...“What is important about any philosophy is not what is explains, but what it assumes”. Discuss this question critically and provide examples of assumptions which underpin Machiavellian & Platonic philosophies. In this paper I will discuss the assumptions which underpin Machiavellian & Platonic philosophies in reference to The Republic and The Prince. My position is that both Machiavallian and Plantonic philosophies make assumptions in exemplifying their notions. Machiavelli’s is intentional while Plato’s is unintentional. Also both philosophies through their assumptions sometimes contradict each other. Well expressed In discussing his notion above it is important to understand the basic theory and ideas of Machiavelli and Plato. Both Machiavelli and Plato produce arguments for order in the state but they have different notions of how to go about order. Plato obsesses with certainty and has an ideal form of order, while order with Machiavelli is learning to live with uncertainty. Machiavelli believes we need to be able to work with insecurity and not try and produce certainty. He believes we embrace uncertainty by developing our own armour. Knowledge is the basis of leadership for Plato while Power is the basis of leadership for Machievelli. In the Republic the Allegory of the Cave represents Plato's views on philosophy. Basically, we are all in the cave and Philosophy is what brings us out of the cave. Plato believes that Philosophy is the highest form of inquiry...
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...The Greek philosopher Plato’s concept of philosophy entails it as a process in which there is constant questioning and the process of questioning is done by way of dialogues. The dialogues through which he represents his thoughts conclusively have no definite point of justification, instead they end in a way that raises questions in the mind of the reader making him/her think for themselves, rather than putting a definitive conclusion of logic. Some of the dialogues that do reach a conclusion are not simple statements of facts. Instead, they end up in doubts, casting parallel counterarguments on the doubts and their possibilities. Plato’s...
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...Name: Dona Monyreach ID: 37406 Research Proposal 1. Research Topic Topic: Plato’s three social classes 2. Background and Significance of Research The reason that I decided to research this topic is to talk about the three classes of Plato’s. It is good to understand what is three social classes that Plato think that it have in the state. Especially this topic is important to society, and it is related to the real society, because nowadays our society seem like they are divided into classes, too. As I know this topic has been covered by Plato who is the philosophy. 3. Thesis Statement and Research Questions In Plato’s thinking, social classes are divided into three classes. The three social classes are the guardian, the auxiliaries, and the producer. * What the different between the guardian, the auxiliaries, and the producer? * Why Plato divide social class? 4. Research Objectives * To know about the classes in society of Plato’s * To understand the different between the three classes * To identify the reality and Plato’s thinking 5. Preceding Relevant Researches After researching about this topic, the three social classes that Plato’s divided are separated people into three different groups. Like, the guardian is the philosophers or king. They love knowledge, truth and also rule the state. The auxiliaries are the soldiers who love courage, honor, and their homeland. They defend the state protecting it from foreign as well...
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...Philosophy for International Business: examination issues / questions 1. Define the difference between philosophy and common sense 2. Define the difference between philosophy and humanities/science 3. Define the difference between philosophy and ideology 4. What are the three general branches of philosophy/what are the basic philosophical questions? 5. Explain the meaning and significance of “the arché question” 6. The being and becoming dilemma in early Greek philosophy 7. Explain Zeno’s paradoxes 8. Is total flux chaotic? Explain the nature of change in the system of Heraclitus 9. Define dialectic 10. Virtue in Greek philosophy. Explain the meaning of knowledge in Socrates’s ethics 11. Explain “Eutyfro dilemma” 12. Plato’s theory of ideas: ideas and sensual objects – differences and similarities 13. Plato’s theory of ideas: the conception of participation 14. Plato’s theory of ideas: the allegory of the cave 15. Plato’s theory of ideas: the ideal state 16. Aristotle: syllogisms 17.Hylomorphism: substance and its components 18. Aristotle: the four causes: what is the sense of final cause? 19. Aristotle: the theory of virtue (Golden Mean) 20. Aristotle: what does it mean to be a political animal? 21. The existence of God: ontological argument as formulated by St. Anselm 22. The existence of God: ontological argument as formulated by Descartes (deceitful demon and “Matrix”) ...
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...Plato was a philosopher from Greece who lived from 424BC until the time of his death in 347BC. Plato belonged to an aristocratic and influential lineage. His father was Artiston, a descent of king Dorus of Athens. Plato’s mother was Peritonea from a lineage of famous lawmakers and poets in Athens. Plato was, however, raised with difficulty after his father died. As a student, Plato studied under the guidance of his teacher, Socrates. Plato played an essential role of laying the foundation for western philosophy and science. Socrates taught Plato about basic philosophy and dialectic methods of inquiry in the quest for truth. The basic learning acquired form Plato formed a basis from where Plato established his philosophies (Benjamin, 2007). During the time of Plato, there are many events that took place. Amongst them is the Peloponnesian war. The war lasted for approximately 27 years i.e. from 431BC to 404 BC. The Peloponnesian war was a war fought by Athens and Sparta. As a result of the war, the Athenian imperial system and Greek military history was changed. The powers of Athens were subdued after the war as Sparta took over as a leading state whose powers were felt all across Greece. In 399BC Plato witnessed his teacher, Socrates, being tried and executed by the authorities in Athens. Socrates was charged for corrupting the minds of youths. Socrates was despised by the authority because of his persistency in criticizing the government established after...
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... Abstract Many Philosophers made a difference in society but Plato is perhaps recognized as the most famous. His writings have had a profound effect on people, politics, and the philosophy throughout the centuries. He was a public figure and he made major contributions to society. Plato helped to lay the philosophical foundations of modern culture through his ideas and writings. One of the most philosophical thinkers of Western civilization, Plato is the only author from ancient Greek times whose writings survive intact. His collection consists of thirty-five dialogues and thirteen letters, though the authorship of some is contested. Plato was born in Athens, into a prosperous aristocratic family. His Father’s name was Ariston and his Mother’s name was Perictione. His relative named Glaucon was one of the best-known members of the Athenian nobility. Plato's name was Aristocles, his nickname Plato originates from wrestling circles, Plato means broad, and it probably refers either to his physical appearance or his wrestling style. “Plato is, by any reckoning, one of the most dazzling writers in the Western literary tradition and one of the most penetrating, wide-ranging, and influential authors in the history of philosophy,” (Kraut, 2009). Plato was born during the Golden Age of Athens’s which saw the birth of classical architecture, drama, arts and politics. However, as he was growing up he observed...
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...Emerson’s Unifying Philosophy Throughout human existence, scholars have earnestly pursued knowledge and the attainment of truth. Historical figures such as Plato, Descartes, and Emerson sought answers to daunting questions of: ‘What is truth?’; ‘What is reality?’; ‘How is wisdom acquired?’ Many scholars believe these philosophers presented conflicting viewpoints: Plato encouraging skepticism among all previous historical, cultural, and personal perspectives; Descartes questioning definitions of reality and his very existence; Emerson encouraging self-trust and confidence in one’s ideals, opinions, and convictions. Surprisingly, reconciliation can be reached from these three differing hypotheses. Emerson’s thesis merely expounds from Descartes and Plato’s philosophies. He builds from Descartes’ search for self-identity and reconciles Plato’s skepticism with his views of self-trust and unconformity among scholars. Throughout “Mediations I and II”, Descartes disputes definitions of reality and identity, establishing a precursor to Emerson’s philosophy. Initially, Descartes questions all notions of being. In “Mediation I”, Descartes begins his argument explaining the senses which perceive reality can be deceptive and “it is wiser not to trust entirely to any thing by which we have once been deceived” (Descartes 59). But, he then continues to reason; “opinions [are] in some measure doubtful…and at the same time highly probable, so that there is much more reason to believe in...
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...Running head: Philosophical Genius: From start to finish 2 Originally named Aristocles, “Plato was born at a time of warfare and upheaval,” (Russo, Michael) in Athens. His father, Ariston, died when Plato was a young child. But descended from a line of kings of Athens. Plato’s mother, Pericitone, remarried to Pyrilampes but came from a similar line of royalty. Plato gained the nickname Platon as a young boy from his wrestling coach. The nickname means broad because of his broad body structure. He died at the age of eighty-one. On the evening of his death he had a Thracian girl play the flute to him. Plato died in his bed and, did not drink hemlock; which he was ordered to do by to the laws of the democracy. Hemlock was a poisonous plant in which a killing potion was made from. “He decided not to drink the potion to ensure he dead was just like Socrates’.” (Schall James, Summer 1996) So, Plato’s dead was categorized as by natural cause. Although, Plato died with someone by his bedside he never had a wife or even children. “He was almost certainly gay (as many Athenians were of his day), since he wrote about the idea that love between men is superior to love between a man and woman. “ (Sanderson Beck, 2006) Many men of this time and empire had wives and male lovers so it was not considered uncommon. Plato resided in the Greek civilization; which were made up of independent states...
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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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...Understanding Philosophy and its Benefits By: Anonymous Understanding Philosophy and its Benefits 1 Many of Plato’s dialogues such as the Euthyphro, Apology, Crito and Phaedo are based upon the same reoccurring theme, the defense of the study of philosophy. Plato’s dialogues notable for their depth in a relatively narrow framework, attempt to argue the benefits of philosophical reasoning through essence, knowledge and truth. To understand the benefits of philosophy one must pose the question, what is philosophy? Ironically, philosophy in itself is a reflexive question. It is this bidirectional theory that makes philosophy so profoundly intellectual. It becomes reason as to why trying to find out what philosophy actually is inevitably becomes a way of not only studying philosophy but doing philosophy. By textbook definition, philosophy is the attempt to use reason and logic to answer fundamental questions about knowledge, life, morality and human nature. This definition represents a vexing philosophical issue, how can we attempt to answer these questions in a definite manner? Well, in retrospect Philosophy pursues questions rather than answers. Plato uses dialogue to aide clarity and understanding to those ideas and questions that fall outside of the “scientific domain”. After reading Plato’s dialogues, one can note that, Socrates never comes to any definite conclusion to any of the questions he poses. For example, in the Euthyphro, we are never fully able to determine...
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...Plato • • • • • • When: 427-347 B.C. Where: Athens, Greece What: Philosophy Teacher: Socrates Student: Aristotle Major Theories to Discuss here: – The Forms: unchanging ideas or patterns of reality, which persist through all time and culture. – Dialectic: question/answer methodology used to discover error in beliefs. – Philosopher Kings filipspagnoli.files.wordpress.com/2008/06/plato3.jpg Plato’s Republic • Perhaps Plato’s best known work. • Form: dialogue • Characters: Socrates, Thrasymachus, Glaucon, Adeimantus • Topic: “What is Justice?” Note on Irony in the Dialogue • The Republic takes place in dialogue with the characters of the work. • But Plato seems to include an additional and unnamed character, namely, the reader of the work. The reader is quietly listening in on the dialogue, not unlike another individual (namely, the sophist Thrasymachus, who is also quietly listening in on the dialogue.) • Socratic wisdom is knowing that one does not know. Socrates often tells us that he does not have knowledge. He simply tests what others say when they say they have knowledge. • So when Socrates explains that he doesn’t really know anything about Justice, there’s a sense in which he’s telling us, the readers, that we don’t either, and that maybe we should listen in and even participate in the dialogue. • This same technique is used in other works by other authors. For example, when Sherlock Holmes insults...
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...Plato's early dialogues are referred to as the Socratic dialogues. During these dialogues there is nothing to suggest that the search for virtue and the human good goes beyond the natural realm. In the early dialogues the good and proper things are found through questioning. This however, changes in Plato's middle dialogues. In his middle dialogues Plato leads us to the theory of knowledge. A shift toward the metaphysical guided by the first recognition of the Forms, that is, the true nature of all things. He claims Morals must be based on an appropriate political structure that can be upheld by leaders with strict scientific training. The theory of the Forms is not restricted to human principles; it however embraces the nature of all there is. Plato appears to further stress the differences between analogy, human relationships and celestial harmony. Vattimo’s idea of “platonic fallacy applies to the middle dialogs. Vattimo believes that Plato took the wrong direction with his decision to incorporate straight forward answers in his dialogues. Philosophy for Vattimo is about thinking and discourse no blunt lecturing. Therfore the Entry of the middle dialogues is jarring an infact is not philosophy. Question 2 Plato’s believes that his theory of the forms is the way to knowledge, as expressed in the Platonic Dialoges. It is Plato’s assertion that each and every thing has a perfected intangibility (that is a perfect...
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...Socrates & Plato Socrates and Plato are to be considered the modern fathers of philosophy. Their ideas of what philosophy is allowed the movement of other philosophers for many generations until it reached what we call modern time now. Even though some philosopher from younger generations don’t believe at all what Socrates and Plato taught they will still go to the roots of philosophy from which Socrates and Plato first came up with. Such things as Epistemic Humility, The Allegory of the Cave, the realm of forms, knowledge vs. opinion, and the levels of awareness. These two main philosophers’ contributions to philosophy were a new method of approaching knowledge, a new way of thinking. Socrates’ method, called dialectic, consisted in examining statements by pursuing their implications, on the assumption that if a statement were true it could not lead to false consequences. His doctrine of the soul led him to the belief that all virtues converge into one, which is the good, or knowledge of one's true self and purposes through the course of a lifetime. Knowledge in turn depends on the nature or essence of things as they really are, for the underlying forms of things are more real than their experienced exemplifications. This conception leads to a teleological view of the world that all the forms participate in and lead to the highest form, the form of the good. Socrates also believed in Epistemic Humility which is I know that I do not know, meaning if one is to understand...
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...Plato's Theory of Forms Plato was a Greek philosopher, one of the most important figures of the Ancient Greek world and the entire history of Western Philosophy. Plato wrote about many ideas in philosophy that are still talked about today. His writings explored justice, beauty and equality, and also contained discussions in aesthetics, political philosophy, theology, cosmology, epistemology and the philosophy of language. He was fascinated of the distinction between ideal forms and everyday experience. Plato was a student of Socrates and he thougth that Socrates has a pretty good ideas about the world, particulary when he came to his method of asking questions about established ideas. Since we know that Socrates wrote nothing down everything that we know about him comes in the form of dialogues written by Plato. Plato thinks that there is an explanaition for questions and he can answer "what is virtue ?" or "what is justice ?". Plato comes up with idea of answering these questions, with the Theory of Forms - the most imporant philosophical concept. Plato used his Theory of Forms to link the mind and reality. He taught that the real world consisted of universal ideas (forms). The world that people actually see is given form by these ideas and is thus less real because it is always changing, but the forms are eternal and unchangeable. Plato’s Theory of Forms states, that the physical world is not really the ‘real’ world, instead, ultimate reality exists beyond our physical...
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...What did he/she do that set them apart from your other educators? Now, think about your least favorite. What did these educators have in common and what sets them apart. As a future educator myself I have developed many philosophies on what good education means. A more famous philosopher who also has strong beliefs on education was Plato. But, what is so different about Plato? Why was he so insightful to others? What did he believe about education? Why was he right and where was he wrong? The following is going to answer these questions and is also going to give you a background of Plato. Plato was insightful to educators. But, to understand why people have chosen to learn from the teachings of Plato you first need to understand who he was and all he accomplished. A. Plato: 1. Plato was a Greek Philosopher 2. Plato was a student of Socrates along with Aristotle. 3. Plato a philosopher that provided informational educators with rich Insight. B. Plato’s Work 1. Most of Plato’s work was written in dialogues 2. “One of the significant features of dialogical method is that emphasizes collective, as against solitary activity.” 3. The main point/ aspect of Plato’s educational thought is “Portrayal of the ideal society in The Republic. C. Plato’s thought on education 1. Plato put education in dialogues which was The Republic and The Law. 2. Plato speaks of education as a workout he compared it to gymnastics 3. The methods that Plato used are Socratic Method, political...
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