...Research Paper on a Philosopher Plato Valerie Jenter Centenary College April 24, 2012 Abstract Many Philosophers made a difference in society but Plato is perhaps recognized as the most famous. His writings have had a profound effect on people, politics, and the philosophy throughout the centuries. He was a public figure and he made major contributions to society. Plato helped to lay the philosophical foundations of modern culture through his ideas and writings. One of the most philosophical thinkers of Western civilization, Plato is the only author from ancient Greek times whose writings survive intact. His collection consists of thirty-five dialogues and thirteen letters, though the authorship of some is contested. Plato was born in Athens, into a prosperous aristocratic family. His Father’s name was Ariston and his Mother’s name was Perictione. His relative named Glaucon was one of the best-known members of the Athenian nobility. Plato's name was Aristocles, his nickname Plato originates from wrestling circles, Plato means broad, and it probably refers either to his physical appearance or his wrestling style. “Plato is, by any reckoning, one of the most dazzling writers in the Western literary tradition and one of the most penetrating, wide-ranging, and influential authors in the history of philosophy,” (Kraut, 2009). Plato was born during the Golden Age of Athens’s...
Words: 1881 - Pages: 8
...people who desire bad things, and others who desire good things” (Plato Five Dialogues 66). Clearly, Socrates has grouped everyone into either wanting good or bad things for themselves. Socrates suggests that there are those who, “...believe the bad things [that they desire are] good...” (Plato Five Dialogues 67). If people think that something bad is a good thing, then they are mistaken. By wanting what they perceive to be good, people are actually seeking out good things. Thus, they truly desire good things in their life. Socrates goes on to inquire how, “...anyone, knowing that bad things are bad, nevertheless desires them” (Plato Five Dialogues 67). People can desire bad things, know they are bad, and yet think it will benefit them. These people are confused as only good things can benefit them and, as a consequence, bring about happiness. Accordingly, these people really want good things as they will make people happy. Lastly, Meno describes people who seek bad things despite, “...[knowing] that the bad things harm them” ( Plato Five Dialogues 67). These people desire bad things, understand fully that they are bad, and know that they will most likely harm themselves or even others. According to Socrates, by striving for bad things in this way, people will become unhappy. However, no one would actively seek out something that could harm themselves or others if it would make them unhappy (Plato Five Dialogues 67). People naturally do not want to be unhappy, so this group of...
Words: 878 - Pages: 4
...Billy Durham Instructor Josh Dohmen Philosophy 1101-002 25 February 2013 Plato’s View on Life and How One Acquires Knowledge Plato is a well-known, intellectual Athenian philosopher that was born into an aristocratic family. Due to his family’s wealth, Plato was able to receive some of best education available to Athenians. When Plato was a pupil, he became infatuated with his Sophist Socrates. Socrates was a Greek philosopher and he was known to preach endlessly about his ideas and theories to anyone that would listen. Plato’s most renowned work comes from his Five Dialogues. In two of Plato’s dialogues, Meno and Phaedo, Socrates is the protagonist and Plato uses his character to portray his philosophical views of life and how one can go about acquiring knowledge. The Meno consists of a discussion between Socrates and his companion, Meno, in which Meno is trying to inquire information on whether “virtue can be taught? Or is it not teachable but the result of practice, or is it neither of these, but men possess it by nature or in some other way” (70a). In the beginning of the dialogue, Socrates asks Meno to define what virtue is and after numerous attempts, Socrates comes to realize that he himself is unclear on whether or not virtue can be taught so he suggests that they can seek out the answer together. Meno is puzzled because he doesn’t know how the two of them will search and acquire knowledge on virtue if they are both unfamiliar with the subject. Socrates’ responds...
Words: 881 - Pages: 4
...that, “one logically cannot inquire productivity into what one does not already know” (Meno 58). Then Socrates continues to make Meno question his own beliefs when the slave recognizes the answer to geometrical problem. Socrates proceeds to confirm with the concept that the sole is immortal and the slave was “recollecting” knowledge that the soul already had. In Plato’s Meno his argument was with “recollection doctrine” of knowledge was already having the concept to begin with and people were just “recollecting” prior knowledge. Plato continues to argue rationalism through Phaedo with the Socratic Method. Plato uses his arguments in Phaedo using Socrates’ voice and other characters to explore rational arguments. It is only when the philosophers realize the truth, is when they will know the true knowledge, even if they didn’t exactly see it. There are different forms of recollection for example one is mathematics. Unlike rational objects, which Plato describes this is not a legitimate form of knowledge. All knowledge is innate, the concept that knowledge originates in the mind. The soul just has to seek for that knowledge. On the other hand, Descartes believed that if one didn’t have the concept of time, space, and numbers, one couldn’t have those experiences. In the first meditation, he uses an example of a painter that uses colors to represent the general things, and that other certain things that are similar are true. Descartes’ example of the painter shows that using the...
Words: 719 - Pages: 3
...Forms Plato was a Greek philosopher, one of the most important figures of the Ancient Greek world and the entire history of Western Philosophy. Plato wrote about many ideas in philosophy that are still talked about today. His writings explored justice, beauty and equality, and also contained discussions in aesthetics, political philosophy, theology, cosmology, epistemology and the philosophy of language. He was fascinated of the distinction between ideal forms and everyday experience. Plato was a student of Socrates and he thougth that Socrates has a pretty good ideas about the world, particulary when he came to his method of asking questions about established ideas. Since we know that Socrates wrote nothing down everything that we know about him comes in the form of dialogues written by Plato. Plato thinks that there is an explanaition for questions and he can answer "what is virtue ?" or "what is justice ?". Plato comes up with idea of answering these questions, with the Theory of Forms - the most imporant philosophical concept. Plato used his Theory of Forms to link the mind and reality. He taught that the real world consisted of universal ideas (forms). The world that people actually see is given form by these ideas and is thus less real because it is always changing, but the forms are eternal and unchangeable. Plato’s Theory of Forms states, that the physical world is not really the ‘real’ world, instead, ultimate reality exists beyond our physical world. Plato is...
Words: 426 - Pages: 2
...Sammie Williams Ms. Janine Hornung OCEA & 101 12 October 2012 The lost City of Atlantis “Long ago there existed an island, populated by a noble and powerful race. This beautiful place was a domain of Poseidon, god of the sea, who had fallen in love with a mortal woman, Cleito. He created a magnificent palace for her in the centre of the island. The people of this land possessed great wealth thanks to the abundant natural resources of the island, which was also a centre for trade and commerce. The rulers held sway not just over their own people but over the Mediterranean, Europe and North Africa” (Menzies). The Greek philosopher, Plato, wrote the above description of Atlantis in 355 B.C. Plato had originally planned to write a trilogy of books on subjects such as the creation of the world, the nature of man, the story of Atlantis as well as other subjects. The first book, Timaeus, was completed, Critias, which contains the story of Atlantis, was incomplete, and Hemocrates, was never written (Levy). The story of Atlantis is one of the oldest myths of mankind, a lost paradise and the most popular of all supposed advanced prehistoric lost civilizations. It’s location has been assigned to almost every possible place on earth including Sardinia, Crete, Cyprus, Malta, Turkey, Israel, Sinai, Sweden, Bahamas, Bermuda Triangle, Japan and even Kumari Kandam (“Lost Continent”). In Plato's book, Timaeus, a character named Kritias tells an account of Atlantis that has been in...
Words: 1210 - Pages: 5
...In my research paper, I am going to use Descartes’ Discourse on Method and Plato’s “Phaedo” from the Five Dialogues to support my argument. I’m going to argue that while Descartes uses a geometric method to obtain knowledge and Plato’s method tended to be more spiritual, underneath these differences the two methods are similar in some interesting way. Descartes claims that the true method to obtain knowledge is to turn within to study the self. He uses reasoning, logic, and the scientific method to prove a clear reason for his beliefs and tries not to leave anything to doubt. An example of when Descartes uses the geometric method is when he uses doubt to prove that something is certain. His method instructs to take our beliefs and subject them...
Words: 362 - Pages: 2
...Plato was a philosopher from Greece who lived from 424BC until the time of his death in 347BC. Plato belonged to an aristocratic and influential lineage. His father was Artiston, a descent of king Dorus of Athens. Plato’s mother was Peritonea from a lineage of famous lawmakers and poets in Athens. Plato was, however, raised with difficulty after his father died. As a student, Plato studied under the guidance of his teacher, Socrates. Plato played an essential role of laying the foundation for western philosophy and science. Socrates taught Plato about basic philosophy and dialectic methods of inquiry in the quest for truth. The basic learning acquired form Plato formed a basis from where Plato established his philosophies (Benjamin, 2007). During the time of Plato, there are many events that took place. Amongst them is the Peloponnesian war. The war lasted for approximately 27 years i.e. from 431BC to 404 BC. The Peloponnesian war was a war fought by Athens and Sparta. As a result of the war, the Athenian imperial system and Greek military history was changed. The powers of Athens were subdued after the war as Sparta took over as a leading state whose powers were felt all across Greece. In 399BC Plato witnessed his teacher, Socrates, being tried and executed by the authorities in Athens. Socrates was charged for corrupting the minds of youths. Socrates was despised by the authority because of his persistency in criticizing the government established after...
Words: 1600 - Pages: 7
...Plato’s Allegory of the Cave presents a dialogue between Glaucon and Socrates that discusses human awareness simultaneously with human ignorance. Plato concludes that humans think and act on assumption, rather than knowledge. In Allegory of the Cave, Plato argues knowledge gained through sight is an opinion of an individual’s imagination, and in order to find the holistic truth and education, an individual has to rely on more than just sight. The Allegory of the Cave divides man into two groups:those who perceive surroundings by sense or those who perceive the world by spirit. Those chained in the cave base their “knowledge” on sensory perception through sight. This is what Plato deems as falsehood, as “the truth would be literally nothing but the shadows of the images,” (Plato, 267). The cave itself represents misunderstanding because man is only able to gain from observational evidence. The shadows seen from the puppeteers is the evidence man uses to support the idea that observational evidence provides knowledge. The prisoners talk in terms of the shadows they see, rather than the actual objects; reality is impossible to investigate through the senses. Humans should attain concepts from physical objects through the senses, but should not rely on them fully....
Words: 530 - Pages: 3
...Thucydides versus Plato Thucydides versus Plato on the nature of the Good Life Plato and Thucydides both had strikingly different views on their approach on the good life. Some have claimed that Plato is making normative claims, whereas Thucydides is making empirical claims. Let's start by taking a look at Plato. Plato's theory on the good life was based on the belief that everything has an objective or use that is typically suited for virtue, beauty, justice, and excellence of the precise thing, and everything will depend on the completion of that role. He considers the good life as being attained through the perfect love and lack of desire. Plato views the good life as the condition a person exhibits total virtue. Virtue tends to come from the absence of desires, or expectations , so true happiness means being pleased to the point one doesn’t have desires. He’s convinced that everyone has the power to be virtuous. He also believed the man and citizen are the creation of the City; they are it’s property (like slaves) and it’s children, and the individual has no right to assert individual rights against the City. In his case justice is accepted as a compromise, and valued, not as good in itself, but for lack of power to do wrong; no man worthy of the name, who had that power, would ever enter into such a compact with anyone; he would be mad if he did. The general in the Athenian army and a greek historian, Thucydides believed the good life was self-sufficient;...
Words: 771 - Pages: 4
...Alien Existence There are a lot of things in this world that go unexplained. Not anymore, it was all aliens, everything you can’t figure out like, “Where does one sock go when I do the laundry?” Aliens. Earth has been very much impacted by aliens in its short history. Everything from supplying life-giving chemicals and wiping out the dinosaurs with meteorites to influencing human culture and evolution. The whole world is full of evidence that aliens exist, even though it is usually denied and ignored by the government and academics. This paper will give a short investigation of extraterrestrial events and evidence. Ancient people, especially their huge structures and exciting grip of mathematics and astronomy, have always attracted human kind. For example, the Sumerians were aware of Pluto as early as 5,000 bce, seven thousand years before it was discovered by Clyde W. Tombaugh in 1930. The first written evidence of extraterrestrials was discovered in 1935 by Prof. Tsum Um Nui of the Academy of Prehistoric Research in Beijing who found a stone disk in the cave part of the Baian Kara Ula Mountains near Tibet. The stone disk was buried with a group of humans with delicate bodies and weird large skulls. At first they were thought to be apes, Prof. Um Nui was rumored to have said “Who ever heard of apes burying each other?” They ended up finding 716 disks but the Chinese government would not let any more research be done until a Russian, Dr. Saitsew, examined them and wrote a...
Words: 2115 - Pages: 9
...“Do not create a disturbance, gentleman, even if you think I am boasting, for the story I shall tell does not originate with me, but I will refer you to a trustworthy source. I shall call upon the god of Delphi as witness to the existence and nature of my wisdom, if it be such. You know Chaerephon; he was my friend from youth, and a friend of most you, as he shared your exile and your return. You surely know the kind of man he was, how impulsive in any course of action. He went to Delphi at one time and ventured to ask the oracle – as I say, gentlemen, do not create a disturbance – he asked if any man was wiser than I, and the Pythian replied that no one was wiser. Chaerephon is dead, but his brother, will testify to you about this.” (Plato 25-26) Socrates recounts to the men of Athens how he took this news with great puzzlement. “What can the god mean? And what is the interpretation of this riddle? What can the oracle mean when he says that I am the wisest of men?” Socrates knew the oracle could not lie, and yet he thought that he had no particular wisdom or specialized knowledge at all So Socrates set out on a quest with two goals in mind: 1) To disprove the oracle by finding at least one person in Athens wiser than he. 2) To figure out the riddle of the oracle, since its meaning was probably hidden. In order to test the oracle, or to prove it wrong, Socrates sought out and questioned Athenian men who were...
Words: 1541 - Pages: 7
...1: Philosophy, sophism/sophistry, “pilosopo” 1 [Published in Rolando M. Gripaldo, ed. 2004. Philosophical landscape. Manila: Philippine National Philosophical Research Society.] PHILOSOPHY, SOPHISM/SOPHISTRY, “PILOSOPO” Rolando M. Gripaldo PHILOSOPHY: Ancient Philosophy literally means “love of wisdom.” In contemporary philosophy there are as many definitions of philosophy as there are schools of philosophy.1 What is interesting is that one school defines philosophy to the exclusion of other schools. For instance, the analytic school defines philosophy as the clarification of the meanings of words, phrases, and sentences, and it rejects metaphysical propositions as cognitively meaningless. Its emphasis is logic and language. On the other hand, the continental school defines philosophy in terms of the meaning of life and one’s relationship with the world and the Other (other human beings and/ or God). It considers the activities of the analytic tradition as meaningless to one’s life. Its emphasis is life. It is therefore advisable to just leave the definition of philosophy in its original etymological meaning, although even this is not safe. Quite recently, Hans-Georg Gadamer (1989), an hermeneute, has rejected epistemic wisdom as within the realm of human control. The ancient Greeks defined philosophy as love of (epistemic) wisdom. Thales, who is traditionally considered the father of philosophy, was interested in “knowing” the ultimate reality,...
Words: 3853 - Pages: 16
...Extraterrestial Influence All our science, measured against reality, is primitive and childlike and yet it is the most precious thing we have. -Albert Einstein INTRODUCTION There are many things in this world that go unexplained. Not anymore, it was all aliens, everything you can’t figure out like, “Where does one sock go when I do the laundry?”, and “How do you get the caramel into the Caramilk bar?” Aliens. Earth has been profoundly impacted by extraterrestrials in its short history. Everything from supplying life-giving chemicals and wiping out the dinosaurs with meteorites to influencing human culture and evolution. The whole world is filled with evidence of extraterrestrials, though it is usually denied and ignored by governments and academics. This essay will provide a brief analysis of extraterrestrial events or evidence thereof the were especially significant. THE BEGINNING OF LIFE Evolutionary theory suggests that life on earth has been developing for millions of years into more and more complex organisms. These organisms evolved from inorganic molecules through the release of UV, heat and electrical energy in the atmosphere of early Earth. This theory was found to be valid by Stan Miller in 1953, who through a series of tests managed to create some hydrocarbons and amino acidsout of chemicals that were present on earth 3.5 billion years ago. These hydrocarbons and amino acids are very susceptible to oxidation and would not exist for very long in an...
Words: 2734 - Pages: 11
...Book VII Summary: Book VII, 514a- 521d In Book VII, Socrates presents the most beautiful and famous metaphor in Western philosophy: the allegory of the cave. This metaphor is meant to illustrate the effects of education on the human soul. Education moves the philosopher through the stages on the divided line, and ultimately brings him to the Form of the Good. Socrates describes a dark scene. A group of people have lived in a deep cave since birth, never seeing the light of day. These people are bound so that they cannot look to either side or behind them, but only straight ahead. Behind them is a fire, and behind the fire is a partial wall. On top of the wall are various statues, which are manipulated by another group of people, lying out of sight behind the partial wall. Because of the fire, the statues cast shadows across the wall that the prisoners are facing. The prisoners watch the stories that these shadows play out, and because these shadows are all they ever get to see, they believe them to be the most real things in the world. When they talk to one another about “men,” “women,” “trees,” or “horses,” they are referring to these shadows. These prisoners represent the lowest stage on the line—imagination. A prisoner is freed from his bonds, and is forced to look at the fire and at the statues themselves. After an initial period of pain and confusion because of direct exposure of his eyes to the light of the fire, the prisoner realizes that what he sees now are things...
Words: 3699 - Pages: 15
