Premium Essay

Socrates Knowledge Greek Analysis

Submitted By
Words 564
Pages 3
Socrates’ account of knowledge was illustrated in the standard definitions of epistemology and its ideas of justification and the difference between whether something is truth or belief. Understanding knowledge as Socrates’ describes this concept can be seen several places. The first is when he compares himself to a midwife of truth, which is an odd saying, but it is to portray that Socrates doesn’t create true ideas, but works to deliver them, examining the world for truth, which must be done through an analytical viewpoint of society and humanity itself. As seen through his actions of interviewing the people of Athens, the way to truth though his methods can’t be done through introspection and contemplation, but through question and answer …show more content…
As he worked to utilize his examinations efficiently, these inquiries requiring justification for everything a person explained. Thus, it was necessary for a person to be able to understand and outline the reasons for every aspect of their line of work. The wise dimension of this arrived from the realization that a person is unable to know everything about one subject. One can know a great deal, far more than the rest of the population. However, their knowledge will always be limited to an extent as their justifications begin to grow circular after a point, to the point where their reasons for an aspect of their field can no longer be explained by them, stating that something is such a way because it must be. In the end, everyone is unable to give a logical reasoning for the actions of a field. Consequences include placing on trial all of the knowledge one has as it can no longer be justified when one aspect of their understanding no longer abides by reason. Socrates was perceiving this and working to explain this discovery and no one was able to comprehend his thoughts, saying that knowledge was limited and ambiguous. Socrates was questioning people’s knowledge and their understanding, partly giving humility to people by offering the idea that all great knowledge is meant for god-like beings. This is how Socrates becomes the wisest man, as he found it his duty to spread this discovery where no one was able to perceive this without his

Similar Documents

Free Essay

Foundations of Psychology

...know today stems from the early Greek and Roman philosophers. If it was not for these philosophers the people of today would not been have able to interpret their writings and words; passing them down from generations and adapting their theories and concepts to present day. In general, all these different theories all genuinely revert back to these innovators and if it were not for them we would not have this subject that we have today called psychology. Starting off with the Greek Philosopher Socrates. Born in 469 BC to 399 BC, Socrates is known today as one of the founders of what people today call today as Western Philosophy. Socrates contributed a lot to the field of psychology he is especially known for forming a style of questioning which today we call Socratic method. According to "Socratic Method" (2011), “The Socratic Method, named after the classical Greek philosopher Socrates, is a form of inquiry and debate between individuals with opposing viewpoints based on asking and answering questions to stimulate critical thinking and to illuminate ideas.” This allowed people the ability to discover more about themselves then ever before. Plato was a Greek Philosopher and mathematician born in 427 BC to 437 BC; he was one of Socrates’ students and was known to be a few that recorded Socrates’ teachings. He, like Socrates believed that people or individuals all have somewhat native knowledge. For that reason Plato, in his search for knowledge led him to be founder of the Academy...

Words: 583 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Why Was Socrates Regarded as a Man of Virtue?

...Why was Socrates regarded as a man of virtue? Why was Socrates regarded as a man of virtue? Socrates: Man of Virtue (470-399 B.C.E.) Socrates proposed the theory of value in which there are two sorts of good: virtue and happiness. Both are unconditional goods. But happiness is a "self-generated" good in that it "derives its value strictly from its inherent properties;" whereas virtue is an "other-generated" good in that it derives its value from happiness, precisely from its conduciveness to happiness. Virtue is an instinct in all humanity which can be aroused through self-examination. This universal truth is accessible to everyone who thinks and question. Socrates assumes that any person with whom he talks has the resource to answer his question correctly, that is, that no specialist knowledge is required. Socrates thought that knowledge is virtue, and virtue leads to happiness. It makes sense to think that moral people know what morality is. If you know right from wrong, then you might be able to choose to do what you know to be right. It also makes some sense to suspect that our beliefs about right and wrong influence our decisions. If we believe its right to help a drowning child, then it would be fairly shocking to decide not to do so—and it would less surprising when we decide to help the child. It is quite a shocking statement to say that virtue always leads to happiness. Criminals commit crimes that hurt others to help themselves. To think that their crimes would...

Words: 7161 - Pages: 29

Premium Essay

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, or the funadamental/basic stuff out of which everything comes into being and to which everything eventually returns. Metaphysics is the study of ultimate reality, but to “know” the ultimate reality is to engage in an epistemological inquiry as a part of metaphysics. In other words, the wisdom to know the ultimate reality is an epistemic wisdom. Following Aristotle’s distinction, Gadamer...

Words: 3853 - Pages: 16

Premium Essay

Apology of Socrates Summart

...of the speech Socrates makes at the trial in which he is charged with not recognizing the gods recognized by the state, inventing new deities, and corrupting the youth of Athens. Socrates' speech, however, is by no means an "apology" in our modern understanding of the word. The name of the dialogue derives from the Greek "apologia," which translates as a defense, or a speech made in defense. Thus, in The Apology, Socrates attempts to defend himself and his conduct--certainly not to apologize for it. For the most part, Socrates speaks in a very plain, conversational manner. He explains that he has no experience with the law courts and that he will instead speak in the manner to which he is accustomed: with honesty and directness. He explains that his behavior stems from a prophecy by the oracle at Delphi which claimed that he was the wisest of all men. Recognizing his ignorance in most worldly affairs, Socrates concluded that he must be wiser than other men only in that he knows that he knows nothing. In order to spread this peculiar wisdom, Socrates explains that he considered it his duty to question supposed "wise" men and to expose their false wisdom as ignorance. These activities earned him much admiration amongst the youth of Athens, but much hatred and anger from the people he embarrassed. He cites their contempt as the reason for his being put on trial. Socrates then proceeds to interrogate Meletus, the man primarily responsible for bringing Socrates before the jury...

Words: 940 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

History of Psychology

...a discipline. I will also be exploring the development of the science of psychology during the 19th century. Ancient philosophers is the where history bagan in the field of psychology. Although these philosophers all had an intrerst with how the human mind and body works, they all had different interests, studies and experiments. They may have shared similar standpoints but some had different views. Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle were three Greek ancient philosophers who had a major influence on psychological thought. “Know thyself” one of Socrates’ most famous quotes. This quote was used to emphasize how important it is to be aware of one’s self. Personal reflection and self- examination are key factors in psychology. Plato was one of Socrates’ most prized students. He believed that our perception was inaccurate most of the time. To obtain knowledge he believed that one should depend on their thought and reason. Aristotle, Plato’s student, believed that we could gain information through careful obeservstion using our senses. He believed that our knowledge should be gained based on experience in life. Aristotle believed that people are naturally drawn to finding...

Words: 488 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Ethics and Corporate Governace

...Ethics and Corporate Governance: Corporate Social Responsibility Contents Introduction 2 Definition of Ethics 2 Definition of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) 2 History of Ethics 2 Socrates 2 Plato 2 Aristotle 2 Cynics 2 Cyrenaics 2 Business Ethics 2 Nike 2 McDonalds 2 Enron 2 Wal-Mart 2 Why Business Ethics is Necessary 2 Conclusion 2 Bibliography 2 Introduction This assignment is a brief over view of ethics in the modern day era. It begins with a definition of ethics, followed by a concise explanation of corporate social responsibility. Ethics has evolved over a number of decades and still is to this day, with that a short history of ethics will be demonstrated in this assignment. Ethics determines whether or not a company has good or bad morale. Unfortunately a company that holds excellent ethics are not highlighted in the media as a company that has bad ethics. In this essay will illustrate examples of how large national and international companies came to have bad ethics. To conclude this assignment will be a brief outlay of why ethics is necessary to the business environment in this day and age. Definition of Ethics Ethics can be defined at vital concepts and essential principles of moral human conduct. It consists of the study of universal ethics such as the essential parity of all men and women, natural or human rights, compliance to the law of land, concern for health and safety and, progressively more, for the natural environment...

Words: 4292 - Pages: 18

Premium Essay

Broken Family

...Socrates Philosopher Socrates was a classical Greek Athenian philosopher. Credited as one of the founders of Western philosophy, he is an enigmatic figure known chiefly through the accounts of later classical writers, Wikipedia “Personal background” Born: 469 BC, Athens, Greece Died:399 BC, Athens, Greece Full name: Socrates Nationality: Greek Era: Ancient philosophy Region: Western philosophy School: Classical Greek Main interests: Epistemology, ethics Notable idea: SocraticMethod, 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...

Words: 3769 - Pages: 16

Free Essay

Paper

...the Ancient Greek (philosophia), which literally means "love of wisdom Explain Modes of persuasion Persuasion is clearly a sort of demonstration, since we are most fully persuaded when we consider a thing to have been demonstrated. Of the modes of persuasion furnished by the spoken word there are three kinds. Persuasion is achieved by the speaker's personal character when the speech is so spoken as to make us think him credible. Secondly, persuasion may come through the hearers, when the speech stirs their emotions. Thirdly, persuasion is effected through the speech itself when we have proved a truth or an apparent truth by means of the persuasive arguments suitable to the case in question. MYTHOS: a set of beliefs or assumptions about something. LOGOS: Logos (Logical) means persuading by the use of reasoning. This will be the most important technique we will study, and Aristotle's favorite. We'll look at deductive and inductive reasoning, and discuss what makes an effective, persuasive reason to back up your claims. Giving reasons is the heart of argumentation, and cannot be emphasized enough. We'll study the types of support you can use to substantiate your thesis, and look at some of the common logical fallacies, in order to avoid them in your writing. Who was THALES? Was a pre-Socratic Greek philosopher from Miletus in Asia Minor and one of the Seven Sages of Greece. What separated Thales from others? Empedocles Compare Logos versus mythos: The Greek words from...

Words: 2781 - Pages: 12

Premium Essay

Plato vs. Aristotle

...Virtue can simply be defined as the quality in a person to do what is right and shun what is wrong. Virtue enables a person to attain moral excellence. It is not only a quality which has substance, but also one, which is extremely desirable. In ancient Greek, during times of Socrates, Plato and Aristotle, moral philosophy was an essential discipline which got taught in schools. Most of the Great philosophers of that time heard a different version, accounts and views about the ideal, moral virtues. In this essay, attempts are made critically to analyze the views, opinions and beliefs of two of the most influential philosophers of all time- Socrates and Aristotle ( Prior, 2001). The essays will showcase the crucial differences between Aristotle account on virtue, and Socrates account of virtue. This essay will then attempt to give an analysis of which among the two arguments is the most plausible. It should be noted from the onset the Socrates and Aristotle have different and also similar arguments about virtue. They concur that virtue is a state but differ sharply on its functions. These accounts shall get discussed in the essay ( Anagnostopoulos, 2011). The account on virtue as proposed, by Aristotle perceives morals virtues, to represent the characters that are a consequence of habits repeating themselves over and over again. His account explains that the virtues of a person can be traced between the two extreme ends of two cardinal states, which are scarcity and excess...

Words: 961 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Etica

...In Conjunction with  History of Ethics Instructor: Robert Cavalier Teaching Professor Robert Cavalier received his BA from New York University and a Ph.D. in Philosophy from Duquesne University. In 1987 he joined the staff at Carnegie Mellon's Center for Design of Educational Computing (CDEC), where he became Executive Director in 1991. While at CDEC, he was also co-principal in the 1989 EDUCOM award winner for Best Humanities Software (published in 1996 by Routledge as A Right to Die? The Dax Cowart Case). He also coauthored the CD-ROM The Issue of Abortion in America (Rountledge, 1998) Dr. Cavalier was Director of CMU's Center for the Advancement of Applied Ethics and Political Philosophy from 2005-2007. He currently directs the Center's Digital Media Lab which houses Project PICOLA (Public Informed Citizen Online Assembly), and is also co-Director of Southwestern Pennsylvania Program for Deliberative Democracy. Co-Editor of Ethics in the History of Western Philosophy (St. Martin's/Macmillan, England, 1990), Editor of The Impact of the Internet on Our Moral Lives (SUNY, 2003) and other works in ethics as well as articles in educational computing, Dr. Cavalier is internationally recognized for his work in education and interactive multimedia. He was President of the "International Association for Computing and Philosophy" (2001 - 2004) and Chair of the APA Committee on Philosophy and Computers (2000-2003). Dr. Cavalier has given numerous addresses and...

Words: 14800 - Pages: 60

Premium Essay

Culinary

...Pre-Socratic Period Thales of Miletus Background: Thales of Miletus (fl. c. 585 BC) is regarded as the father of philosophy. Thales of Miletus was considered one of the Seven Wise Men of ancient Greece. Thales was the first of the Greek natural philosophers and founder of the Ionian school of ancient Greek thinkers. Works/Writings/Philosophy:  His is said to have measured the Egyptian pyramids and to have calculated the distance from shore of ships at sea using his knowledge of geometry.  He also predicted an eclipse of the sun. In geometry Thales has been credited with the discovery of five theorems like the one that a triangle inscribed in a semicircle has a right angle. He tried to discover the substance from which everything in nature is made off and suggested water.  Thales is important in bridging the worlds of myth and reason. He initiated the revolutionary notion that to understand the world one needed to know its nature and that there was an explanation for all phenomena in natural terms. That was a giant step from the assumptions of the old world that supernatural forces determined almost everything.  While considering the effects of magnetism and static electricity, he concluded that the power to move other things without the mover itself changing was a characteristic of "life", so that a magnet and amber must therefore be alive in some way (in that they have animation or the power to act). If so, he argued, there is no difference between the living and the dead...

Words: 17879 - Pages: 72

Premium Essay

Philosophy 3000c-Metaphysics

...the West began, for the most part, in Ancient Greece. In the period of the Fifth Century BCE, particularly in Athens, an incredible number of remarkable thinkers, artists, politicians, etc., participated in the life of the city-state. Their accomplishments have guided and inspired the entire development of Western culture. It’s pretty obvious then, that we ought to know something of their philosopher’s ideas. The most famous are, of course, Socrates, Plato and Aristotle. Prior to these are the so-called Pre-Socratics. The Pre-Socratic philosophers include: the Ionians who attempted to formulate materialist explanations of reality, the Eleatics, who proposed various intellectual conundrums about the nature of being and thought and the Sophists, who taught rhetoric and were an important social force (as their contemporary intellectual descendants are today). Socrates, Plato and Aristotle represent almost a school of thought. Socrates taught Plato, though he did not write down his teachings. After he was executed, Plato did write down what Socrates had taught, in the forms of dialogues, as well as much more which Plato probably thought he might have taught had he lived. Aristotle studied in Plato’s school, the Academy, until after many years he left to form his own. One might characterize all of their philosophizing as the attempt to solve a number of problems left to them by their predecessors in a systematic way. Western philosophy is traditionally held to have begun with Thales...

Words: 8366 - Pages: 34

Free Essay

Ancient Philo

...Ancient Philosophy 3rd November 2011 Epistemology - The theory of knowledge. Theory of Forms or Ideas... • Plato believed that what the senses show us/what we see/what we perceive is called world observation. • Things are not as how we see them • If you are trying to produce an unphysical cause you would use different vocabulary • A physicist can say that the only answer to give a theory about the existence of the world you have to study physics. • Plato brings abstract ideas for examples what is justice? • Plato would say in order to know what justice is you have to get a certain essence of justice. 10th November 2011 • If you want to grasp on reality what you really need to think of is not the world of sense but the world of Ideas that can only be grasped by the philosophers. • What you start with at the bottom are simply dreams... as you climb up the ladder you move from the world of dreams to the world of Doxa(opinion/ordinary common sense) until you reach the epistemei(the only kind of knowledge that gives you Truth) • Plato says that you can never find the perfect justice. You cannot find perfection since perfection is only found in the abstract form of justice. • The ideal of the early Greeks was the perfect male model like hipieus. • Socrates tells hipieus and asks him what beauty is? • Hipieus answers that beauty is a beautiful woman... he thinks that this is obvious • But Socrates continues to challenge him that beauty is not just related to women ...

Words: 1511 - Pages: 7

Premium Essay

Vark Analysis

...VARK Analysis Paper NRS 429V Family Centered Health Promotion July 5, 2014 VARK Analysis The way a person learns has been examined and studied for many years, dating back to the Greek Philosophers Socrates (469-399 B.C.), Plato (427-347 B.C.), and Aristotle (384-322 B.C.) (Hammond, 2001). Learning begins the day a child is born. As the young mind grows, the child will begin to learn things from eating, walking, talking and performing. All of the things learned are done so in a specific manner; everyone learns in a different way. The VARK (Visual, Aural, Read/Write, and Kinesthetic) Analysis is a tool used to help a person identify which learning methods they use by answering a few simple questions. In this paper, the author will examine the four different styles used in learning and which method best fits her. VARK Leaning Styles The VARK analysis was developed by a man named Neil Fleming in 1987 to help teachers and students discover the best way of teaching, obtaining and retaining knowledge. The VARK analysis has four different types of leaning styles: visual, aural, read/write and kinesthetic. There is also a combined learning style known as multimodal, which uses a combination of two or more of the specified learning styles. Each one has a different approach for in taking the information and helping the person retain and put fourth what they have learned. By using the VARK analysis, each individual person can take the short assessment to determine which style...

Words: 1019 - Pages: 5

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