The Lesson Between The Myth Of The Cave In the story of Plato’s “Myth of the Cave” Plato’s analogy portrays a group of people being imprisoned in a cave and being deceived into thinking that shadows on a cave wall are all reality has to offer them. They have lived their entire life this way‚ and never stepped to the outside world. But if they could manage to somehow escape‚ they would exit out of the cave. For the first time‚ the prisoners would see sunlight and dimensions of such‚ and their mind
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Athenian Attitudes Toward the Authority of State Through the Eyes of Plato and Sophocles Ancient Athens was the first model of an established democracy in which the citizens had a say in the rulings. However‚ the Athenian’s views towards the power of their government are often overlooked because the direct democratic system seemed successful. Through close examination of the writings of Sophocles and Plato‚ one can discover the that the Athenian’s thoughts regarding the way they were governed‚ evolved
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we now have to call—lamely‚ enviously—whole persons. If it did occur to the Greeks to distinguish between a person’s “inside” and “outside‚” they still expected that inner beauty would be matched by beauty of the other kind. The well-born young Athenians who gathered around Socrates found it quite paradoxical that their hero was so intelligent‚ so brave‚ so honorable‚ so seductive—and so ugly. One of Socrates’ main pedagogical acts was to be ugly—and teach those innocent‚ no doubt splendid-looking
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Democracy Then and Now By Nicole Johnson Drawing the political parallels between the Athenians and American democracy couldn’t be more complexed. One of the contemporary definitions of democracy todays is as follows. “Government by the people‚ exercised either directly or through elected representatives; Rule by the majority” Interestingly enough the Athenians were closer to a true democracy more so than America has ever been. America has always labeled as this great democracy
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reached its peak in Athens during Pericles’ time. Greek’s government is a stable and unified form of government‚ whose connections are well spread. It derives from the profound ideas of Greek political leaders such as Pericles. Their unique ideas are extremely strong‚ and are like flames‚ as they catch on very easily. Many nations have used some of its central ideas while developing their governments and a great example is the United States of America. Ancient Greek democracy had a deep influence on the
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great philosopher‚ Plato‚ to describe democracy exactly with one of these terms: “Democracy … is a charming form of government‚ full of variety and disorder; and dispersing a sort of equality to equals and unequals alike” (Plato 214). The underlining message of the quoted sentence leads one to believe Plato employed the adjective – charming – with a great degree of sarcasm. The philosopher states that democracy brings instability to a state which is governed by the many. Plato is also voicing his
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this question. "As his position takes form in the Republic‚ Plato claims that only a very few individuals are capable of understanding how human life is to be lived. If it could be done‚ the rest of us would be best off it we were to let out lives be controlled by such individuals". This position held by Plato has been one of much discussion and disagreement over the years. In this paper I will attempt to give my own insight and stand on Plato ’s position and will evaluate his position as it emerges
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‘successor’ Pericles are wide ranging and unprecedented for their era. The political upheaval in the 5th century BC is often cited by modern historians as a ‘radical’ shift from conservative democracy to a liberal‚ direct democracy involving all citizens. The oligarchical institution known as the Areopagus‚ comprised of ex-archons from the two aristocratic classes‚ was the largest obstacle in the way of full democracy for the Athenian radicals. The beginning of the emplacement of direct democracy can be
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fate of Athenian democracy in war‚ of why the Athenians went to war‚ and of how and why they failed. The Peloponnesian War was the turning point in Athenian hegemony in Ancient Greece. It was fought in 431 B.C. between the Delian League‚ led by Athens‚ and the Peloponnesian League led by Sparta. According to Thucydides‚ Athens’ imposing hegemonic status and its overwhelming quest for more power made the Peloponnesian War and Athens’s eventual fall from power inevitable. Despite the Athenians having
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10/19/13 Plato: Certainty and Human Nature Plato was born in 427 BCE in Athens‚ Greece. He devoted his life to philosophy after the death of his mentor‚ Socrates at the hands of the Athenian court. He‚ most notably‚ was the first philosopher to develop ideas of human nature‚ knowledge‚ and metaphysics‚ and argued for the existence of the soul. Furthermore‚ he believed that there was distinction between changing physical objects and the unchanging‚ perfect ideals of the mind‚ and that the mortal
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