Plato essay

Plato essay

Plato Uses the “Allegory of the Cave” Midterm Essay Exam Plato was an ancient Athenian philosopher who studied under fellow philosopher Socrates. He would later become one of the most influential philosophers of all time. One of Plato’s most notable works and most famous allegory was the  · Plato’s Theory of Knowledge leads us down many roads but we see the same theme through-out all of the examples: light to dark; ignorant to educated; reality to really real. In The Cave we move from the dark of the cave to the light of outdoors, showing us our on limitations and how knowledge can get us beyond our previous limitation, but also how our knowledge can be a limitation if we do not  · Plato’s theory of knowledge is a massive challenge to most students because it involves a lot of introspection. Not many modern students have the time to sit around brooding and meditating, given how fast-paced the academic life is today. We’re here to help with your Plato’s theory of knowledge essay blogger.comted Reading Time: 7 mins

Plato's Allegory - Words | Bartleby

by HelpForAssessment. August 19, Not many modern students have the time to plato essay around brooding and meditating, plato essay, given how fast-paced the academic life is today.

Our expert writers will research, outline, write, and refine the assignment for you. It covers various areas concerning what students are most likely to be examined on including:. Estimated to have been born in or BCE, Plato was a remarkable student of Socrates and a teacher of Aristotle who went on to become the most influential philosopher of all time, plato essay. He was the son of a Greek aristocrat named Ariston, who claimed lineage going all the way to the god Poseidon; his mother was called Perictione.

We know much about Socrates, who never wrote, through prolific students of his such as Plato. These include the theory of Forms, Platonic realism, ethics, philosophy of religion, and many more. He essentially gave us the definition of what we today know as philosophy. Plato essay writings of Plato are generally accepted to have been done in three distinct time periods: the early, middle, and late writings or dialogues, as they are known.

Plato believed that truth is objective and that it results from beliefs which have been rightly justified by and anchored in reason. Thus, knowledge is justified and true belief, plato essay. We can draw several conclusions from this plato essay. Plato also believed that true knowledge is buried deep within our subconscious, and that we draw upon this knowledge when knowing Forms such as Beauty, Equality, Justice, etc, plato essay.

This is a direct consequence of his belief in:, plato essay. Plato loved to use allegories and stories to carry his ideas across. Consider this story where, when one of his disciples asked him plato essay furnish proof of immortality, plato essay, Plato used it as an allegory. Imagine that you have two line segments. These line segments are equal - or rather, you believe plato essay to be so, plato essay. What is the basis of your belief that they are equal?

He deduces correctly that you must first have some information about the size of the segments, which you acquire through evaluating information provided by your senses. The problem, however, is how you know the concept of equality.

Were you taught it? It cannot be, because senses are non-eternal, and prone to error. On the other hand, plato essay, Equality, as one of the good forms, is eternal and cannot change. Thus, if the concept of Equality is changeless, the only way you can know it is if you have experienced it before in a plane where Equality as a Form is present, truthful, eternal, and changeless.

Thus, the plato essay is immortal and passed through such a plato essay and retained knowledge, albeit unconscious and hidden, of the Forms. While Plato believed in reincarnation at the time of the middle period of his writings, plato essay is to be noted that he changed his mind on some of his fundamental beliefs as indicated in his later works.

Knowledge is based on real things about which we come up with true propositions in the process of acquiring knowledge. These ideas or objects are universal in that they can be applied to a wide range of real objects to describe or characterize them. Taking this viewpoint, he goes on to say that this world is flawed and full of error, plato essay, plato essay us from really seeing and plato essay the true Forms. Take, for example, the plato essay of Beauty.

Thus, Beauty is both a characteristic plato essay an essence in itself capable of interaction. Plato essay is the concept of self-predication. In this illustration, Beauty Itself is utterly and solely beautiful and exists apart from these other objects that partake of it. In the Phaedo, Plato's theory of knowledge emphasizes this nature of the Forms and calls them monoeides. Thus, all other objects are of a lesser degree of beauty than Beauty, which Itself is completely beautiful.

However, there are differing opinions about whether beauty is a characteristic plato essay Beauty itself, or that the Form and essence of Beauty are the same thing. In any case, Plato solved the problem of universals, plato essay, an ancient philosophical question about whether the characteristics of objects, such as color and shape, exist beyond the objects themselves.

Plato would go on to dedicate plato essay effort to each of these Forms in his later dialogues, believing that the philosopher gains true knowledge by grasping the world of Forms with his mind plato essay the only plato essay of reality being poor and perhaps erroneous copies of the Forms. These archetypes are the true nature of reality, plato essay, or at least the little of it that we know.

In other words, these images are a representation of the True Forms, though we see them in poor plato essay. Suppose that there are people in a cave, chained to its wall. They are unable to turn their faces, and all they can see is the wall of the cave. There are shadows dancing on the walls because of a fire that burns behind them, illuminating various objects in passing.

However, because they are unable to turn their faces, all the people can see are mere shadows. This very basic illustration of the cave allegory services to describe the theories that follow. The prisoners - for that is what the people are - have no other reality except what they plato essay see in the shadows on the cave wall.

They can hardly perceive there being any other reality than the one they can see, thus mistaking appearance for reality. Plato then posits a question: when the prisoners are talking about the things they see on the wall, what are they talking about? For example, were they to see a car in the shadows and said, there is a car. Thus, by extension, the names we attribute to objects in our worlds are not their actual names, but rather just the names of the shadows.

Only by being released from our chains can our understanding be freed to see the real Forms behind the shadows. The chained prisoners start a guessing game to predict what image will come next. If, by chance, one of them predicts correctly, he will be praised by the others as being clever and intelligent. Thus, empirical knowledge of the world around us is praised and desired. Suppose that one prisoner is freed, so that he is able to turn around and see what is behind plato essay. However, as his eyes adjust to it, he would see and realize that what is on the cave wall are mere shadows plato essay other objects.

However, plato essay, as you can see, he would first need to climb a steep incline to find the fire and the real objects, plato essay, or Forms. Just beyond the fire, the prisoner would see the light of the sun filtering into the cave. He plato essay then realize that there is a much greater plato essay better Light, and he might follow it to the outside of the cave where the whole world awaits. However, having been so long in the cave, plato essay, the bright sunlight would dazzle him, perhaps even blind him temporarily.

He might be forced to go back into the cave to which he is accustomed out of fear, in what is termed as The Return. Plato then says that only the truly courageous philosopher makes it out of the cave to face the Light - the truth of reality, plato essay, as it is.

It comes immediately after the analogy of the Sun, plato essay, where the freed prisoner has left the cave and seen the immediate world. Being illuminated by it, Plato then says that man has four levels of knowledge which he called affections of the psyche. Think of them as increasing levels of plato essay to truth to belief and finally to the purest state of being.

It is highly metaphysical in nature and is best described in the following ascending line imagery. Take a line which has been divided into two unequal parts, then divide each of the parts again in the same proportions, plato essay. Suppose that the two main divisions represent the visible and the intelligible parts of reality respectively.

Now allocated each of the four sections by their clearness. Drawing the line, we come up with something like this. The visible world consists of shadows and reflections of physical things and the plato essay themselves.

The form of knowledge in this world is the illusion of ordinary experience and the belief pistis of discrete physical entities, of which the natural sciences are a part of. The intelligible world also has two parts. In the first, the soul of humans uses mathematics and figures to understand the eternal as guided by the physical objects. In the highest level, it understands and views the state of being without the need of any figures.

It is said that Plato interacted with students of the great mathematician Pythagoras, which apparently made a big impression on him. Thus, as he says, plato essay, mathematical reasoning lies beyond the physical world and helps us understand the real nature of things.

The highest world is one above all these hypotheses and figures, plato essay, and which one attains upon death, plato essay. Plato had a keen interest in ethics and justice, and many of his dialogues seem to have a direct bearing on them.

For one, he believed that a happy soul is a moral soul, plato essay, that is, one led by reason. He also believed that the immortal soul is tripartite, consisting of the appetitive appetites and urgesspirited emotionaland rational parts. Each has to be in control and in harmony with the rest in order for good choices to be made. These good choices, in turn, result in happiness, plato essay. He also considered each of these parts of the soul to have excellences. These excellences are what forms virtue; the excellence of the soul as a whole is virtue.

All three combined bring about an excellence called Plato essay, which arises from a harmonious relation of the three. Plato essay considered virtue to be a kind of knowledge of good and evil which all human desires aim to achieve. Plato named the ultimate good or virtue eudaimonia, bringing about Eudaimonism. Those with strong appetites could produce more, thus were the Producers of the state.

They are the farmers, labourers, merchants, service men, and similar others. This perfect, totalitarian state was thus dictatorial. Historians can find the heavy inspiration drawn from the strict state of ancient Sparta. In his plato essay, only a few are fit to rule on the basis of their virtue, education, and grasp of knowledge. It is to be noted that he was effectively rejecting the principles of democracy which ruled Athens at the time.

Such a king would have a moderate love for wisdom and courage to enforce that wisdom. Plato was effectively saying plato essay it is better to be ruled by a tyrant, whether good or bad.

The Republic by Plato - In-Depth Summary \u0026 Analysis

, time: 11:55

Plato Theory Of Knowledge: What You Need To Know To Ace The Essay

Plato Uses the “Allegory of the Cave” Midterm Essay Exam Plato was an ancient Athenian philosopher who studied under fellow philosopher Socrates. He would later become one of the most influential philosophers of all time. One of Plato’s most notable works and most famous allegory was the Introduction to Philosophy Plato is one of the many philosophers who have had an influence on the ideas of humane thinking. Born in Athens, believed to be around BC, Plato has expressed various works pertaining to idealism and the theory of forms. Plato has made many allegories and metaphors of  · Plato’s Theory of Knowledge leads us down many roads but we see the same theme through-out all of the examples: light to dark; ignorant to educated; reality to really real. In The Cave we move from the dark of the cave to the light of outdoors, showing us our on limitations and how knowledge can get us beyond our previous limitation, but also how our knowledge can be a limitation if we do not