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Plato and Descartes - Methods of Philosophy

            When looking and examining both Plato and Descartes method of philosophy, we can see that both had similarities and differences to their approach. Both Plato and Descartes approaches conclude that knowledge must be what is certain and opinions or other ideas are what must be uncertain. They both believed that the mind and body are separate from each other and that the mind is immortal. We see this come to life with Plato in our reading of Phaedo. Socrates (Plato) believed that the body is attached to the soul but that the soul can live independently from the body. He even goes as far as to say that the body drags the soul around, confusing the soul with its senses keeping it from completely knowing what is certain. The only way that the soul finds what is certain (wisdom and Knowledge) is through separation from the body. This is where we find out why he does not fear death for that death only allows the soul to be freed and to gain what is truly certain. We also see the belief that the mind and body are separate come to life with Descartes after reading Meditation Two. Here we come to find that Descartes was for certain that he could not doubt that his mind (soul) existed separate from his body. That was in part to the certainty that he was a thinking thing. He also concludes that his mind knows more then his body in part to the conclusion that what he does doubt comes from only from the mind and not from the senses. Where we can see a difference is in their actual approach to find what must be certain. Descartes uses methodological method to cast doubt on what he felt was not certain. He then rebuilt his foundation of knowledge with himself as the base of his views. He knew for certain that he was a thinking thing; therefore he is certain that he exist, "I think, therefore I am". Plato uses his Elenchus to examine the true nature or "Form" of all that exist, Ti Esti.


Essays Related to Plato and Descartes - Methods of Philosophy

1. Descartes, Father of Modern Philosophy

For instance, Plato's theory of forms does not, to me, seem to jibe with modern physics and cosmology. ... Rather, philosophy should be integrated with the rest of the sciences through the method of rational judgment. ... Descartes is known as the father of modern philosophy; Descartes" realized that one could not analyze a problem simply on the common sense level, but that he must be "prone to the micro level." ... Descartes was the first to bring philosophy to its "renaissance." ... Descartes" method and theory on knowledge was well planned and carefully thought out ...

  • Word Count: 2185
  • Approx Pages: 9
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

2. Descartes, Father of Modern Philosophy

For instance, Plato's theory of forms does not, to me, seem to jibe with modern physics and cosmology. ... Rather, philosophy should be integrated with the rest of the sciences through the method of rational judgment. ... Descartes is known as the father of modern philosophy; Descartes" realized that one could not analyze a problem simply on the common sense level, but that he must be "prone to the micro level." ... Descartes was the first to bring philosophy to its "renaissance." ... Descartes" method and theory on knowledge was well planned and carefully thought out ...

  • Word Count: 2185
  • Approx Pages: 9
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

3. Descartes' Philosophy Of The Mind

The foundation of Descartes argument is based on the first person narrative style of his Meditations on First Philosophy. ... As soon as Descartes creates the basis of his argument he can make more inferences as he moves on to different meditations. ... According to Descartes, thought includes doubting, understanding, affirming, denying, willing, refusing, and also imagining and sensing. ... This is his first method of doubt. ... So by doubting, just as Plato did, Descartes destroyed the old way of thinking and created a new one....

  • Word Count: 314
  • Approx Pages: 1
  • Grade Level: High School

4. Descartes, Father of Modern Ph

For instance, Plato's theory of forms does not, to me, seem to jibe with modern physics and cosmology. ... Rather, philosophy should be integrated with the rest of the sciences through the method of rational judgment. ... Descartes is known as the father of modern philosophy; Descartes" realized that one could not analyze a problem simply on the common sense level, but that he must be "prone to the micro level." ... Descartes was the first to bring philosophy to its "renaissance." ... Descartes" method and theory on knowledge was well planned and carefully thought out ...

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5. Robots of Dawn

First there is Descartes" Method of Doubt in which he would have you consider the validity of anything in which you do not recognize to be so. ... Descartes and Gottfried Leibniz were proponents of Rationalism. ... Humans know things by a combination of two different methods, Rationalism and Empiricism. ... Plato basis his philosophy on the distinction between the appearance and reality. ... Plato argues poets lead people away from reality and inner peace. ...

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6. How does Kant bridge the gap between the rationalist and the

In order to accurately understand how Kant bridged the gap between the rationalist method of understanding and knowledge and the empiricists, you must first separate and define the two. The rationalist point of view stemmed from Plato, and was acclaimed by many other great philosophers such as Descartes, Spinoza and Leibniz. ... From the rationalist spectrum, comes the metaphysical Transcendental Philosophy which claims that, we can only know what we put into objects. ...

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7. The Roots of Psychology

Rene Descartes, Plato and Socrates are among other Greek philosophers who tried to find answers to these questions. ... He wanted to take psychology out of philosophy and establish it as a science. ... This approach uses case studies as a research method. ... They use the experiment and observational methods of research (Mcleod, 2007). ... This approach uses the experiment and case study method of research. ...

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8. Influential Classicalism

The works of Plato were particularly compelling, and a ring of Neoplatonic researchers headed by Marsilio Ficino (1433 "1499) looked to circuit Christian thought with Platonic philosophy. ... By periodizing Latin style, Valla invented a philological method for the scientific study of texts that was further developed by Christian humanists like Desiderius Erasmus of Rotterdam (1466? ... He was especially inspired by the numerical extents behind the configuration of antiquated Roman structures and in creating designing methods to construct them. ... Alongside the painter Masaccio (1401 &qu...

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9. Newton

Instruction at Cambridge was by philosophy of Aristotle. ... Newton studied the philosophy of Descarte, Gassendi, Hobbes, and in particular Boyle. ... He headed the text with a Latin statement meaning "Plato is my friend, Aristotle is my friend, but my best friend is truth" showing him to be a free thinker from an early stage. ... He advanced through studying the writings of his mentors William Oughtred and John Wallis, and of "Descartes" and the Dutch school mathematics. Newton made a contribution to all branches of mathematics he studied, but he is especially famous for his solutions to th...

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