...Written by Plato, The Republic strives to answer the question ‘What is Justice?’ Unlike other dialogues starring Socrates, The Republic provides an answer for the question being posed, instead of leaving readers puzzled. Using Socrates as a mouth piece, Plato creates a formula to define justice using an ideal society, the soul of an individual in an ideal society, and the greek social virtues. By using a mathematical argument to link the tasks in society, with the parts of the soul, and matching them to social virtues, Plato is able to provide an acceptable definition of justice that embodies both the ideals of a society and of an individual. In order to locate justice, Plato performs a though experiment where he creates an ideal society. In the ideal society everyone has a merit-based assignment. Plato states that in the perfect society there are three categories of people. There are the rulers, the auxiliaries, and the craftsmen. The rulers are in charge of ruling the ideal society, the auxiliaries are in charge of policing the ideal society, and the craftsmen are in charge of creating the basic tools to fulfill society’s needs. In Greece many accept that in an ideal society there are four standard virtues: wisdom, courage, moderation, and justice. Plato argues that since his society is ideal the standard virtues must be within the society. He also argues that if we are able to locate the standard values in society we will be able to locate justice. Plato uses an elimination...
Words: 1441 - Pages: 6
...Plato's Middle Period Metaphysics and Epistemology 1.0. The Background to Plato’s Metaphysics The author Silverman, Allan (2014) of this article titled Plato’s Middle Period Metaphysics and Epistemology wrote about how Plato first began to annotate his own points on metaphysics and epistemology. As we all knew, Plato’s definition of things are heavily influenced by his teachers Heraclitus (c.540 B.C.-480-70) Parmenides (c.515 B.C.-449-40) and especially Socrates (470 B.C-399). However only remnants of the writings of Heraclitus and Parmenides and also nothing left of Socrates. The only evidence that we ever had is Plato’s depiction of his teacher that is the dialog he wrote in his writings about Socrates’s views. Sometimes, it is as if it was Socrates’s writing not Plato because of the many things about Socrates he wrote. Some had said that it was his own views but instead he used Socrates as the speaker. This article also wrote about Plato’s predecessors’ views of the concept that influences his definition of Metaphysics and Epistemology which are Being and Forms. Firstly, Parmenides which he said there is one and only in this world and that is being. The truth is it never change and will never be. Sadly, there is not much we could conclude from Parmenides’s point of view. His concept of being has become Plato’s based of doctrine of Forms. As contrast to Parmenides’s definition of physical world, Heraclitus is the advocate of change. He said that the ordinary objects...
Words: 4378 - Pages: 18
...Adnan Ahmad Compare and contrast Aristotle‘s concept of mind with that of Descartes. Introduction In this essay I attempt to show Aristotle’s concept of soul/mind*[1]. Then I compare and contrast it with Descartes’ concept of mind. In order to understand Aristotle’s concepts of mind, I shall consider Aristotle’s De Anima, in which Aristotle mostly concentrates on soul/mind discussion. I will examine the work of Kahn and Sorabji, who both considered Aristotle’s and Descartes’ philosophy in relation to soul and body problem. In order to compare Aristotle’s concept of mind with Descartes’, I am going to introduce Descartes’ most famous philosophical work which involves the question of mind directly, namely hisMeditations. …………………………. …………………………… ………………………………. If we look at Aristotle’s De Anima we can understand that pre-Aristotle thinkers were already concerned with corporeal and incorporeal problems. For example, for Plato soul was an ‘incorporeal’ and immortal thing, but body corporeal and mortal. The first impression we get from reading De Anima is that the mind and body problem was unsolved. Perhaps the resolved problem didn’t satisfy Aristotle. Aristotle claims that an incorporeal thing cannot exist without a corporeal thing. Aristotle’s new theory for solving soul and body problems makes controversial debate among most post-Aristotelian philosophers. Rene Descartes was one of them who rejected the Aristotelian concept...
Words: 3631 - Pages: 15
...Attunement Argument: -soul is the byproduct of the body, only comes to existence when all parts of the body are in proper arrangement -the soul includes our being conscious, our intellect, etc. is nothing more than the body -(epiphenomenalism) the mind is caused by physical events -Socrates: dualism -simmias epiphenomenalism: claims that the soul is a byproduct of the body, and the soul depends on the body for its existence Socrates Three counter arguments t simmias attunement argument. Socrates answers simmias directly by offering three arguments against his argument (attunement) First Argument: No Harmony between attunement and the theory of recollection -the two theories are not in tune with one another -the soul could not outlast the body or exist outside of the body -you cannot believe the theory of recollection and also believe that the soul is nothing more than the attunement of the body. -the 2 positions do not harmonize with each other, therefore simmias must give up one belief Plato’s hypothetical method: 1: Theory of forms (fundamental postulate) 2: Theory of Recollection (derivative belief) 3: The Soul is Immortal (derivative belief) attunement is not a good way to understand the soul. Second Argument: -are there degrees of attunement? Part 1: Yes -more in tune (therefore more of a soul) -less in tune (less of a soul) Part 2: No -both equally in tune (therefore all souls are equally wise and virtuous) Part 3: Yes & No -all souls need to...
Words: 410 - Pages: 2
...explanation of the fundamentals of Nature of being and the world (Statile, et al. 2006). It seeks to investigate the principles of reality; state of things as they exist and whether or not they are observable or comprehensible. Aristoterian hylomorphism Aristotelian hylomorphism is a philosophical theory that was developed by Aristotle, which analyzes substances into matter and form. Aristotle theory seeks to understand the inherent quality in matter that a substance conceives as forms (Statile, et al. 2006). Aristotle’s hylomorphism theory, therefore, seeks to relate matter and form, soul and body and substantial form, accidental form and prime matter. This theory has given rise to many debates by scholars as according to this theory; it is workable especially in proximate and non proximate matter. According to the definition of matter and form hylomorphism theory, is not workable with regards to body and soul. Matter and form According to Aristotle, the fundamental question is not “Is X matter?” but rather “what is the matter of X?” (Statile, et al. 2006). Aristotle, therefore, defines the matter of X as its constituents. According to Aristotle hylomorphism theory, something can be matter without being physical. The theory seeks to explain the regeneration and changes that occur in matter as a result of the matter’s constituents i.e. form, being changed (Statile, et al. 2006). Therefore, Aristotle came up with a proposition that M is X‟s matter if and only if M has the capability...
Words: 2589 - Pages: 11
...Aquinas, alongside Aristotle, trusted that deliberation is a procedure that happens in the human personality. A man, subsequent to seeing numerous material articles, for example, a wicker bin ball, will have the capacity to extract the general type of the item, along these lines having the capacity to build the conceptual thought of a b-ball in their brain, which would be a procedure done by the "dynamic mind". Aquinas developed Aristotle's thoughts of the astuteness and how we comprehend data. Aquinas contended that the brains comprehend "ghosts", or inside duplicates of what we see, by abstracting. The "aloof keenness" is the part of the insightfulness that knows material protests, what Aquinas accepted is the means by which we know all items. To comprehend ghosts, we require the detached brains to comprehend what we are seeing. The dynamic judgment is the part of the acumen ready to digest from learning of the inactive. Both Aquinas and Augustine concur upon the way that God is the object of extreme learning. The logicians would see eye to eye on the way that one can know God through reason, while nobody can know or comprehend God completely in light of the fact that man is however God's creation. While both of these scholars and rationalists kept up goals extraordinarily affected by Christianity, they both accommodated their convictions in altogether different ways. Augustine was all that much impacted by Plato, though Aquinas was guided seriously by Aristotle....
Words: 2175 - Pages: 9
...Introduction In this era when individuals are questioning the legitimacy and wisdom of unregulated free markets, issues are raised about the most efficient form of economic activity and the best role for government in an economy. These issues have been discussed at many points in the past, and different societies have come to different conclusions regarding political and economic systems. In the United States, and many developed nations around the world, the view has often been that democracy accompanied by capitalism, offers the best, most efficient use of resources and governments guided by those principles assure the best outcomes for their populations. Other countries have adopted very different governing principles. Communist doctrine, as adopted by some nations, endorses the establishment of an egalitarian, classless, stateless society based on common ownership of the means of production and property (Communism: The failure of an utopian system, 2008). The civilization is governed by an individual, or individuals, whose function is to ensure the efficiency of the society as a whole. As an ideal, the communist doctrine defines a just city as one that eliminates the need for its citizens to wish to exploit each other. History appears to indicate that in practice, however, the communist vision cannot be fulfilled since “absolute power (which is given to the leader) corrupts absolutely” (Martin, 2009). Human nature does not appear to manage total supremacy well. 49 When...
Words: 3578 - Pages: 15
...Aristotle psychology is the branch of science which investigates the soul and its properties. Aristotle thinks of the soul as a general principle of life. In view of this Aristotle's psychology studies all living beings, and not merely those he regards as having minds, human beings. So, in De Anima, he takes it as his task to provide an account of the life activities of plants and animals, alongside those of humans. This conception by Aristotle as substantiated by his subject matter which claims that Aristotle’s psychology is concerned with giving an account of all those activities which are characteristics of living things, puts his theory in sharp contrast to the dualistic conception of the soul by Plato and modern psychology which focuses on conscious and intentional state. Plato, unlike Aristotle had conjectured that man is a composite of soul which is non-physical and a body which is physical. Plato’s psychology has it that the soul pre-existed the body and it continuous to exist at the demise of the body and that the soul has independent existence of the body. Aristotle, bearing the weaknesses of Plato’s psychology in mind, decides to put in his say on psychology. To this end, this essay seeks to examine critically Aristotle’s contribution to psychology. In this attempt, the essay will examine Aristotle’s soul and body relationship, his treatment of the soul from natural science and the fact the soul does not survive the demise of the body. To start with, Aristotle puts...
Words: 963 - Pages: 4
...In Book II of the Plato’s Republic, Glaucon and Adeimantus challenge Socrates’ claim that justice belongs in the class of goods which are valued for their own sake as well as for the sake of what comes from them (Rep. 357 b- 358 a). Unconvinced by Socrates’ refutation of Thrasymachus, Glaucon renews Thrasymachus’ argument that the life of the unjust person is better than that of the just person. As part of his case, Glaucon states what he claims most people consider the nature of justice to be and what its origins are. He proceeds to present a version of the social contract theory: They say that to do injustice is naturally good and to suffer injustice bad, but that the badness of suffering it so far exceeds the goodness of doing it that those who have done and suffered injustice and tasted both, but who lack the power to do it and avoid suffering it, decide that it is profitable to come to an agreement with each other neither to do injustice nor to suffer it. As a result, they begin to make laws and covenants, and what the law commands they call lawful and just. This, they say, is the origin and essence of justice. It is intermediate between the best and the worst. The best is to do injustice without paying the penalty; the worst is to suffer it without being able to take revenge. Justice is a mean between these two extremes. People value it not because it is a good but because they are too weak to do injustice with impunity. Someone who has the power to do this...
Words: 4725 - Pages: 19
...I. THE THEORY OF THE IDEAS AND PLATO’S ONTOLOGY I. 1. The ontological dualism The theory of the Ideas is the base of Plato’s philosophy: the Ideas are not only the real objects ontologically speaking, but they are the authentically objects of knowledge epistemologically speaking. From the point of view of ethics and politics, they are the foundation of the right behaviour, and anthropologically speaking they are the base of Plato’s dualism and they even allow him demonstrate the immortality of the soul. Plato defends a clear ontological dualism in which there are two types of realities or worlds: the sensible world and the intelligible world or, as he calls it, the world of the Ideas. The Sensible World is the world of individual realities, and so is multiple and constantly changing, is the world of generation and destruction; is the realm of the sensible, material, temporal and space things. On the contrary, the Intelligible World is the world of the universal, eternal and invisible realities called Ideas (or "Forms"), which are immutable and do not change because they are not material, temporal or space. Ideas can be understood and known; they are the authentic reality. The Ideas or Forms are not just concepts or psychic events of our minds; they do exist as objective and independent beings out of our consciences. They are also the origin of sensible things, but although they are the authentic beings, Plato, unlike Parmenides of Elea, do not completely...
Words: 11604 - Pages: 47
...Just individuals : In his book ‘The Republic’, Plato searches for justice within the individual and what makes a person ‘just’. By comparing his sense of what is just at a political level and what is just at a psychological level he suggests three virtues of the individual which will make that particular person just. The virtues of wisdom, courage and moderation are common to both a just and the fictional just city of Kallipolis. This artificial city has the pre-determined virtue of being just – he does this in order to understand what justice is for the individual because Plato thinks that ‘a just man won’t differ at all from a just city in respect to the form of justice; rather he’ll be like the city.’ (Republic 435b) In the just city Plato creates three classes: the producers, the guardians and the rulers. Each of these three classes has a certain virtue it has to display to fulfill the ‘just city’ pre-requisite that Plato has placed upon Kallipolis. The rulers are required to exhibit wisdom so that ‘a whole city established according to nature would be wise because of the smallest class and part in it, namely the governing or ruling one. And to this class, belongs a share of the knowledge that alone among all the other kinds of knowledge is to be called wisdom.’ (428e-429a) The wisdom enjoyed by the rulers would be used to ensure that the city has ‘good judgement and [be] really wise.’ (428d) The guardians (soldiers) of Kallipolis would be educated in order to absorb...
Words: 6303 - Pages: 26
...a) Explain Plato’s Form of the Good Plato believed that the world we around us is an illusion, and that everyday things that we take for granted are merely weak imitations of the true object behind it. He believed that behind every earthly object, and every earthly concept (e.g. beauty), there is an unearthly truth; a perfect version. He believed that there was a place where everything that is, has been, or ever will be in existence in kept, and that is how we know that a pen is a pen, a chair is a chair. This he believed, was the only possible explanation to the philosophical question: ‘What makes a thing, the thing that it is?’ Plato believed in the soul- the only part of a human that yields any importance or relevance. He believed that it was once, (before we were born), free to roam the World of the Forms, and now that it is in our world, held prisoner in our bodies, it longs to go back. Whilst I in the World of Forms, the soul had access to true knowledge, and everything that we ‘know’ today, is just remembering what we have already learnt. Forms are placed in a Hierarchy, the Form of the Good, being the most important. It is central to the existence of our entire Universe and without it there would be no perfect beauty, no perfect justice, no perfect anything. It structures each form, giving it its own characteristics. Plato used an analogy to explain his theories. He told people of a cave, where there is a row of men, chained up, facing the...
Words: 1168 - Pages: 5
...TOPIC OF ASSIGNMENT: “PLATO’S CONCEPTION OF GOD AND HOW IT IMPACTED HIS VIEWS ON LITERATURE” Plato considers God as having perfect goodness; and that the fundamental reality exists in the mind of god who directs other souls to spread righteousness in the world; every soul is responsible for its actions therefore it must do goodness to become like god in order to get an ideal society. Plato refutes literature, especially poetry, on the basis of this conception. He believes that purpose of creating this world is to spread goodness. Hence literature must possess elements of true reality in it to convey to the readers. In this task, I am assigned to give a glimpse on Plato’s conception of God and his process of creating this world with the help of fundamental reality. I will describe his beliefs with the help of examples from some of his works. At the end, I will sum up by describing his preference of dialogue over poetry which depicts his views about literature. Plato belongs to philosophers of Greek era. There were many school of thoughts concerning with the existence of God. Three of them were very popular which were consisted of denial of God’s existence; God’s indifference to the world; and that god can be bribed. Plato refuted these principles and established god as having “absolute reality”. Every action has some driving force behind it which is soul. God creates those souls therefore we cannot deny god’s existence. He establishes that God is not indifferent to the...
Words: 2213 - Pages: 9
...Socratic irony Influenced: Most subsequent Western philosophy; more specifically, Plato, Aristotle, Aristippus, Antisthenes Spouse:Xanthippe Children:Menexenus, Lamprocles, Sophroniscus Aristotle Philosopher Aristotle was a Greek philosopher and polymath, a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great “Personal background” Born: 384 BC Stagira, Chalcidice Died: 322 BC (aged 61 or 62) Euboea Nationality: Greek Era: Ancient philosophy Region: Western philosophy School: Peripatetic schoolAristotelianism Main interests: Physics, Metaphysics, Poetry, Theatre, Music, Rhetoric, Politics, Government, Ethics, Biology, and Zoology Notable ideas: Golden mean, Aristotelian logic, syllogism, hexis, homomorphism, Aristotle's theory of soul Plato Philosopher Plato was a philosopher in Classical Greece. He was also a mathematician, student of Socrates, writer of philosophical dialogues, and founder of the Academy in Athens, the first institution of higher learning in the Western world. “Personal background” Born: c. 428–427 BC Athens Died: c. 348–347 BC (aged c. 80)Athens Nationality: Greek Era: Ancient philosophy Region: Western philosophy School: Platonism Main interests: Rhetoric, art, literature, epistemology, justice, virtue, politics, education, family, militarism Notable ideas: Theory of Forms, Platonic idealism,...
Words: 3769 - Pages: 16
...a) Explain Plato’s Theory of Forms Plato’s Theory of Forms is similar to many other beliefs about the world. For instance, Heraclitus’ notion was that we see a world of perception in constant flux of which we have no true knowledge, while Zeno believed that we can see a static unchanging world and it can be grasped through reason. Plato’s theory is strongly based on what is real and what is not. What is real is thought to be perfect, but something cannot be real or perfect if it is transient. He explains that the World of Forms is very different to the World of Shadows. The World of Forms can only be properly understood by philosophers and those who seek knowledge, not by the ignorant or those who do not wish to learn the truth. The Theory of Forms makes a distinction between those objects that are real and those that are only real in our minds. His dialogues, like the Allegory of the Cave, portray knowledge as the process of leaving the cave and going into the sunlight. The people in the cave find their reality in the shadows cast in the cave and assume there can never be anything beyond these shadows. These shadows symbolise how the world that we see is just a shadow or reflection of what is real. For Plato, the real world is not what we see around us, it is only the World of Forms that is real. Plato believes there are two distinct realms of existence which exists simultaneously. This approach to the two different worlds is know as dualism. The world we live in is...
Words: 1515 - Pages: 7
