Was Socrates a Sophist? (20 mark) Sophists were known as teachers of rhetoric, philosophy and virtues. They were well known in ancient Greece for making the weaker argument the stronger and for speculating on sciences that went against the ‘gods’. They were often regarded as intellectuals as the word sophism derived from the word ‘sophos’, meaning wise man. In the latter years of Socrates’ life he has often been regarded as a Sophist but there are many evidences which prove he is not. Firstly,
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Different from the earlier five speakers who regard Love as an object and praise different sides of it, Socrates, referring to Diotima’s idea, considers Love as a pursuit of beauty gradually from “physical beauty of people in general” (Symposium, Plato, 55) to the “true beauty” (55). The first five speeches bond with each other. Each of them mentions the opinions of the former one in order to either support or against them. However, just like the elements of a beautiful picture, they fail to show
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In truth, although Socrates’ death was justifiable under democracy, he did nothing wrong morally or ethically by voicing his opinion to the young minds. Athenian democracy also had several weaknesses that led to Athena’s decline. In the view of Plato, the
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WAS SOCRATES A SOPHISTS Why Socrates is not a sophist? How are his motives and method of doing philosophy different from the sophists The Greek word sophist (sophistēs) derives from the words sophia, and sophos, meaning "wisdom" or “wise” since the time of Homer and was originally used to describe expertise in a particular knowledge or craft. Gradually, however, the word also came to denote general wisdom and especially wisdom about human affairs (for example, in politics, ethics, or household
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Daniel Vicinanzo Plato’s Republic: A Guide to Education The Republic of Plato is a dialogue in which Plato’s teacher Socrates outlines his ideal city. The dialogue first sets out to answer one very important question: what is justice? The story begins with Socrates in the presence of several people, both friends and enemies, to whom he poses the question, ‘What is justice?’ Socrates then goes on to strike down every theory proposed and offers
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This paper will argue that during “The trial and Death of Socrates”, Socrates could have given better arguments for his defense. First it will outline the prejudices or accusations Socrates has to face during his trial. It will then show how Socrates acted as tough he wanted to lose the case and finally it will conclude explaining the arguments Socrates could have given in order to be acquitted. During the first speech (18a-19b) Socrates has to overcome two different types of prejudices: the old
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Unlike his mentor Socrates, Plato was both a writer and a teacher. His writings are in the form of dialogues, with Socrates as the principal speaker. In the Allegory of the Cave, Plato described symbolically the predicament in which mankind finds itself and proposes a way of salvation. The Allegory presents, in brief form, most of Plato's major philosophical assumptions: his belief that the world revealed by our senses is not the real world but only a poor copy of it, and that the real world can
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Thomas Aquinas and His Use of the Scholastic Method Hayden Robinson World Civilizations The Scholastic Method is a way of proving a theory proposed by another scholar in a series of comparison, argument, and compromise. One well known user of this method was the scholar Thomas Aquinas. In Thomas’ book Summa Theologica, he proves that the existence of God is self-evident using this. Thomas offered The primary question that will be made an example of will be Question 2: The Existence of God. Seeing
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to let the matter be. If the murder was unjust then action should be taken against him. Euthypho then states that “A son is impious who prosecutes a father. Which shows, Socrates, how little they know what the gods think about piety and impiety.” (Plato, ND) After which Socrates questions what piety and impiety means. This then spurs the conversation towards their concepts of holiness. 2- Present the three definitions that Euthyphro uses in his response to Socrates, and then explain how Socrates
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middle period, Plato introduces his theory of love. First thing to note is that in Plato’s theory, love is given and its existence is not questioned. The word love leaves the matter ambiguous as to whether we are discussing love in the normal, human, sense of the word, or if we are discussing desire in a much broader sense, but in this discussion we are only considering only love of type eros, love as a kind of desire that exists between two human beings. Symposium, is a dialogue by Plato, about a dinner
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