...Throughout history western and eastern philosophies have developed a vast segregation from one another. The geographical and cultural distance between eastern and western civilization determined massive differences between the two. On the other hand, the works of ancient Greek philosophers like Socrates, and some eastern philosophies like Taoism have many of the same or common ideas and concepts. Both eastern and western philosophies regardless of having similarities have distinctive differences when examining the view of the conception of the good. In this rgard, each philosophy is noticed to have beliefs that strive for followers to improve their lives and to be on a path of self-purification. This essay will primarily focus on understanding the basics of the conception of good in Taoist philosophy as well as the basic conception of good according to Socrates. While analyzing we will also determine if the Taoist conception of good is more reasonable than that of Socrates. In Taoism, the Tao is worshiped as the first-cause of the universe and is a developed philosophy, which promotes self-purification of an individual to meet Taoist ideals. Taoists believe that nature and the earth is constantly in flux. Simply, the only constant in the world is change. An essential element of the Tao is a term P’u or the un-carved block. P'u is translated to the words "uncarved wood" or "uncarved block." This is a metaphor that implies that each living being is given our personality at birth...
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...Running Head: THE PHILOSOPHY OF SOCRATES 1 The Philosophy of Socrates: A Lover of Wisdom (2052 Words) THE PHILOSOPHY OF SOCRATES 2 The lessons of life that are delivered by Socrates act as a basis for Western philosophy. Plato, the writer of The Apology, significantly respects Socrates and his dialogues act as a framework for our understanding in the passages. Our only record of his life comes from his associates, as Socrates never documented his opinions. A clear expression of Socrates’ philosophy is represented in The Apology. The purpose of this paper is to establish a clear demonstration of Socrates’ philosophy using The Apology as reference, and also explain my personal view on philosophy. In the first section of this paper, the famous statement from Socrates, “The unexamined life is not worth living”, will be connected when explaining three principle components of his philosophy: Irony, Method and Ethos. The second section of this paper will reveal my personal view on philosophy. Rahut’s claim on philosophy being the study of “open questions” will be supported by examples and descriptions. In the case that a question cannot be accurately answered or proven with our existing knowledge, I demonstrate that it should be classified as an ‘open question’. Throughout section 17-18 of The...
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...Philosophy is an academic subject that exercises reason and logic in an attempt to understand reality and answer fundamental questions about knowledge, life, morality, virtue, and human nature. The original word for philosophy comes from the ancient Greek word philosopha, which means love of wisdom. Although Socrates himself never claimed to have any answers to the questions he raised, his views and methods of philosophy became the foundations of what philosophy is today. Socrates actually wrote nothing, because he felt that knowledge was something to be gained by living and interacting in the world. So most of what we do know about Socrates comes from the writings of another very important person in Greek history, Plato. Socrates’ philosophy was based on pursuit of truth through the questioning of beliefs, virtue being defined as knowledge and talking about the elements that make up a good life. Greek philosophy before Socrates is called Pre-Socratic philosophy and the origin of western philosophy can be found early Greek thinkers of the 6th and 7th century BC. The Pre-Socratic philosophers were called physiologoi; physical or natural philosophers and they lived and taught in Asia Minor, Thrace, Sicily and south Italy. The Pre-Socratic philosophy is a philosophy of nature. The Pre-Socratic combined Greek mythology with rational thinking and sought all the forces which compose nature. Socrates grew up in the atmosphere of the Pre-Socratic thought and explored their knowledge...
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...Chapter 1 Purpose Driven life “The mystery of human existence lies not in just staying alive, but in finding something to live for.” ― Fyodor Dostoyevsky, The Brothers Karamazov It is in one’s best interest to discover the purpose for his existence. He who made man, never made him to be a creature void of purpose. Whatever was, had a function, whatever is has a function and whatever will be will have function. When one ventures into creation of any machinery, the venture is such that the machine must achieve certain ends. So them that make automobiles have transportation of humans and goods; they that make houses have shelter as the end, and the list continues likewise. This is the same even for trades; there exists a purpose for each trade that exists. They that teach have imparting of knowledge and skills as the end; they that practice law seek justice as the end, and those that practice medicine, good health as the end; and the list continues in like manner. In the universe, the cycle of life shows dependency on one another, hence, each species of life serve the other in death or in life alike. With this back ground, it becomes impossible that man can be without a purpose. He is definitely created to accomplish a certain good. As an individual, there exists a purpose for which he was created. In like manner, there exists a corporate end for which man must aim. This to a greater extent must be searched for by those who aspire for the greater calling of politics. It is...
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...From 471- 322 BC, Aristotle, Socrates, and Plato made a huge impact on Greece and the whole world. These men were some of the most influential and stellar philosophers of their time. With their discoveries and teachings, they have shaped the basis of Western Philosophy. Socrates was the first of the bunch, but indeed he passed along his knowledge and beliefs to his student, Plato. When Socrates died, Plato began to spread his teaching to his students. While teaching, he met a young determined man with the name of Aristotle; who also shared the passion and the thirst to discover to capacity and spread knowledge. In 470 BC, the expansion of knowledge in Western philosophy started with Socrates. Socrates wasn’t the son of a noble family,...
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...Law In The Trial and Death of Socrates, there are multiple places in the text where Socrates could be seen as being contradicting in what he is saying. This happens particularly in the Apology where Socrates discusses how important it is to do as the gods say. This is the reason why he continued studying philosophy despite being commanded otherwise by the laws. Then in Crito, he states that it is important to follow the laws of Athens no matter what they tell you to do. This contradicts his previous statements because by following his philosophical mission, Socrates is breaking the law. During his trial in the Apology, Socrates states to the jury how much he believes in doing as the gods say which is his reasoning for being on this philosophical mission. As Socrates is speaking to the jury he tells them that if given the choice between freedom and continuing his philosophical mission he would always choose the mission. "If you said to me in this regard: 'Socrates, we do not believe Anytus now ; we acquit you, but only on the condition that you spend no more time on this investigation and do not practice philosophy, and if you are caught doing so you will die , if , as I say , you were to acquit me on those terms, I would say to you : "Gentlemen of the jury , I am grateful and I am your friend, but I will obey the god rather than you, and as long as I draw breath and am able, I shall not cease to practice philosophy" (29c-d, Apology) Socrates clearly states in the above text...
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...Intro to Philosophy. Essay 1 What am I doing in this class? And how if at all. Do I think studying philosophy might benefit me. An introduction to Western Philosophy by Donald Palmer. I will attempt to answer three basic questions with this essay. What is Philosophy, What are the origins of Philosophy and why am I studying Philosophy today. Therefore my main reason for studying philosophy is to expand my knowledge and live the good life. What is philosophy? Philosophy, the Greek Word for "love of wisdom," has been defined in a variety of ways, one of which is the notion that philosophy is the rational attempt to formulate, understand, and answer fundamental questions (Voices of Wisdom). What makes people partake in philosophy. It is philosophy that we turn to when we have the need to seek out a guiding principle for our lives. Therefore, philosophy holds a prominent place in society and in the world. Basically, everyone is a philosopher, but it takes the creative genius and reasoning of brilliant thinkers to bring about earth-shattering concepts. Like Thales,Socrates,Plato and Aristotle to name a few. What are the origins of Philosophy? Philosophy started when human beings started to ask questions, about how and what things are actually, due to curiosity. The things that caused these questions to come about were the people started to realize that everything is not exactly what it appears to be. Philosophy started...
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...good advise from a close friend. In short, much was learned from the musings of this composition, and I hope others encounter a similar revelations. Keywords: Plato, Socrates, Voltaire, philosophy, compare, contrast A good allegory is a precious gift. Voltaire and Plato present stories...
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...Socrates was a Greek philosopher who is known to be one of the greatest founders of western philosophy. Socrates practiced philosophy by preaching in his local market place which caused the citizens of Athens and the authority to become angry towards his views and ways of spreading his philosophical thoughts. Socrates used both analytical and constructive ways to discover the general principles in philosophy. The Oracle of Delphi strongly believed that Socrates was the wisest man in all of Athens which caused Socrates to attempt to prove him wrong. Socrates tried to prove the Oracle wrong by making up his own method to finding the general principles of philosophy, which is called “the socratic method”. The socratic method is the process of...
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...In Gorgias both Socrates and Callicles believes that they are the true statesman. Socrates thinks that you should be respected and respect your people, while Callicles thinks that the strong should rule and the weak do not matter because they are weak. It comes down to selfish or selfless ideas of statesmanship. Throughout the years there have been many debates between those who practice different forms of statesmanship. Many of these debates have been between those who practice philosophy and those who are rhetoricians. One such debate between a philosopher and a rhetorician may be found in the Gorgias in which a debate between Socrates represents the philosopher and Callicles represents the rhetorician. Now it has been said that most, if not all of the what is believed to be radical thinking in the ways of politics, is instead merely the same things which philosophers were speaking of in the past. It seems that all political thought is just a case of the politician stealing the good ideas of change from the philosopher. A career in politics requires the use of the principles, categories, and metaphors of political philosophy. By acknowledging this it is understood that to be a successful politician one must also use the ideas of political philosophy. One may attempt to attain political power without the aid of political philosophy however; it is likely that this attempt will fail. In Gorgias Socrates is engaged in a debate, which begins in the streets and eventually...
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...Writing Prompt : Socrates and “True Knowledge” With the notion of philosophy and the studying of philosophy it is well known that it is powerful and dangerous. Philosophy has many reasons for its importance such as how to understand your ideas, the origin of your ideas, how to contrast arguments. Philosophy can also help you defend arguments, read it, build your position and understand it. Philosophy is used for the betterment of the world, gender, race, civilization, town, state, country, etc. But in order to practice philosophy you need parrhesia and you need philosophy to practice parrhesia, they come hand in hand with each other. There have been many imperative philosophers that gave us the knowledge and foundation for our study of philosophy today, such as Plato, Aristotle, and among them Socrates. Socrates was an interesting philosopher and his main focus before his death was to find true knowledge and he believed that there was only certain acts of statements that qualified as such. In Socrates work, parrhesia worked as a big role in his work as parrhesia is also known as fearless speech. This form is merged with the courage to face danger in circumstances of life or death. Parrhesia consists of the individual to speak the truth courageously in spite of danger and in its extreme form in life or death. It creates the chance to take the form of criticism to another or oneself, but always in a situation where the speaker is in a position of inferiority. Socrates fits the character...
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...BCE to a stone man and a midwife, Socrates received the most basic Greek education. Because of this, Socrates was expected to follow his father’s profession, making stone sculptors, but Socrates turned away from his life as a sculptor and fought in the Potidaean War, saving the life of a distinguished General Alcibiades. After he returned from war, his friend asked The Oracle of Delphi: “Is there any man smarter than Socrates?” The Oracle replied with “none”. This was the trigger for Socrates to start his path of Philosophy, as he went through Athens questioning people about their intelligence to prove the oracle wrong. He mused that the poorer people of Athens showed more wisdom than the more educated. This teaching was popular among the youth of Athens, and Socrates found himself being followed by a dozen or more young men, hoping to learn off of Socrates. He accepted no payments for this philosophical teachings,...
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...the Apology and the Crito of Plato, one inevitably comes upon a seeming fundamental contradiction between the two dialogues. The Apology presents readers with a defiant Socrates who declares in his trial that, if acquitted on the condition that he never philosophize again, he would continue to practice philosophy in spite of the jury’s order to the contrary: . . . if you said to me in this regard: “Socrates, we do not believe Anytus now; we acquit you, but only on condition that you spend no more time on this investigation and do not practice philosophy, and if you are caught doing so you will die”; if, as I say, you were to acquit me on those terms, I would say to you: “Men of Athens, I am grateful and I am your friend, but I will obey the god rather than you, and as long as I draw breath and am able, I shall not cease to practice philosophy . . . (29c-d).1 The passage from the Apology seems to present a defiant argument for civil disobedience in the face of injustice. In the Crito, however, when given a chance to escape prison and his upcoming execution, Socrates reasons that such an action would be unjust because it would defy the laws 1Plato, Apology. Trans. G. M. A. Grabe (Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company, 2000), 32. Blanks 1  of the city. Near the end of the dialogue Plato presents Socrates as speaking for a hypothetical anthropomorphized “voice of the laws”: Is your wisdom such as not to realize that your country is to be honored more than your mother, your...
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...A REVIEW ON THE PHILOSOPHIES OF SOCRATES AND PLATO The book ‘A Brief History of Philosophy: From Socrates to Derrida’ is written by Derek Johnston who is now a retired teacher and has also written ‘A Brief History of Theology: From the New Testament to Feminist Theology’. This book, A Brief History of Philosophy, of 211 pages, was first published in Great Britain by Continuum International Publishing Group in 2006 and then published in India by Bloomsbury Publishing India in 2014. More about the author Derek Johnston is now a retired teacher. He used to be the Vice Principal of Midleton College, Co Cork, Ireland, where he taught for over 30 years. He has mainly written on topics such as Historical Theology, Philosophy, History of Western Philosophy, and Introductory Philosophy. Introduction Johnston has simplified the most complex, essential concepts of philosophies ranging from 18 key philosophers like Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle to David Hume, Jean-Paul Sartre, and Jacques Derrida exploring their ideas in relation to each other and to their historical and cultural contexts. He uses clear and accessible language to present an engaging chronological picture of these philosophies. However, this review has been concentrated on the first chapter of this book – ‘Socrates and Plato: the Fire and the Sun’. Before diving deep into reviewing this chapter, we must understand what philosophy in itself is. Philosophy is a discipline mainly concerned with thinking. Derek Johnston...
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...Socrates the Greek Philosopher December 14, 2014 PHI/105 In the beautiful city of Athens, Greece, there was a philosopher Socrates, and his "Socratic method," was laid on the groundwork for the Western systems of logic and philosophy. Socrates did believe that he didn't know anything, and It was because of this that the Oracle told Socrates that he was wise and that he should seek out the 'wise men' to hear what they had to say. So Socrates began to travel to different parts of Greece to question the suppose 'wise’ men to see if they really knew all the answers to life. The youth laid their eyes on Socrates since he possessed a different way of thinking and living. His unique method of questioning and insulting was believed that he was out of line, and was corrupting the youth. Socrates was willing to die for his belief and was soon sentence to death by the people of Athens. Once the political climate of Greece turned, Socrates was sentenced to death by hemlock poisoning in 399 BC. He accepted this judgment rather than fleeing into exile. It is through this that Socrates did not give up philosophy. For Socrates, he is portrayed in the early dialogues written by Plato, and he “does Philosophy” by going out into the world and talking with people. For him, Socrates wanted to talk to the supposed “wise” men and to show that they really do not know anything. As the Oracle said about Socrates, he is the wisest men in the world. In the Apology, Socrates believed that and stated...
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