own desire.
own desire.
In Plato’s Republic, many stories are used as allusions and metaphors to describe the issues being discussed. One of these stories is in chapter two and is known as the “Ring of Gyges.” This story has many similarities to the Ring of Power in The Lord of The Rings saga, which also grants the ability to turn invisible. In this essay, I will compare and contrast the “Ring of Gyges” and the events surrounding the Ring of Power in The Lord of the Rings trilogy.…
Plato was a dualist and so believed that human beings consisted of two parts- body and soul. This view is portrayed throughout Plato’s famous theory of the Forms of which he suggests that true substances are not physical bodies, but are the eternal Forms that our bodies are merely the imperfect copy. In his Theory he tells of a World of Forms representing knowledge, which he also names the ‘real’ world and the world of Particulars signifying opinions, the world in which we live in. The Forms come from a world of perfection which are illuminated by the Form of the Good which is at the top of the hierarchy and is the source of which the other Forms stemmed from.…
The Doctrine of Ethos is derived from the idea that different genres of music influences the views and perspective of a character, as well as, alter their emotions and moral behavior. Although, philosophers opinion towards music differs, such as Plato and Aristotle views on how music should affect the listener. Plato believed that music impacted the listener emotionally and morally. Thus, Plato's concluded that, "participation in musical activities molded the character for better or worse, thus the ban on certain kinds of music, those with the "wrong" ethos, in his ideal republic."(citeource) Plato viewed music to affect the soul of the person by allowing them to experience happiness and sorrow and changing their moral ideals.…
Plato was a famous Greek philosopher and mathematician from Athens that is now well known throughout the world. He lived from 427 B.C.E. to 347 B.C.E. He’s famously known for being Socrates’ student and the teacher of Aristotle. He has many writings that explored justice, beauty, and equality as well as containing discussions in aesthetics, political philosophy, theology, cosmology, epistemology, and the philosophy of language. His writings were highly influenced by Socrates as he would convey and expand on the ideas and techniques of his teacher. Plato founded the Academy which was the first institution of higher learning in the Western World and offered subjects like astronomy, biology, mathematics, political theory, and philosophy. Plato…
One of the most influential minds in western philosophy is of Plato. Plato lived from 422-347 B.C, was born into an aristocratic family in the city of Athens. He was a student of Socrates and a teacher of Aristotle. Plato followed the basic ideas of Socrates, in which no laws are to be broken despite their relevance. He makes clear why laws should be followed and why disobedience to the law is rarely justified. Plato is considered a very essential figure in the contribution of philosophy and an essential figure to western tradition. He was the prime founder of the Academy in Athens, the first institution of higher learning within the Western World. Plato has a range of teachings that have been used to instruct a wide spread of subjects. Some…
The the men come up with the most important question who will make the laws and rule the city. Socrates says the guardians will rule. With this ruling they come up with many different attributes that the guardians must…
Plato argues that harmony of the soul is a virtue. One way to understand this is to think of what it means to be healthy- health is concerned with all parts of your mind and body working as they should do, together. If you lack health it means some part or other of your mind or body us not functioning…
Plato’s moral theory consisted of the concept of the soul and the concept of virtue as function. To Plato, the soul has three parts; reason, spirit, and appetite. The reason we do things is to reach a goal or value, our spirit drives us to accomplish our goal, and our desire for things is our appetite. The three virtues that must be fulfilled to reach the fourth, general virtue are temperance, courage, and wisdom, which correlate with the three parts of the soul. In order to achieve inner harmony, every part of the soul must be fulfilling its proper function.…
The purpose of the Myth of Er is to emphasize one of the points that Plato has been making throughout this whole book, that philosophy, or the quest for knowledge is essential in order to have a successful existence, either as a person or a group of people. One cannot work towards something until and unless he knows what that thing is and how to get there. It is only possible to study philosophy up to the point where one fully understands the Form of the Good, which is the ultimate form. Because of there being a limit to how much knowledge one can gain, it is not ridiculous to assume that one is able to reach that level of knowledge. Even though it’s almost impossible to perceive that there is an ultimate form of good, it is not unattainable because everything in existence is striving towards that. The catalyst that moves a soul to that goal is what philosophy is. Philosophy is the pathway to get to the ultimate kind of life: an untroubled and satisfying existence.…
In Plato's Republic, Socrates goes to great lengths to explain and differentiate between the ideas of opinion and knowledge. Throughout society, most common men are lovers of sights and sounds. "Lovers of sights and sounds like beautiful sounds, colors, shapes, and everything fashioned out of them, but their thought is unable to see and embrace the nature of the beautiful itself (Republic 476b)." The few who do recognize the beautiful itself are followers of the sight of truth, the philosophers.…
Affirmative action is a deliberate effort to provide full and equal opportunities in employment, education, and other areas for women, minorities, and individuals belonging to other traditionally disadvantaged groups. As an issue of today's society,…
The people had little to say in their situations so many people were very taciturn…
Guardians are put into place to defend morality and rule society because they know the truth and posses the knowledge and wisdom of true forms. In order for there to be a just state, there must be a balance between the different types of people, namely; reason dominated, spirit dominated and appetite dominated people. This balance is similar to that of the need for balance in a just individual between the tripartheid soul. Those dominant in reason become philosophers, those in spirit become soldiers and those in appetite become commoners. Balance in these traits is necessary in order to achieve a just state.…
It is helpful at this point to identify Plato’s earlier conception of the soul, in order to see how this is ennobled into its tripartite structure in The Republic. In the Protagoras, Socrates admits that men are not always guided by intellect alone, citing that ‘…when men act contrary to knowledge they are overcome by pain, or pleasure, or some of those affections which I was just now mentioning…’ . However what is of note is that Plato believes that whilst human behaviour may be influenced by factors other than reason, if one has rational…
plato's utopia had several features, but he basically tried to make a perfectly just society. in the republic, he examines a few concepts of justice, including justice being telling the truth and repaying your debts, doing good to friends and harm to enemies, and justice being what is in the interest of the stronger. he rejects all these ideas eventually and says that justice is based on a society's natural division of labor. for example, workers perform optimally when they are specialized- a construction worker can't possibly have expertise in medicine, likewise a doctor cant possibly have expertise in trade. also, each person is naturally suited for a certain task. for example, if you're really smart, you're better off being a lawyer than a landscaper (of course, these aren't the examples he gives, i'm just trying to simplify). so, to plato, each person has their own area of expertise that they must focus on. this is a prerequisite for justice, and justice results when everybody does only their designated role and doesn't interfere with the designated roles of others. the way in which he hopes to establish this is through education.…