...1 Plato’s Meno trans. by J. Holbo & B. Waring (©2002) MENO: Can you tell me, Socrates, is virtue the sort of thing you can teach someone? Or is it the sort of thing no one can teach you, but you pick it up by practicing it? Or maybe it’s neither: virtue is something people are born with, or something they get some other way? SOCRATES: Thessalians used to have a good reputation among Greeks, Meno – for being such good riders and for being so rich; now, it seems, they are famous for wisdom, particularly your friend and fellow citizen, Aristippus of Larissa. The credit goes to Gorgias, for when he moved to your city the leading Aleuadae – your lover Aristippus among them – fell in love with his wisdom, and so did the other leading Thessalians. Specifically, he got all of you into the habit of giving sweeping and confident answers to any questions put to you – as if you were all experts. In fact, he himself was always ready to answer any question put by any Greek; all questions answered. On the other hand, here in Athens, my dear Meno, the opposite is the case. Here it’s as though there were a wisdom drought; it has all drained away to where you come from. So if you want to put this sort of question to one of us, everyone will have a good laugh and say to you: ‘Good stranger, you must think I am a lucky man, to know whether virtue can be taught or not, or where it comes from. Me, I’m so far from knowing whether virtue can be taught or not that I don’t even know what it is.’...
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...Death of Socrates” by Jacques Louis David As the highlight of the late eighteenth century and early nineteenth century, the French Revolution not only changed many structures and beliefs of society, but also had a considerable impact on the arts, specifically on the style and subject matter of art produced. The years leading up to the French Revolution, in particular, which were filled with change, can be fully understood and appreciated through one of the primary artists of this era, Jacques Louis David, and his magnum opus, “The Death of Socrates”. Painted in 1787, just two years before the Revolution commenced, David’s style focused on the morality and civic duty of man, while frequently incorporating a heavy...
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...Anthony Charpentier Due Date: 10/7/14 PHI 307 – Ancient Philosophy First Essay Assignment Xenophanes, Socrates, Plato on the possibility of knowledge Skepticism – A skeptical attitude; doubt as to the truth of something. In ordinary skepticism this would mean someone who would doubt the existence of something. A difference between the two is normal skepticism is you try to get it clear in your head. Ordinary doubt - or local skepticism - can usually be tested - and even when it can't, there may well come a time when it can. Many philosophers have had their own version and interpretation of skepticism. Skeptics only denies we have knowledge but does not deny our belief or opinion. Most of which our true belief is just luck and lucky guesses are not knowledge. An example of this can be found in a reading from Humes which he explained that he does not perceive anything else besides his perceptions such as immaterial substance. From different philosophers and readings we can understand there are many different meanings and interpretations of skepticism. According to Philonous presents an argument against Hylas stating that only ideas are perceived, nothing else and thus that we are aware only of the mind. Philonous proceeds to use the same arguments as John Locke to prove things are independent of the mind. Philonous uses a similar example to that of John Locke in which he states, “suppose now one of your hands hot, and the other cold, and that they are both at once put...
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...PHILOSOPHY ACCOUNT OF MAN & (HIS ENVIROMENT) Abstract This is a reflection in how man has influenced the universe or the world which he lives. From the origin of man till date, he has substantially brought nature under control and his existence is all about how nature and d universe has influenced man and vice-versa. What is philosophy and why is it necessary that we provide the philosophy account of man? The challenge here and the probable answers to the question raised rest on our ability to understand and correctly define first what philosophy is and from there we proceed to give reasons why it must be built on some foundation of man, in this case a philosophic account (foundation). Philosophy most time deals with the probe into the essential nature of things. Based on approach, philosophy can have different definition. To understand that which is philosophical, we must first appreciate what ‘philosophy’ is before explaining the attitudes that derives from it, which is the ‘philosophical’. The term philosophy is derived from two Greek words, ‘Philo’ which means ‘Love” and ‘Sophia’ which means ‘Wisdom’. Thus, literally, ‘philosophy’ is ‘love of wisdom’. Love is a feeling in the head or in the heart that makes us depending on who we are and who we are relating with. My love feeling for example towards my dog would not be the same love feeling to my siblings neither will it be the same with that for my parents and in particular that for my mother. The point here is that...
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...things do not have essences. I believe that essentialism is a much better way of thinking because they have both reason and justification. The Ancient Greek philosopher Socrates , was very firm on believer of essentialism. He believed that there must be justification for things all in the world. This man, wanted to know why people were said to have virtue instead of just claiming they have it much like Meno did. He was very stubborn with Meno on this topic that their argument ended in aporia, which is known as angered puzzlement. Meno tried offering Socrates examples, but Socrates decided to stick to his own personal opinion. He did this because he felt the need to live up to being the wisest man in Athens, even though he knew he was not wise at all. Justification is needed with essentialism in order to claim something truly has an essence. People typically have a reason for their actions otherwise they would not perform them. Often times it may not be a strong reason, but at least they had some sort of a purpose to their action. When parents are naming their children, they more than likely have a specific reason for giving them that name. Many times parents give their children a certain name because of family traditions or to symbolize something. Pets, vehicles, food, colors of the rainbow, and name brands all work the way. They receive their name with a reason. Properties can make up these reasons. Reasons are properties of something that contains...
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...PHIL 127: History of Ancient Philosophy Socrates and His Mission When is a Question Philosophical? Philosophical questions have answers. (A question that has no answer is not a question; it just masquerades as one.) But a question is philosophical for a particular culture at a particular time when no means of answering it are available – or, none of the prevailing methods have any authority. A problem is a philosophical problem when the way to go about answering the question is in question. An issue is a philosophical issue when the right way to settle the issue is at issue. A Philosophical Crisis If the claims in the previous paragraph are true, then 5th century Greece was in a philosophical crisis. It was a crisis in morality. In our culture we think of morality as being concerned with rules. Here are some rules – You should not kill. – You should not steal. – Don’t hit people. – Lying is wrong. – It’s wrong to promise to do something and then not do it. – You should not covet your neighbors wife, or his ox or his ass or his male or female slave, or anything that is your neighbor’s. – You should not lie with a man as with a woman. – Thou should not wear fabric woven of wool one way and linen the other. – Do (imperative) unto others as you would have them do unto you. – Help (imperative) other people who are in need when you can do so at no great risk or cost to yourself. Why do we think of morality as consisting of rules? This question is important...
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...Leah Forline Professor Ndovie Essay Response 1 02/20/2014 Plato Plato, one of Socrates most valued students, is one of the first known philosophers. He followed Socrates around, wrote down his theories and added on to them. Plato was born in 437BC and died around 347BC. He came from a wealthy and powerful family. When he was about 20 years old he came under Socrates spell and decided to devote himself to Philosophy. “He was also a mathematician, writer of philosophical dialogues, and founder of the Academy in Athens, the first institution of higher learning in the western world.(Piyong)” “He divides reality into two: on the one hand we have ontos, idea or ideal. This is ultimate reality, permanent, eternal, spiritual. On the other hand, there’s phenomena, which is a manifestation of the ideal. Phenomena are appearances, things as they seem to us, and are associated with matter, time, and space.” (Carlson) Phenomena are illusions which decay and die. Ideals are unchanging and perfect. Ideas are available to us through thought, while phenomena are available through our senses. Plato taught us this so we can realize that some things in life are reality and some are always changing and never forever. He relates back to this theory when he talks about art. Plato believes that art is imitation. Although Plato is not the first person to believe and understand that art is imitation, he does explain why very greatly. Plato says that “art must be imitating the world as it appears...
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...Shawn Ray EDU-210 October 3rd, 2015 Tara Armstead Movers and Shakers in Education From 470 to 399 B.C. Socrates lived a life of questions. Every day he questioned people and engaged them in philosophical conversation. This earned him both many student followers and many enemies who eventually had him condemned to death. "To all the philosophers that came after him, Socrates not only left the example of his life but also a new sort of inquiry (that is, social inquiry) and a new way of pursuing that inquiry, namely through the use of the Socratic method of question and answer." (Satris, 2015). Many different schools arose after Socrates death and claimed that they followed his examples, which is one reason why Socrates remains a giant in philosophy today. The Socratic Method can be used by those who are less wise than Socrates ever was himself, thus it could be said that Socrates had a mission that proved successful on the direction of philosophy which has had an effect that can never be undone. This ultimately has an effect on how philosophy is taught and how philosophers think in our present day lives and educational careers. The common school movement began to take place in the 1830's where a more state sponsored compulsory education for the masses set the foundation for what eventually becomes the educational system we have now in our everyday lives. There were schools for the poor, pauper...
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...to put all the details of the cave into your interpretation. In other words, what are the models the guards carry? the fire? the struggle out of the cave? the sunlight? the shadows on the cave wall? Socrates, in Book VII of The Republic, just after the allegory told us that the cave was our world and the fire was our sun. He said the path of the prisoner was our soul's ascent to knowledge or enlightenment. He equated our world of sight with the intellect's world of opinion. Both were at the bottom of the ladder of knowledge. Our world of sight allows us to "see" things that are not real, such as parallel lines and perfect circles. He calls this higher understanding the world "abstract Reality" or the Intelligeble world. He equates this abstract reality with the knowledge that comes from reasoning and finally understanding. On the physical side, our world of sight, the stages of growth are first recognition of images (the shadows on the cave wall) then the recognition of objects (the models the guards carry) To understand abstract reality requires the understanding of mathematics and finally the forms or the Ideals of all things (the world outside the cave). But our understanding of the physical world is mirrored in our minds by our ways of thinking. First comes imagination (Socrates thought little of creativity), then our unfounded but real beliefs. Opinion gives way to knowledge through reasoning (learned...
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...careful consideration we can interpret this in the context of Anna Deavere Smith’s context as the representation of the blurring of racial lines; in essence people of all colors and races transcending these differences and coming together as one. Anna Deavere Smith’s intention in Twilight is to explore race relations on a grander scale as in her eyes, “Los Angeles shows us that the story of race in America is much bigger and more complex than a story of black and white”(xxi). She further complicates the issue of race in Los Angeles by highlighting that the Latino population was equally involved in the 1992 riots. This only serves to emphasize the intricate nature of the relationships between people of different ethnicities. Smith has enlisted the power of theatre to explore the underlying processes of the problem while simultaneously serving as her “call to community” (xxiv) to join her in this journey. On the other hand, Walter Mosley in the chapter “History” from his novel Always Outnumbered, Always Outgunned explores the transformative effect of the knowledge of his cultural history on the character Socrates Fortlow. Mosley suggests that the widespread ignorance of African American history has resulted in people like Socrates not knowing the history of his own roots. Only by knowing where he comes from can Socrates understand himself in a more profound manner. While Anna Deavere Smith attempts to use her artistic work as an argument for people to move beyond the superficial boundaries...
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...perspectives of societal detrimental issues that indicates the need for improvement, as pointed out by Mennell (p. 2). I have to acknowledge these sources for laying a foundation that proved the societal view and responses towards creation of possible change through literacy basics in their perspective community based activities. Social and political class play critical role in shaping people’s life whereby in sometimes they can be destructive rather than constructive in the societies. The view of human nature as a basic reality received in diverse perspectives indicates the need for substantive measures in taking people’s consideration when the moral basics are involved. Formulation of substantial laws to provide governance prospects are areas that many of the authors relied on in this study have proved to require substantive corrections to guide the people who seem to encounter the hardships of accepting others, particularly with the illusive approaches on society well-being. In most cases, as seen in this study, the ones who do not like changes of accommodating everyone regardless of their race, gender, and social class may practice the detrimental activities, which lead to the victims undergoing critical moments of isolation. This leads can finally lead to unworthy circumstances and find people with restless lifestyles (Corlett, p. 8). Taunting Encompasses of American Relations to Immigrants...
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...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. Thales is said to have taught that water is the source of all things. What this means is unclear...
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...SOCIAL SCIENTIFIC INQUIRY Characteristics of Social Science Introduction One of the livelier academic debates of recent years has concerned the "scientific" status of those disciplines gathered under the rubric of the social sciences-typically including sociology, political science, social psychology, economics, anthropology, and sometimes fields such as geography, history, communications, and other composite and specialty fields, basically at issue like whether human behavior can be subjected to scientific study. It is a firm assumption of social scientists now-a-days that social behaviour can be subjected to scientific study as legitimately as can atoms, cells and so forth. Like physical scientists, social scientists seek to discover regularity and order. The social scientist looks for regularity in social behavior. He does this through careful observation and measurement, discovery of relationship, and framing of models and theories. The Search for Social Regularities Measuring Social Phenomena The first building block of science is measurement, or systematic observation. There is no fundamental reason why social scientists cannot measure phenomena relevant to their enquiry. The age and sex of people can be measured. Place of birth and marital status can be measured in a number of different ways, varying in accuracy and economy. Aggregate social behaviour can be measured systematically as well. The political...
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...project by searching the paintings that I will be analyzing. In the internet, I found a great painting from Raphael named The School of Athens (1509-1510) and from the text book Prebles’ Artforms by Patrick Frank, I found a painting from Masaccio named The Holy Trinity (1425) Both paintings fit in the Renaissance period where painters in Italy specifically wanted to have a re-birth in art. Renaissance is a period in the art history used to describe the re-birth of ‘the glory of ancient Greece” (Prebles’s , 2011); it occurred between the 14th and 17th centuries. Artists incorporated a sense of light and colors using new mediums. Also the use of the space and perspective was a major innovation of the time. These new innovations caused your eye to see in there dimension. Art in this period was mostly realized for commission or religious motives. In the Renaissance period, many artist occupied different places in society since it was dominated by associations which helped trades in society. All of these religious groups where connected to a patron saint and linked to their fellows making sure all have decent jobs. The School of Athens is characterized by its ease of composition. Also it shows visual accomplishment. It is simple on the eyes of the viewer because this channel guides you by using diverse patterns and structures. Panted in the High Renaissance period (1510-11) where Leonardo Davinci, Michelangelo and Raphael were the great masters of this “re-birth” period. It is...
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...regulations brought forward by the government. It certainly is not a common thing to be breaking laws and performing these actions willingly. How a person determines breaking a certain law but yet to obey others is a advocating concern of many. Two types of laws stand forward in our government which entails a law and an unjust law. (3). Summary of “Letter from Birmingham Jail.” Martin Luther King addresses segregation and unjust laws in the “Letter from Birmingham Jail.” What is moral and what is just is seen different for all individuals. Individual rights are to be protected and sometimes extreme measures are needed to be made. These extreme measures are seen through the braveness of the public standing up for what they believe to be right and just. Unfortunately this sometimes does lead to laws being broken. Doing the right thing is not always the easiest way out of a situation as seen in past history. Things do not change if not change is brought...
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