Plato

of the subject within his written works. In Ion, an early dialog of Plato 's, Socrates uses analogical argument to get his point across. The thing that makes these arguments suitable for this paper is that they heavily rely on mathematics for the source of the example (Roochnik, p. 548). In Elenchus and Mathematics: A Turning-Point in Plato 's Philosophical Development, Vlastos gives a translated version of a section of Plato 's Meno: By 'investigating from a hypothesis ' I refer to the way…

Metaphysics is a branch of philosophy that studies the nature of existence also known as theories of forms. Plato as well as Aristotle have made wondrous advancements in the Art and logic in philosophy but they compete with recognition for the king of philosophy. There is really no way to know the truth or who is right but these two philosophers are still changing the world. Both philosophers demonstrate their works in all of philosophy but specifically for this example in metaphysics.…

in love with that. Once in such company, the person can begin to give birth to fine ideas and conversation and continue up the erotic ladder (Plato, 211c). One must then fall in love with physical beauty in general, realizing that all the world’s beautiful bodies are really one and the same. He will now regard physical beauty as truly unimportant. (Plato, 210b). After the beauty of law and custom comes the transition from the body to the soul: the beauty of different branches of knowledge.…

The allegory describes the people in the cave to be like prisoners, who since childhood, can’t move or turn their heads to see around them. The information that they have and that they think is true, is coming from the shadows of a puppet show. Plato says that their reality was nothing but the shadows and it…

known as the Allegory of the Cave, was written by Greek philosopher, Plato, in Book VII of The Republic. This piece was written to “compare the effect of education and the lack of it upon our human nature” (Kessler, 440), a dialogue between Plato’s brother, Glaucon, and his mentor, Socrates. In this chapter, Plato envisions the world as a dark cave, humans trapped as prisoners, and all of our experiences as shadows on a wall. Plato describes the cave like this, “imagine men to be living in an…

Republic, Plato makes the claim that “only philosophy can save us” (Book V, 573d). Thousands of years later, Alexis de Tocqueville wrote Democracy in America. Many scholars summarize his beliefs as, “only institutions can save us”, a direct repudiation of Plato. In this paper, I will show that, in fact, Plato’s philosophy is embedded in Tocqueville’s Democracy in America, specifically revolving around the preference for community and collectivism rather than private gain. In the Republic, Plato…

The ancient Greek philosopher Plato had strong views on important topics in history. One of the more important views he had, he transcribed into his Allegory of the Cave. The Allegory of the Cave brings in many different processes that one must undertake in order to reach true enlightenment. Numerous people have conformed to the allegory, but one slave experienced a process in his attempt to learn to read and write that matched closely with what the allegory described. This person was Frederick…

Imagine finding out the way you perceive the world is totally wrong, the grass isn’t green and the sky isn’t blue. In Plato’s Allegory of the Cave, Plato believes that knowledge of the world we live in, which is gained by our senses is false, but to find the truest knowledge of the world we must think how a philosopher would think. In comparison, Mike Fishbein, writer of “Cognitive Dissonance: What Happens When Reality Trumps Perception” informs readers about an effect called cognitive…

the greatest philosophers of all times was Socrates. Socrates was born 470 B.C., in Athens, Greece. Plato and Xenophon were his students, who made Socrates know through their writings of him. No ones knows for sure if everything recorded about Socrates is true, because the only writings made about him were from those two students. His physical appearance…

Towards the end of Book II of Plato’s Republic, we first see an attempt to find out the meaning of justice in the individual by seeking its origin in the state or city. This passage in particular marks the first attempt by Socrates to construct the polis. Although it is clear that the construction of the ‘City of Pigs’, as described by Glaucon, is by no means Plato’s finished image of Kallipolis, this passage describing the basic primitive city provides the basis for future discussions of the…