Study Like a Boss
In Books II and III of Republic, Plato[1] argues for the censorship of stories and tales for the youth of their imaginative, Utopian city, and specifically for the youth of the ‘ruling’ class named the Guardians. He asserts that censoring certain tales, notably ones with violent themes or notions of change and transformation, would prevent … Read more
In his Allegory of the Cave, Plato asks us to consider that the world we are living is the equivalent of a cave; in order for us to enter into this “sensible realm” of truth and knowledge we must actively pursue these values. In his First Meditation, Rene Descartes asks us to abandon all preexisting … Read more
Socrates found Euthyphro in the agora and after very brief rapport launched straight into asking the question of what is virtue; in the case of Euthyphro, the specific virtue being discussed is piety. Socrates was able to look at his subjects, including Euthyphro, in such a critical light which stems back to his statement that … Read more
In the Meno and the Phaedo, the character of Socrates argues for the recollection theory of learning. In this paper I will first briefly explain what the recollection theory of learning is. Then, I will consider how Socrates argues for the recollection theory in the Phaedo. Next, I will consider why Socrates thinks that the … Read more
Philosophy dwells on ideas and theories that tend to surpass the thoughts of human perception and the nature of reality. An idea may be perceived idealistic rather than based on knowledge. The following quote, “And now, I said, let me show in a figure how far our nature is enlightened or unenlightened: Behold! Human beings … Read more
Intro to Philosophy How did Plato use the sun to explain the good? In the Allegory of the cave, there are four main stages of enlightenment. The four steps cover all aspects of enlightenment, from knowing absolutely nothing and perceiving reality only through your sensory organs to reaching full knowledge and having the capacity to … Read more
Linguistic Phenomena In today’s society people are consistently voicing their feelings, opinions, and emotions in effort to try and enlighten others about what they believe is right and wrong. Many of these opinions that are voiced are concerns are topics that closely relate to our society and its problems that people perceive. The author/speaker attempts … Read more
“The Myth of the Cave” by Plato , depicts a very important message. This book was written over 2500 years ago in the year 400 B.C. The excerpt is a conversation that Socrate speaks with Glaucon. Socrates tells Glaucon the people in an underground cave , these people have been in the cave since childhood, … Read more
Plato’s Republic utilizes a political approach to answer what is essentially a moral question. In attempting to identify justice in the individual, Socrates takes an unmistakable turn toward the direction of political philosophy, describing the formation of his ideal city Kallipolis. It can hardly be disputed that the ideal state described by Socrates in Plato’s … Read more
Courage and justice have been two highly discussed values throughout the semester, and in this essay I will seek to connect the two together as well as relating the ideas in accordance with Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics, The Illiad, and The Epic of Gilgamesh. According to the dictionary, courage is defined as “the quality of mind … Read more
Metacognitive awareness is based on the notion of metacognition. The word Metacognition has its root in the Greek word ‘Meta’ which means going behind and is used to denote the concept which is an abstraction behind another concept. Generally, Metacognition is referred to as “cognition about Cognition” or “thinking about thinking”. But it’s just a … Read more
In Platos The Allegory of the Cave, he allows an individual to realize that which they already know. The situation in the cave seems dark and gloomy, like a place no one would ever want to go. However, the reality is that some people are at a point in their lives, in their own cave. … Read more
Plato’s “Symposium” is an essential piece of philosophical literature that concerns itself with the genesis, purpose and nature of love, or eros. Love is examined in a sequence of speeches by men attending a symposium, or drinking party. A symposia, or drinking party in ancient Greece, was an occasion for passing the cup, reciting poetry, … Read more
Not in entire forgetfulness, And not in utter nakedness, But trailing clouds of glory do we come From God, who is our home. – William Wordsworth, Ode: Intimations of Immortality from Recollections of Early Childhood, 62-65 Though Plato died nearly 2500 years ago, the English language still keeps his definition of love in common usage. … Read more
In Plato’s Symposium, Socrates’ eulogy, though delivered with the stated intent of praising love, is not truly about love at all. Instead, Socrates claims that the typical definition of love does not exist and instead praises wisdom. In saying that love is desire, and that you cannot want what you already have, Socrates asserts that … Read more
To Conform or Not Conform… In both Mark Twain’s, Corn¬pone Opinions, and Henry David Thoreau’s, Life Without Principle, humanity is questioned by acknowledging that self-approval comes from making your thoughts conform with the majority’s belief system. Mark Twain has always been a keen observer of human nature. For example, he wrote about those people who … Read more
The concept of the virtuous city is central to both Plato’s and Alfarabi’s treatments of political science. The respective analyses of Plato and Alfarabi bear many similarities, but their final goals differ radically. Plato’s description of the republic is both an ideal towards which cities should aim and a metaphor for balance in a virtuous … Read more
Aristotle asks good human beings to be self-lovers, devoting special attention to virtue’s most fundamental groundwork. With all individual actions, it is the intellect which must determine the course of proper morality and strength of character; the path of right action elucidated in Nicomachean Ethics thus grounds itself in that personal aim for moral excellence. … Read more
Bilingualism is a natural phenomenon worldwide. Unwittingly, however, monolingualism has been used as a standard to characterize and define bilingualism and multilingualism in linguistic research. Such a conception led to a “fractional” “irregular” and “distorted” view of bilingualism, which is becoming rapidly outmoded in the light of multipronged, rapidly growing interdisciplinary research. Other central concepts … Read more
Socrates, the father of modern Western philosophy, once said, shortly before his own death that “[Those] who happen to have gotten in touch with philosophy in the right way devote themselves to nothing else but dying and being dead” (Phaedo 64A). In other words, Socrates believed that the life of philosopher should be centered on … Read more
A seemingly excited lad initiates Plato’s Meno. Meno appears to have learned what virtue is and is eager to share this knowledge with the renowned Socrates. Thus, Meno tactically lays out calculated questions to Socrates: “…is virtue something that can be taught? Or does it come by practice? Or is it neither teaching nor practice … Read more
The so-called “Myth of Er” has long puzzled Plato’s readers. Socrates, whose teachings and conversations Plato chronicles, tells the story of Er, who journeyed to the afterlife and came to life again to tell his story. The tale is not found in any source except Plato and is obviously fictional. Earlier in The Republic, meanwhile, … Read more
Online dating is an increasingly common way to meet potential romantic partners in this increasingly technological age. Many online dating websites, such as OKCupid.com, use questions users answer to statistically match them with other users they would be compatible with, and display compatibility percentages or “match percentages” next to each profile a user encounters. These … Read more
While many scholars are of the belief that Vergil penned the Aeneid to provide the Roman people with a propagandized epic glamorizing their own history, there is great evidence for Vergil’s intending the Aeneid to be something vastly more valuable: a parable on the powers of the Platonic soul. In his Republic, Plato outlines the … Read more
Through all the speeches of the Symposium, Eryximachus’ speech may be the most difficult to understand. Looking at Eryximachus’ initial, more scientific approach to love, under which he views love as something that can be quantitatively measured, one many find it difficult to accept the more abstract arguments of a “universal” love that he poses … Read more
The whole point of Plato’s Republic is the pursuit of justice, but in practice, it is wildly unrealistic. I can say with certainty that I would not care to live in Plato’s ideal city-state because, in a sense, I already have. I was a citizen of the closest attempt at this utopia: The Soviet Union. … Read more
With the goal of creating the perfect society, the utopia of Plato’s Republic rather presents a dystopia that enforces the marginalization of the individual. Plato believes a strict regulation that constricts independence and individuality makes it possible for citizens to live simple and peaceful lives. Because Plato views freedom as a threat of gaining unnecessary … Read more
Socrates, a famous ancient Greek philosopher, is depicted as ridiculous in The Clouds by Aristophanes yet as thoughtful in The Republic by Plato. In the former, he runs a Thinkery that educates students, and when Pheidippides enrolls, Just and Unjust Speech bicker about how to best teach him. In the latter, a young man named … Read more
What is Goodness? For most people today, being a good person simply means following a set of commonly agreed upon moral guidelines. However, those guidelines have increasingly been getting blurred and convoluted from culture to culture and generation to generation. The question remains whether the definition of morality really can be universal, and whether this … Read more
Plato wrote the Republic in 380 BC. The first book of Plato’s Republic is concerned with justice. What is justice and why should one behave justly are two questions which Socrates and hisinterlocutors attempt to answer. The first definition of justice is proposed by Cephalus. Cephalus is an old, wise, and very wealthy man. He … Read more
In book two of Aristotle’s Politics, Aristotle defines his ideal state by criticizing the values put forward in Plato’s The Republic. In doing so, Aristotle censures Plato’s idea of state unification through sharing as much as possible, including wives, children, and property. Aristotle counters that Plato’s concept is detrimental to the state’s unity because it … Read more
In Aristotle book, Nicomachean Ethics Book 1, he makes the argument that there is the good and the ‘well’. To explain his claim he gives us an example, “the function of lyre-player is to play the lyre, and that of a good lyre-player is to do well” (Aristotle 19). He believes that human function is … Read more
According to Plato, true knowledge originates in the realm of the Forms, or universal, eternal, constant, and absolute truths that only the mind can access, such as the Form of the Good or the Form of the Just. Forms are not part of the visible world, they are abstract, non-material ideas that are responsible for … Read more
Novelist Rossiter Worthington Raymond once said, “Life is eternal; and love is immortal; and death is only a horizon; and a horizon is nothing save the limit of our sight.” A horizon, by definition, is no more than the range of one’s knowledge or experience. With this explanation in mind, death is no longer a … Read more
Plato’s dialogue Euthyphro occurs outside the court of Athens, after running into Euthyphro and knowing about why Euthyphro is there, Socrates is not convinced that Euthyphro prosecuting his father for murder is the just or pious thing to do. He asks Euthyphro to educate him about what piety and impiety are, so that he can … Read more
Postmodernity Reflection In class thus far we have discussed two entirely different schools of thought. One: modernity, which contained a society of new and enlightening individuals. On the other hand is the second school of thought: postmodernity. Postmodernity is a cultural phenomenon that is the rejection of modernist principles. Postmodernity challenges the society we have, … Read more
Life is filled with dualities and opposing figures: love and hatred, light and dark, male and female, life and death. Aristophanes addresses a duality in the context of love in Plato’s The Symposium. The Symposium raises the question of what love truly is and means. Aristophanes brings the idea of soulmates to the party. Aristophanes … Read more
One of the most famous passages in Plato’s Symposium and one that seems to receive the most attention in contemporary philosophy is Diotima’s Ladder of Love. Diotima explains that love is an ascent through a number of stages or steps on the ladder that ultimately lead to the Form of the Beautiful. This view of … Read more
Being treated like a criminal when you’ve done nothing wrong, is something no innocent person should go through. An injustice like this is not only harmful to the victim (because they know they’re being wrongfully punished), it is also a betrayal to the rule of law, in terms of rightfulness. This display of injustice demonstrates … Read more
In the Apology and in Clouds, we are shown two very different depictions of Socrates’ beliefs on the gods of Athens. In the Apology, we see a version of Socrates that is fairly unconcerned with the discussion of the gods, and more interested in the discussion of the public good. In contrast, the Clouds shows … Read more
The so-called “Myth of Er” has long puzzled Plato’s readers. Socrates, whose teachings and conversations Plato chronicles, tells the story of Er, who journeyed to the afterlife and came to life again to tell his story. The tale is not found in any source except Plato and is obviously fictional. Earlier in The Republic, meanwhile, … Read more
Aristotle devotes the first six books of his Nicomachean Ethics to a discussion of virtue. In doing so he divides virtue into two different categories: moral virtue and intellectual virtue and discusses them individually. However, in our approach to the question of the highest moral virtue, we will examine moral and intellectual virtue together (rather … Read more
Euthyphro Plato’s Euthyphro features Socrates and Euthyphro, who is apparently “a professional priest who considers himself an expert on ritual and piety” (2). Although Socrates acts as though he accepts the fact that Euthyphro has knowledge of the divine, as everyone else seems to, he challenges his knowledge by asking him about piety. The two … Read more
Through all the speeches of the Symposium, Eryximachus’ speech may be the most difficult to understand. Looking at Eryximachus’ initial, more scientific approach to love, under which he views love as something that can be quantitatively measured, one many find it difficult to accept the more abstract arguments of a “universal” love that he poses … Read more
Friendship is arguably the most relevant philosophical matter expounded upon in The Nicomachean Ethics. While other virtues may not be practiced on a daily basis, friendship and the implications of such a relationship are somewhat more consistent. Living necessitates interactions and relationships with other people, and Aristotle’s view on friendship offers insight that can be … Read more
Analysis of Plato’s The Republic, City-Soul Analogy In an elaborate effort to comprehend individual justice, Socrates engages in a lengthy debate which explores intricate details, structures, and overarching principles of a just city. This analysis will explore the City-Soul analogy through three separate human lenses. Section 1 will delve into the secondhand accounting of Socrates’ … Read more
From historical sources it is known that Socrates was Plato’s teacher and that Socrates was Plato’s elder by at least a few decades. Other than this, things become far less clear when examining the relationship between these two founders of western philosophy. Since Socrates never wrote down anything, scholars have become totally reliant on the … Read more
Conform or die. In both Mark Twain’s Corn-Pone Opinions and Thoreau’s Life Without Principle essay it is clearly expressed that it is human nature to conform either based on societies opinions and or expectations of living life to the fullest degree. Throughout Twain’s essay, he shows how society conforms to the majority view based on … Read more
The Soul: The Body’s Mortal Companion In Phaedo, Socrates, Cebes, and Simmias discuss whether the soul of a person is immortal or not. Socrates contends that the soul is eternal due to the idea of recollection, the “opposites” argument, and the idea of affinity. The affinity argument holds its ground well, but the other two … Read more
Virtue in the Republic and the Odyssey In Plato’s Republic, the ideas of virtue are expressed in regards to the soul. Socrates says that the four main virtues—wisdom, courage, moderation, and justice—are found in different parts of the ideal city. Wisdom, courage, and moderation are easily defined, but justice is a bit more tricky. Wisdom … Read more
