... have described, then, there is, I believe, no correct way to acquire and employ children and women other than to follow the path on which we first set them." (Plato, Republic, 451c) Plato then analyses female characteristics and reaches a conclusion that apart from physical differences, the two sexes are inherently similar. Socrates states, "Then, my friend, there is no pursuit relevant ... a man; but the various natural capacities are distributed in a similar way between both creatures, and women can share by nature in every pursuit, and men in every one" (Plato, Republic, 455d). Plato...

• Word Count: 1094
• Approx Pages: 4
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... of everyone according to his or her own ability, in order to improve the over all production possibility of society is a basic Communist concept. Many attributes and ideas in Plato's dialogue The Republic can be seen chronologically later in governments and political systems of Totalitarianism, Communism and egalitarianism. The concept of equality for all, including education, and other government ... provided services is a very important part of egalitarian system. However, some traces of Communism and Totalitarianism can also be seen in Plato's dialogue. Plato suggests that every memb...

• Word Count: 1053
• Approx Pages: 4
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... opposite to life, as death is not an even within itself, therefore there must be a continuous pattern of life, death and rebirth. However, Plato does not make himself clear as when he first talks of opposites he talks about graded opposites, where something can be bigger or smaller than something ... assume that everything must derive through its opposite, as life could not possibly derive from death. Another clear problem in this particular theory is that Plato makes a very controversial statement that death is not an event, something that would not be popular amongst many cultures, t...

• Word Count: 1130
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... establish concrete standards for the knowledge of reality, I considers it fraught with inconsistencies and believe that the concept of reality depends upon all Forms' correlations to other elements. Forms, Plato believes, are permanent, self-contained absolutes, that answer to each item of exact knowledge attained through human thought. In addition, the theory claims that states of being are contingent ... (such as anything man-made) and negations of concrete Forms could exist - such as "non-good" in opposition to good. This contradicts Plato's own belief that only natural objects could...

• Word Count: 494
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... also some differences politically behind their theories, which ends up being the result of how they view human beings and their roles within society. In Plato's 'The Republic," each person in society served a function and had a job that suited their personality. He believed that the natural ... occur. The guardians would ensure that those desires stayed in check and that one person would not gain more then another. The way Plato's theoretical human conditioning works is that human beings represent a natural order whereas the guardians (supreme philosophers) are at the top of the .....

• Word Count: 1234
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... does not care that he has become detached from the physical world and left behind all earthly existence as a result of this newfound beauty. Plato underscores the intense feelings for the beloved who has become, "the object of his worship, and the physician who can alone assuage the ... which one may acquire an excessive desire or illustrate a lack of restraint in the form of obsessive behavior. The "madness," as defined by Plato, is in actuality analogous of an innate impassioned desire freeing the soul. Yet, there is a grave contrast between "irrational" madness and divine ... in ord...

• Word Count: 795
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... used this philosophy in the service of Christianity but some Christian beliefs are irreconcilable with neoplatonism. A striking example of the influence of Plato on Augustine is Augustine's critical appropriation of the ancient concept of eros. An important component of the philosophy of love and desire can ... early loves are, rightly understood, continuous with and, finally, but a vehicle for the love of Being itself and of its highest principles. In Plato's Symposium, Socrates shares with us the nature of nature of eros through a speech recounting his dialogue with Diotima. This notio...

• Word Count: 857
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... a criticism of any given individual within that society; the imperfect character. He has already dealt with the Oligarchic society and character and now moves onto Democracy and the democratic character. Plato states that the Oligarchy, where the ultimate desire is for wealth and character governs emotions without reason, will ultimately collapse and become a Democracy. The lower, drone class are exploited by ... some form of external force to aid their struggle. Therefore, democracy originates when the poor win, kill or exile their opponents, and give the rest equal civil rights and oppo...

• Word Count: 545
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... what we do not know, or rather what we do not recollect, I have to admit that his concept is some what flawed. In our short excerpt Plato attempts to prove that there is no such thing as "a priori knowledge" and offers to explain that knowledge is simply a recollection of what we had once ... known in an earlier existence. Right in line with his theory of Forms Plato uses mathematics as his example in the dialogue with the boy, trying to demonstrate that he has some concept of the geometry of a square ... what were later displayed in the Republic with his concept of justice by examining...

• Word Count: 499
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... he admitted his ignorance and that understanding out of selfishness, is considered an intellectual superiority. Hence the search for the wisest, as described by Plato, his teacher was given the task to talk with those who claim to be the wisest of the city and found that every one of ... same ideology and knowledge it. His knowledge leads him to handle an attitude of arrogance to the Court, this is denoted in both texts of Plato and Xenophon where find an explanation based on both written: Socrates to have a very own philosophy, considers defend against all odds, and he considered ... ...

• Word Count: 1077
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... reality were "heavily influenced by Heraclitus, Parmendes, and Socrates " (Silverman). Plato's metaphysical view, for example, has us divided into two worlds: the becoming and the reality. The becoming is the physical world ... there are a thousand different designs for chairs which exist in the real world. However, according to Plato there is, somewhere, the idea of a perfect chair in which all woodworkers base their flawed chairs off of (Cox). Plato illustrated his concept of reality with his divided line analogy. Below the line is the realm of ... ideas (Chaffee 202). One can observe...

• Word Count: 660
• Approx Pages: 3
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... his ship. The captain can not be expected to understand and run all aspects of their everyday city operation just as the ruler can not be. Plato's captain is not given credit for his work and functions onboard a ship. Not all captains/leaders suffer from "blindness" about what is happening under ... from making fun of Socrates in the paragraph before to agreeing with everything Socrates says in fragments of sentences for the next couple of pages. Plato and Socrates see their position in Athenian democracy as a educator too as much of the society as possible; by walking around and talkin...

• Word Count: 1223
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... humans to achieve happiness and fulfillment? There are many ways in which love can help humans to achieve happiness and fulfillment. In Plato's discussion on love, he explains to us that love offers us a pathway from chaos (25-31 Plato, Aristophanes), the romantic companionship that it offers can lead people out of loneliness. Love also leads us to happiness and fulfillment by ... to imitate God in order to obtain happiness and fulfillment, however, "Happiness doesn't come from imitating God. Instead, happiness comes from getting into the right relationship with God" (Graham). Lastly, P...

• Word Count: 706
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... order to obtain a just state, the individuals of the state must adhere to being a just individual. In order to attain a just soul reason must rule, aided by spirit over appetite. Plato firstly examines the virtues, characteristics of excellence, through social classes, needed to obtain a just state. The first wisdom, possessed by guardians, enables them to rule the state. Secondly, courage ... warriors who aim for victory and honor. Finally, the artisan class who holds to appetite are money hungry individuals. However, in a just state reason rules, aided by spirit over appetite. Plato d...

• Word Count: 518
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Within Plato's Symposium, a series of six dialogues regarding the nature of Love are discussed at length. However, it is the very last dialogue – in which Socrates ... changes – which also reflects the change in gender (male speaker, to female speaker). By having the text flow in this way, it becomes clear that Plato intended for Diotima and her speech to stand out. Moreover, the vernacular of Diotima's speech is oracular and her tone of voice sounds almost prophetic. This parallels ... of the ancient Greek oracle deities, the majority of whom were female (i.e., Pythia, oracle of Apollo...

• Word Count: 768
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... an imaginative version of Socrates' defense against the accusations that he did not believe in the city's gods, brought in new gods, and corrupted the youth. As Plato's Socrates defends himself, he says many things that seem to be bound to antagonize the jury, from reminding the jury early in his defense of how he angered the leading ... for his behavior. The question therefore arises: did Socrates deliberately bring down upon himself the verdict of guilty and the punishment of death by antagonizing the jury? I will argue that Plato's Socrates does commit "suicide by jury " because of ...

• Word Count: 1233
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... reality is not obvious to most of us. However, we mistake what we see and hear for reality and truth. This is the basic premise for Plato's Allegory of the Cave, in which prisoners sit in a cave, chained down, watching images cast on the wall in front of them. They accept ... distorted illusion of reality without question. Accordingly, to break free, we must open our eyes and see the truth about the world around us according to Plato. The truth for Oedipus being that he is a prisoner of his own beliefs just as the men were prisoners of the cave. Oedipus" reluctance to ... and not consid...

• Word Count: 526
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... suffered are reflected in the real world; if he is killed in the Matrix, his physical body will also die. Every moment of the film is full of philosophical cues. Plato's revelation is evident when Neo sees for the first time the components of Morpheus' team as human being and not as virtual projections. It is a sort of "fall of the ... ...

• Word Count: 743
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... more miserable than those who the crimes were acted upon?" Socrates, one of the greatest minds in ancient Greek philosophy, asked this very same question. In a conversation with Polus in Plato's Gorgias he outlines in full his argument that attempts to show that it is better to suffer wrong than to do wrong. In outlining the specific steps throughout this argument ... ...

• Word Count: 841
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... best will eventually fail. There are no signs anywhere else in the Republic of this sort of pessimism about the state. If one looks to Plato's broader philosophy, however, the reason for this is evident. His Just City adheres to the Form of the just, however, it itself is ... seizes control of the Just City and turns it from a justice-loving place into a money-loving place. Lastly, it's worthwhile to briefly look at Plato's scorn for democracy, because it is this, perhaps more than anything else, that stems from his own personal experience. If we recall from the introduction ... death ...

• Word Count: 1089
• Approx Pages: 4
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... sits in a police station being ignored by his hen-pecking parents: he wants them to listen to him, but they can't even listen to each other. Young Plato (Sal Mineo) is there too; he's been out gunning down puppies but he sits sullenly, dressed like a dandy in a tie and sweater. The third ... audiences that are in the grip of juvenile-delinquent hysteria. The next morning, after their parents and maids have bailed them out of jail, Jim, Plato, and Judy meet again school and their outsider credentials are again established; Jim mistakenly steps on the school emblem embedded in the sidewal...

• Word Count: 995
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... music. The second part of the guardian's education, physical training, is broached when the philosophers have finished their outline of music. Physical education, Plato asserts, should be governed by the same rigorous temperance as music. No exceptions are made for the ill or the valetudinarian; citizens are to survive ... a physician or not at all. Since a State must have rulers, and logically its rulers should represent the best of its citizens, according to Plato, the rulers should be chosen from the guardians. Only the guardians who demonstrate love of the State and an unshakable sens...

• Word Count: 768
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... such as objects and their surrounding as real. In the Truman Show, Sea Haven symbolizes the cave and the protagonist, Truman Burbank, represents the prisoner. Both, Plato's allegory and the movie, reveal parallel subjects such as the yearning for completion and searching for answers, destructive characters, web of illusions and god-like figures. ... is actually controlled and manipulated by the producer Chrystoff.  All of Truman's desires are predetermined by the producer. The Truman show resembles Plato's allegory of the cave as initially Truman is trapped into his own cave and his...

• Word Count: 1065
• Approx Pages: 4
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... hoped above all else to practice virtues, such as wisdom, moderation, courage, and justice, in order to preserve a sustainable and prosperous society. In Plato's "Kallipolis ", he portrayed a society in which humans were placed into one of three classes "those who worked, those who fought at war, ... he went on to state the importance of individuals staying within their respective groups and performing their appropriate duties, and nothing else. Clearly, Plato believed that the perfect state could only prosper if the individual subjugated his own will to that of society. He stressed the...

• Word Count: 712
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... they were the developers of art, science and religion in the European, Arabic and Judaic world (Guisepi). Through their works that will be discussed herein, it will be evident that Plato's, Aristotle's and Socrates' works are still the ultimate basis of western society. Socrates' ideas are never really documented since he never really wrote a book but just went around teaching, ... embarrassing and humiliating important people. However, the works of Aristotle as well as Plato are evidence that Socrates had great influence on the western world's evolution since Plato was his student and A...

• Word Count: 549
• Approx Pages: 2
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate