... . The Republic is an expansive work that touches on many areas of Plato's philosophy--if we can understand it, we have moved a long way toward an understanding of Plato, who stands as one of the cornerstones of the Western philosophical tradition. Characters Plato - Athenian philosopher, author of the Republic. As a young man, Plato was a disciple of Socrates, and his early work bears the mark of ... light of the Good, and they eventually remember all that they had forgotten about the Forms. Plato's philosophy in the Republic is based on two presumptions. The first is that Forms exist. P...

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... Whitehead concluded, 'The safest general characterisation of the European philosophical tradition is that it consists of a series of footnotes to Plato.'2 Here arises the discussion into how extensive this influence has been on religious philosophy. During the time of Plato in Ancient Greece, religion was irrationally theorised to account for acts of nature that were unexplained. The myth of Zeus's lightening ... Therefore challengers may review the point at which the dialogue is directed to an unsound conclusion and formulate a critique. The influence of Plato's work is arguably b...

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... , "it is often reasonable to suppose that the chief speaker in each of the later dialogues, whether Socrates or another, represents Plato's own views." (P.M. Hubby, 1964) Plato's philosophy is based on the belief that the world we detect around us is not completely real, and the only "real" thing is knowledge itself. The difference between these two philosopher ... was how far they extended their questioning. Where Socrates asked "what is justice" or "what is beauty", Plato might consider "why is this action just", or "why is ... space was scientific (unlike his two predecessors) which ...

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... the Thirty, groups of powerful, wealthy citizens who seized control at the end of the Pelopennesian War and turned Athens into an oligarchy. Plato's feelings about the political takeover may have been mixed, as he was related to Charmides, one of the Thirty, but he certainly ... in the philosophical discourse. These dialogues seldom end with positive conclusions, although a premature version of the theory of forms is always presumed by Plato, as well as a moral standard that defines human good as wisdom and virtue (even if those things are hard to define), rather ... than wealth or statu...

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... fifteen years after the death of Socrates, had no firsthand account of the teachings of Socrates, and learned of this philosopher mainly through Plato. More than two millennia later the exact relationship between the philosophy of Socrates and that of Plato is still uncertain, and it is this uncertainty that leads to questions of interpretation. As with the examination of any text, the ... wrestling, he spoke with Socrates. His conversations with the philosopher were what originally taught him that philosophy was his true calling. As he grew and learned from the world around him and fro...

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... , death, and the difference between the psyche (soul) and the soma (body) are just a few of the many different topics which can be covered under the umbrella of philosophy. Over the years, great philosophers such as Plato and Socrates have been recognized for the different theories they've created. Socrates a Greek philosopher, was able to set the standard for all subsequent Western ... a man that believed in the superiority of an argument over writing, since he left no literary legacy of his own, we are dependent upon writers like Plato and the historian Xenophon. Socrates's contributio...

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... , death, and the difference between the psyche (soul) and the soma (body) are just a few of the many different topics which can be covered under the umbrella of philosophy. Over the years, great philosophers such as Plato and Socrates have been recognized for the different theories they've created. Socrates a Greek philosopher, was able to set the standard for all subsequent Western ... a man that believed in the superiority of an argument over writing, since he left no literary legacy of his own, we are dependent upon writers like Plato and the historian Xenophon. Socrates's contributio...

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... live because of the great amount of prejudice on philosophers and on people who the emperor believes is non-Christian. Most of Plato's works consisted of "dialogs" between Socrates and other philosophers. Like Socrates, Plato was concerned in moral, not natural philosophy. He believed that government officials should be "philosopher kings" so he developed a course of study mainly about abstract thought for their ... was invent a theory of vision involving three streams of light: one from what is being seen, one from the eyes, and one from the illuminating source. One of Plato's distinct...

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... had their liberal and free state lost this war? Their society was left with many questions and was in an intellectual frenzy. Philosophy and its agents stepped up to answer questions of justice, morality, and political structures that nurtured good. Plato argued that there was a permanent justice that existed beyond our senses and that was unseen. He argued that man could only ... from wrong and therefore determine what was moral for the polis. The polis had to have faith in the Philosopher King and we can therefore see that Plato used faith to help guide his philosophy. This has a slig...

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... the interesting and diverse place it is today. Bibliography ?Background to Plato's Philosophy: The Political Background?. http://www.gla.ac.uk/departments/philosophy/Greek-Plato/Background.html Background to Plato's Philosophy: The Political Background?. http://www.gla.ac.uk/departments/philosophy/Greek-Plato/Background.html Background to Plato's Philosophy: The Political Background?. http://www.gla.ac.uk/departments/philosophy/Greek-Plato/Background.html ClassicNotes: The Republic Book VIII?. http://www.classicnote.com ... /ClassicNotes/Titles/republic/summ8.html. Plato's Politics?. htt...

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... philosophy can be restricted to the disciplined investigation of political problems and as such it was invented at a particular place (among the Greek) at a particular time (5th century BC). This assertion rejects the idea that political theory is simply thoughts about politics or relevant to politics but it can only be, when there are political problems. In his introduction to Plato ... shapers of the intellectual tradition is flawed, he states that Socrates was executed for bringing foreign teachings also causing Plato and Aristotle to flee because "philosophy was something foreign and ...

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... peak and decay into history. Generations are born, raised, flourish, and die off. However, even the ravages of time cannot alter the timeless art of philosophy. Although separated by nearly 800 years, the philosophical writings of Plato and Saint Augustine have much in common with one another, and like all other ageless philosophical writings, still convey powerful messages to this day. The ... , were possessed before birth. Augustine's views were very similar on the idea of recollection, or as he called it, memory. In fact, many of Augustine's positions are modified versions of Plato's ...

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"If there is someone, who deserves to be called a teacher of humanity, these are Plato and Aristotle-, Hegel wrote in his "Lectures on the history of philosophy-. Clarifying this postulate, Hegel wrote that Plato belonged to personalities of world-historic importance and his philosophy was one of those creations of worldwide significance that since its emergence "had been exerting the greatest influence on spiritual culture ... and the course of its development during all the following epochs-. In Plato's view, the aim of philosophy is to enable just mutual cohabitation of people in the Stat...

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... is fire, what is water?" Additionally, ethics has been a topic of copious debate between not just many philosophers including Aristotle, Plato and Socrates, but also in our current day in politics and law. Expanding on contemporary philosophy, philosophers today talk about very important social issues such as women's rights and environmental issues. They also use a much more reasonable and ... class conflict and having state owned property and methods of production was the key to a successful economy and by extension a prosperous society. He criticized speculative philosophy, equating met...

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... drink hemlock and died. "It is better to die on my feet than to live on my knees," he stated proudly. Plato became disillusioned with Athens after Socrates died. Later, he started his own university called the Academy. There, he taught philosophy, math, astronomy, science, history, physical education, and rhetoric, the art of speaking or writing effectively. Aristotle, a curious student of his ... , but biologists and scientists as well. In a way, Alexander enforced Aristotle's ideas and was the first ruler to take interest in philosophy instead of thinking it was intolerable. Power isn'...

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... live under it. The feature that both philosophers share is that they attempt to compromise between stability and freedom, and in the process admit that neither can be totally had. Plato's philosophy of government sees the State as a larger version of the individual, and the soul of an individual is comprised of three parts ... the masses or takeover by the soldiers. All will know their proper places and be content in them, and the government will function in harmony. Machiavelli proposes a philosophy of rule that is somewhat similar to Plato in spirit, but is very much different in acti...

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... "those who "among children and among men must be appointed rulers of the city " (93) "are ensured the right to practice philosophy and rule the city as is their nature, auxiliaries are ensured the right to serve as enforcers for the guardians as is their nature, and ... same logic applies to the guardians. Indeed, it is widely concluded that Socrates was executed as a direct result of his practicing philosophy under a democracy. It is natural that Plato's guardians, who themselves are philosophers, would possess this knowledge and would therefore take precautions to avoid this same fate ...

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... all knowledge and attempting to make sense of them. The Greek philosopher Plato lies among the most important and creative thinkers of the world, setting forth most of the crucial problems and concepts of Western philosophy, psychology, politics and logic. His influence and finding have remained ... abstract concept: the idea of justice. The meaning and implications of justice constitute perhaps one of the greatest problems of ancient and modern philosophy, while at the same time signifies the key to preventing the downfall of a ruler and/or an empire/city. In his ... connotation, impl...

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... is the purpose of the state too. In order to understand their different conclusions of political state, we need to be aware of their difference in world's view and philosophy. Plato believes in absolute truth in terms of morality and politics. Besides, Plato is only able to identify the difference between individuals in terms of three classes, which are producers, civilians and guardians ... of the absolute truth with very little concern whether such truth is practical or not. More than that, the truth to Plato seems to be unchangeable whether in ideas or philosophy. Plato believes the ...

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... philosophers influenced their world greatly. Their philosophy is very similar but sometimes different. Plotinus based his philosophy on Plato's ideas. He was a mystic who had experienced the union of God or the "cosmic spirit". He realized a mystical union with God. People loved him and appreciated him. He wrote many books like Plato. Both Plotinus and Plato believed that the soul did not depend ... provides a principle to everything. The world soul bridges spirit and matter. Plotinus concentrated most of his philosophy on "the One" (god). However, Plato"s philosophy was mostly based on ...

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... pitiful. However, philosophers have only themselves to blame for the present state of affairs. They alone are responsible for detaching philosophy from the real world. A case in point is the prevalent acceptance of Plato's dichotomy between mind/soul and body. This distinction has been presented in many forms : real vs ideal; spirit vs flesh; earthly vs ethereal; temporal vs eternal; imperfect vs ... prepare for death. In fact, to practice being dead! Why? Because of his acceptance of the idea that when you die the soul is separated from the body. In Plato's eyes, doing philosophy is se...

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... Christian theology. In short, Aristotle was and still is, considered a master of his craft, a leader in the field of philosophy and the teaching of the surrounding environment. But when he is compared to Plato, are the two philosophers similar or different? The answer is both. Plato and Aristotle are two of the most widely acclaimed philosophers in their field. As a pupil of Socrates ... . Although young and still learning, Aristotle came to find many faults in Plato's theories and became a great critic of his teacher. Despite his critique, Aristotle was influenced by Plato and so their ...

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... ancient philosophers. Their ideas can often be hard to touch upon due to changes in things such as time, society, technology and even knowledge. I believe that neither Plato nor Aristotle has complete grasp on their philosophy of life, for as much as the two contradict one another, they also tie in with each other and logically, I believe, one can almost not make ... of personal experience. Although regardless I do ultimately agree with the ideas of Aristotle over those of Plato, I also feel that ultimate agreement with Plato in this essay would be somewhat illogical and contradicting o...

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... on are the argument from opposites, the arguments from affinity, and the argument form recollection. Each of these themes relates to Pieper's ideas of philosophy in a general way. Pieper aims to explain the whole idea of philosophy in various terms, where as Plato focuses his discussions on certain arguments in order to prove his ideas. Each of these authors have a significant opinion on ... no greater good for practical purposes. But Pieper argues the independence of philosophy when he says, "philosophy by itself is a free endeavor, and for this reason it serves no one and nothing" (pg...

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... still encouraged today. Plato believes in an educational program that is well balanced in intellectual and physical training, that will ensure that the guardians are well cultivated, courageous, and moderate. He believes that if their education program contains too much art, music, and philosophy, they will become ... into knowledge of the eternal, unchanging forms. At this point, it is Plato's goal to teach them to think abstractly and what better way to do that then through the studies of mathematics and philosophy. His educational program for the future philosopher kings includes te...

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