...Virtue: conformity to a standard of right Virtues contribute to people’s actions in today’s society. Society as a whole has a common set of virtues that many people agree on. In today’s society, these are known as laws. Virtues also mold the individual outlook on life, and give them the moral’s to do what is right. In The Republic, Plato divides the city into three classes: gold, silver, as well as bronze and iron souls. Each class is designated to posses a specific virtue. He believes that wisdom, courage, moderation, and justice combine together to form The Republic. However, Plato’s four virtues individually do not necessarily produce a utopian society. A combination of the four in each citizen is imperative in producing the ideal society. In Plato’s search for the perfect “republic”, he decides that the basis of the city will be on four virtues. The first of them is wisdom. Plato defines wisdom, in Greek terms “Sophia”, as knowledge of the city as a whole. Of the three classes, the gold souls posses the virtue of wisdom. The gold souls are the only class whose knowledge goes beyond the mere facts to the level of true wisdom. “…This class, which properly has a share in that knowledge which alone among the various kinds of knowledge ought to be called wisdom, has, as it seems, the fewest members by nature” (429a). The second virtue that Plato defines is courage, which in Greek terms is “Andreia”. Courage is the preservation of the opinion produced by law, through education...
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...Compare and Contrast Plato and Aristotle on governance Plato and Aristotle were both philosophers from Greece who criticized democracy as a poor form of government. Plato is regarded as the first writer of political philosophy, and Aristotle is recognized as the first political scientist. These two men were great political thinkers. There are a lot of differences between the two even though Aristotle was a great student of Plato. They each had ideas of how to improve existing societies during their individual lifetimes. It is necessary to look at several areas of each theory to seek the difference in each. Plato’s thoughts on democracy were that it causes the corruption of people through public opinion and creates rulers who do not actually knowhow to rule but only know how to influence the “beast” which is the Demos, the public. Aristotle’s views about democracy hold that democratic office will cause corruption in the people, if the people choose to redistribute the wealth of the rich they will end up destroying the state and since the people have no knowledge about governance when they elect rulers they will err. The “Republic” of Plato created a country with strict hierarchy. It has a rigorous legal system and a sound education system. All public good, servicers and desires are controlled by the country. It has its own advantages such as the idealized organized national order, and discussion of country’s justice and individual’s justice;, but it also has its shortcomings...
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...societies have come to different conclusions regarding political and economic systems. In the United States, and many developed nations around the world, the view has often been that democracy accompanied by capitalism, offers the best, most efficient use of resources and governments guided by those principles assure the best outcomes for their populations. Other countries have adopted very different governing principles. Communist doctrine, as adopted by some nations, endorses the establishment of an egalitarian, classless, stateless society based on common ownership of the means of production and property (Communism: The failure of an utopian system, 2008). The civilization is governed by an individual, or individuals, whose function is to ensure the efficiency of the society as a whole. As an ideal, the communist doctrine defines a just city as one that eliminates the need for its citizens to wish to exploit each other. History appears to indicate that in practice, however, the communist vision cannot be fulfilled since “absolute power (which is given to the leader) corrupts absolutely” (Martin, 2009). Human nature does not appear to manage total supremacy well. 49 When authorities are left unchallenged, their characters appear to be altered, inverting their true selves with alter egos incapable of putting the welfare of others before their own. History provides examples of autocrats who brought tragedy and devastation to the people that they governed. Many were appointed...
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...Compare and contrast Aristotle’s and Plato’s conception Compare and contrast Aristotle’s and Plato’s conception of the state and political freedom Politics and state have been following people’s society since it was established. Everybody understands that there is impossible to live in the world where there is no order. Every person still appreciates the necessity of state and government even if he or she does not as if the way of ruling is their own country. The problem of state was the topic of researches and thoughts for different famous people of ancient and modern time. Two of the greatest philosophers Aristotle and Plato devoted great part of their philosophic researches to the topic of conception of the state and political freedom. Let us compare and contrast their conceptions. A man named Aristotle who was a Greek Truth-seeker, a logician, and a scientist has a teacher named Plato. Aristotle is widely known as the most prominent olden philosopher in many areas of philosophy, together with political hypothesis. His life appears to have inclined his political notion in different conduct: his biological interest has mixed in his political life. Also, his political interest and his compassion for the democratic system like dominion perhaps have been optimistic by his experience of various political systems; he condemned severely, while borrowing widely, from his teacher’s (Plato) democracy, statesman, and laws; moreover, his own political affairs is proposed to help rulers...
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...Isabella McCabe Mrs. Wachter English 19 May 2016 The Many Theories of Atlantis Atlantis was told to be a charming city that was sunken by the gods because the residents of Atlantis, who were always intelligent, compassionate, and thoughtful people, had turned into greedy people that wanted to take over the world and rule it (Keyes 2). To punish the residents, the gods had the volcanos erupt, the rivers become floods, fires rage, and earthquakes shake the land. With all of the eruptions, water, fire and shaking, the land started to sink and in one day and one night the land was completely gone (Drye 2). People have been looking for Atlantis for hundreds of years and no one has been able to find the location of where Atlantis could be....
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... Critical Analysis In book V of Plato’s Republic Socrates defends the proposal that women should be eligible to serve as guardians in the city and should equally be entitled to receive equal training and education , necessary for the task, along sides men in the city. Socrates strongly believes that women are inherently capable of performing the same tasks as men, but accepts that they may be inferior in performing these tasks (455c). In his proposal, he states that since similar roles in the city require similar training and education whatever is good for the male should equally also good for the female. The distinction between virtues is non-existent as both sexes have the innate ability to function effectively in the society, when speaking in regards to knowledge and the different parts of the soul i.e ( reason, appetite, spirit). Here Socrates holds that individual should be judjed based on the virtue of their souls, and not mere physical appearance . a mans virtue is not brought about by his sex, virtue remains virtue regardless of a mans gender, socrates holds this postion due to this the best state must provide women the opportunity to govern. Socrates holds that role playing in this new just city should be equal in order for there to be unity and peaceful co-existence amongst the citizens. If a woman possesses the qualifications of being a guardian in the city, she must be educated in the same respect as other guardians, irrespective...
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...for a just society. Plato's Utopia appears, at first to be an excellent idea. However, his perfect society is less than the ideal, even from the contemporary perspective. Aristotle, through "The Politic” attempted to understand the nature of man in a "realistic" view. What Plato called ideal, Aristotle called unfeasible. He tries to make rationale judgment in the management of his ideal of a society, through understanding human behavior and logic, making it what he would deem a more realistic society. As humans we tend to care more about our individual needs prior to the needs of others. The values that we express reflect our own self-interest, where the good of the individual was the main concern and was not the same as that of the State. Plato saw this to be determinate to society based on the awareness that Guardians, such as civil leaders and assistants would care more about their individual desires, and their needs; disregarding anything else to fulfill their pleasures. "On this basis they will then be free from faction, to the extent tat any rate that human beings divide into factions over the possession of money, children, and relatives" (Stephanos 464e). Plato recognized this to create factions among individuals, where these divisions' main concerns were to themselves, their family, and to others that were close to them. Families create that invisible line that disassociates people, which was one of Plato's main fears for the development of his utopian society. What he urged...
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...Right to the City DAVID HARVEY The city, the noted urban sociologist Robert Park once wrote, is: man's most consistent and on the whole, his most successful attempt to remake the world he lives in more after his heart's desire. But, if the city is the world which man created, it is the world in which he is henceforth condemned to live. Thus, indirectly, and without any clear sense of the nature of his task, in making the city man has remade himself. The right to the city is not merely a right of access to what already exists, but a right to change it after our heart's desire. We need to be sure we can live with our own creations (a problem for every planner, architect and utopian thinker). But the right to remake ourselves by creating a qualitatively different kind of urban sociality is one of the most precious of all human rights. The sheer pace and chaotic forms of urbanization throughout the world have made it hard to reflect on the nature of this task. We have been made and re-made without knowing exactly why, how, wherefore and to what end. How then, can we better exercise this right to the city? The city has never been a harmonious place, free of confusions, conflicts, violence. Only read the history of the Paris Commune of 1871, see Scorsese's fictional depiction of The Gangs of New York in the 1850s, and think how far we have come. But then think of the violence that has divided Belfast, destroyed Beirut and Sarajevo, rocked Bombay, even touched the `city of angels'...
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...4 March: City of God – Utopian Reader – include a little bit on it – 22 volumes in all. Christianity – Augustine – classicly trained greek scholar. City in north Africa. Story like apostle Paul – orginially a person who persecuted Christians – north African wealth family from – found enlightenment in Christianity. Once he joined became one of the early scholars trained in greek – regulized Christian theology. Influence on western world – top four or five who influenced. Confessions and City of God his writings…look up! What’s the purpose of improving human society – complex – why do it? Can human society be made better? Why bother, what is the point, justification? Takes effort, misery involved, change, unknowns, takes energy, takes risks. HAPPINESS – justification for improving society. What do you have to have to be happy? What is happiness – PHI 101 – happiness according to whom? Lack of misery; literally the elimination of misery. Secondly, food – gives pleasure – Happiness is lack of human misery and maximizing /pleasure and happiness. Bliss 24/7 – hedonism Epicureanism – eliminating misery and maximizing happiness. The justification of utopianism = why did plato want the republic? Justisifcation for improving human society among the Greeks? Poor always poor, always unhappy, death claims everyone - it is rational to maximize pleasure and eliminate misery. Do eternally accouding to plato. Opinions – 1. Relativism is a retreat in the 20th century. Can’t...
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...Written Assignment 1; The Nature of the Good Life Greg PHI-286-OL-008; JUN-2016 Thomas Edison State University Abstract This paper explores the ethical dilemma of happiness and the nature of good life. The paper is broken into two sections to support both parts of the first written assignment for Contemporary Ethics (PHI-286 from TESU; Thomas Edison State University). The first discussion emphasizes the differences between the ways we act in society, whether it is to support our own self-interest or for the greater good. Plato’s The Republic (Newton 2003) is the premise of the first section, which notes the moral dilemma of the nature of man from a normative standpoint. Juxtapose to the normative view is the empirical view, as claimed by Thucydides, that considers the ethics of imperialism. The second discussion weighs the biblical view against the Utilitarianism view of the individual in society, and how they should act. The biblical and Utilitarianism views agree that humans should act for the greater good of society, however each view differs in its derivation and outcome. Section 1: Athenians The nature of the good life for centuries has been pondered among thousands of sophists. Is it better to live your life selfishly looking out for your own well-being or to look out for the improvement of the society in which you live? Thucydides (c. 421 B.C.E.) claims that is it best, for society, if those that are ‘strong’ enough to lead do so for the...
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...balloons, noctilucent clouds, nacreous clouds, or astronomical objects such as meteors or bright planets with a small percentage even being hoaxes.[7] After excluding incorrect reports, however, most investigators have acknowledged that between 5% and 20% of reported sightings remain unexplained, and therefore can be classified as unidentified in the strictest sense. Many reports have been made by such trained observers as pilots, police, and the military; some have involved simultaneous radar tracking and visual accounts.[8] Proponents of the extraterrestrial hypothesis suggest that these unexplained reports are of alien spacecraft, though various other hypotheses have been proposed. Atlantis is a legendary island first mentioned in Plato's dialogues Timaeus and Critias, written about 360 BC. According to Plato, Atlantis was a naval power lying "in front...
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...PRINCIPLES OF SENTENCING: TOWARDS A EUROPEAN CONVERSATION Paper delivered at Conference on “The Limits of the Criminal Law” at Leiden University, January 23, 2008 and subsequently published in Cupido (ed), Limits of Criminal Law (Nijmegen, 2008).[1] Tom O’Malley Senior Lecturer in Law National University of Ireland Galway First, I would like to extend my warmest congratulations to the students of Leiden Law School for having organised this conference. Thanks to their vision and energy, representatives from several European countries have gathered in this historic venue to discuss some key aspects of criminal law and criminal procedure. More often than not, we think of European law solely in terms of European Union law, the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights or both. Needless to say, the study of European law even in this limited sense is of the highest importance given its impact on our national legal systems and our daily lives. However, growing levels of legal and political integration now demand that we broaden our vision of European law to encompass the domestic legal systems of individual European states. Some work has already begun in this regard,[2] but it is only on rare occasions such as this that we can engage in a meaningful exchange of ideas and information on areas of common concern. Criminal justice is a most appropriate and worthy topic with which to begin. In times past, sentencing would not have featured very prominently...
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...stability in the world (sun comes up every morning), it is constantly changing (you never step into the same river twice). 1. An old theory about this problem is that we gain all knowledge from our senses – empirically. 2. Plato disagreed with this. He said that because the world is constantly changing, our senses cannot be trusted. Plato illustrated his idea in the dialogue, ‘Meno’: Socrates sets a slave boy a mathematical problem. The slave boy knows the answer, yet he has not been taught maths. Plato suggests that the slave boy remembers the answer to the problem, which has been in his mind all along. So, according to Plato, we don't learn new things, we remember them. In other words, knowledge is innate. Plato’s Theory of the Forms Plato believed that the world was divided into: 1. Reality and; 2. Appearance |REALITY |APPEARANCE | |An intelligible world |A visible world | |A world beyond the senses |A world of senses | |A world of true knowledge |A world of opinions | [pic] [pic] [pic] [pic]...
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...DRAFT! Rule in Bensalem: Francis Bacon’s Island “Utopia” in his New Atlantis Evan M. Lowe University of North Texas Abbreviations The following abbreviations for Bacon’s works have been employed for in-text citations in the name of textual cleanliness. Each work refers to the cited publication in the bibliography. In cases where applicable (eg. New Organon, Advancement), I have also indicated the place in the text by markers common to all editions -- book number, chapter, section, aphorism, essay number. The page number in the cited edition follows a comma where such information is helpful. AL The Advancement of Learning DA de Dignitate et Augmentis Scientarum Essays Essays or Counsels Civil and Moral (1625) GI The Great Instauration ;NA New Atlantis NO Novum Organum PFB Philosophy of Francis Bacon Preface Preface to the Great Instauration PW Plan of the Work (in Weinberger 1989) WA Of the Wisdom of the Ancients INTRODUCTION Understanding political judgment in Baconian terms necessitates an investigation of the question of who rules in Bensalem, Bacon’s island “utopia” presented in his New Atlantis. Only by answering this question might one know where to look for one who either possesses or is in a position to exercise such judgment. By locating the individual(s) who exercise political power, one might begin to come to an understanding of the qualities, disposition, and capacity – both moral and intellectual – of one who exercises judgment...
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...Pre-Socratic Period Thales of Miletus Background: Thales of Miletus (fl. c. 585 BC) is regarded as the father of philosophy. Thales of Miletus was considered one of the Seven Wise Men of ancient Greece. Thales was the first of the Greek natural philosophers and founder of the Ionian school of ancient Greek thinkers. Works/Writings/Philosophy: His is said to have measured the Egyptian pyramids and to have calculated the distance from shore of ships at sea using his knowledge of geometry. He also predicted an eclipse of the sun. In geometry Thales has been credited with the discovery of five theorems like the one that a triangle inscribed in a semicircle has a right angle. He tried to discover the substance from which everything in nature is made off and suggested water. Thales is important in bridging the worlds of myth and reason. He initiated the revolutionary notion that to understand the world one needed to know its nature and that there was an explanation for all phenomena in natural terms. That was a giant step from the assumptions of the old world that supernatural forces determined almost everything. While considering the effects of magnetism and static electricity, he concluded that the power to move other things without the mover itself changing was a characteristic of "life", so that a magnet and amber must therefore be alive in some way (in that they have animation or the power to act). If so, he argued, there is no difference between the living and the dead...
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