiness. The justification of utopianism = why did plato want the republic? Justisifcation for improving human society among the Greeks? Poor always poor, always unhappy, death claims everyone - it is rational to maximize pleasure and eliminate misery. Do eternally accouding to plato. Opinions – 1. Relativism is a retreat in the 20th century. Can’t voice own opinion – can’t change the world – retreatist. Lazy persons out – often times used as avoidance. DO NOT USE AS IMMEDIATE THE POOR MANS WAY OUT OF ARGUMENT. If use, have to have massive justification for it. 2. a. Define...

Words: 44275 - Pages: 178

Premium Essay

Business Ethics

...Discussion Questions of Ethics a) Define ethics & discuss its relationship with normative systems The Meaning of Ethics: Ethics, also known as moral philosophy, is a branch of philosophy concerned with the study of questions of right and wrong and how we ought to live. Ethics involves making moral judgments about what is right or wrong, good or bad. Right and wrong are qualities or moral judgments we assign to actions and conduct. Within the study of ethics, there are three branches: metaethics , concerned with methods, language, logical structure, and the reasoning used in the interpretation of ethical terms, for example, what exactly the term “good” means; normative ethics , concerned with ways of behaving and standards of conduct; and applied ethics , concerned with solving practical moral problems as they arise, particularly in the professions, such as medicine and law. Ethics provides us with a way to make moral choices when we are uncertain about what to do in a situation involving moral issues. In the process of everyday life, moral rules are desirable, not because they express absolute truth but because they are generally reliable guides for normal circumstances. Normative Ethics Normative ethics is fundamental to ethical decision making in the criminal justice system. A central notion in normative ethics is that one’s conduct must take into account moral issues; that is, one should act morally, using reason to decide the proper way of conducting oneself...

Words: 9406 - Pages: 38

Premium Essay

Four Pillar of Education

...To Teach Effective Writing, Model Effective Writing ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED: JUNE 10, 2014 | UPDATED: JULY 14, 2015 * ------------------------------------------------- 8.1KSHARES * ------------------------------------------------- * ------------------------------------------------- * ------------------------------------------------- * ------------------------------------------------- I strive to teach my high school students the value of criticism, especially when it comes to improving their writing. To do so, I model how criticism continues to help me become a better writer. Earlier this year, for example, I shared a draft of one of my education feature articles, which included detailed feedback from an editor at a prominent media company. I asked my classes for advice on how to address several edits, dealing with sources, transitions, terminology, and structure. A few days later, I directed my budding writers to the much-improved final draft. This easy but worthwhile activity helped more of my students feel comfortable receiving criticism, and not view it as an affront. As a result, they improved their writing by taking the time and care to consider and respond to reader insight. I want my students to feel secure in the knowledge that nobody is beyond criticism (even their teacher), and that the bigger challenge is developing the good sense to acknowledge and successfully respond to feedback. Along those lines, I also offer the suggestions below...

Words: 10753 - Pages: 44