... knowledge. Therefore, Socrates believes that since the truth is always inside the soul, then it must be immortal. The soul has all knowledge, and through the process of recollection, one can recover this information. Phaedo, the second dialogue of Plato's theory, states that only through the forms and absolutes, an individual can have knowledge. It has been questioned how society can have the knowledge ... of an absolute if we haven't discovered said absolute. Socrates reflects, "The thing which I see aims at being like some other thing, but falls short of and cannot be like that ... try...

• Word Count: 2706
• Approx Pages: 11
• Grade Level: High School

... Theory of Forms, which vastly underpins western religious philosophy, attempts to explain our seemingly instinctive moral knowledge. He begins by debating the meaning of words, a common technique acquired from Socrates. Plato maintains we have a perfect idea of certain themes, however while within time and space we may embody what it resembles. Beauty for example is transferable because things may resemble beauty in different ways. In the Phaedo ... wives from each other. The position was reached that their differing commands could not all be morally good. This notably strengthened Plat...

• Word Count: 2979
• Approx Pages: 12
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... Cave. The people chained to the wall of the cave believe they know what people look like based on their shadows. They do not know what people look like until they actually see them. One point that Plato and Socrates did disagree (according to Plato) was on the aspect of the human soul. In Plato's dialogue, Phaedo, which documents Socrates" final hours, Socrates discusses the fact ... that the soul is merely an extension of the body that dies with it. It was Pythagoras who suggested that the body ... a philosophy, which is why he is considered by Dante to be "The teacher of those who kn...

• Word Count: 3385
• Approx Pages: 14
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... cannot be known by sense perception? Plato answers this question by stating that the Forms are known in thought. They are the objects of thought, therefore, whenever you are thinking, you are thinking of Forms. An important point to note about the Forms is the idea of permanence. The Forms are forever unchanging. An important standard of Plato's theory of knowledge was that all genuine objects of knowledge be described without contradiction. Therefore ... ? (All information is taken from: Sophie's World: a Novel about the History of Philosophy by Jostein Gaarder.) Plato claimed that the ...

• Word Count: 3636
• Approx Pages: 15
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School