How Did Plato Contribute To Western Consciousness

Socrates, one of the greatest philosophers in history, was arrested, put in jail, and was sentenced to death. The reason for being put in jail and getting the death sentence was because some believed he went out all over Athens, corrupting their youth and creating chaos in their way of life. Although these are some big accusations at the time, some believed that Socrates did commit these crimes to the fact that some of the people of Athens, particularly did not like Socrates due to the fact that Socrates was a controversial figure in the city to which some didn’t understand him and some of the people of Athens would worry every time that Socrates would go out and question the gods, that the result would have them fearing that their gods would come down and smite all of them with their eternal wrath. Fearing the gods over a man’s intellect and questioning, Socrates was put under arrest and was allowed a trial for his defense of the claims brought upon him. During the time that Socrates was put in prison, Athens was going under some dramatic changes from their hegemony in the classical world in a declining matter due to them being defeated by Sparta in the Peloponnesian War. With their defeat to the Spartans, Athens unknowingly forced themselves into a down spiral state where they entered a period of doubt and instability about their identity and place in the world. The result of this period made the Athens clung to their past ways, past glories, ways of wealth, and their

Following events, which went on to take place further, established his dislike for the government form, thus resulting his propositions of a Utopia in The Republic. At a young age, Plato began to follow the great philosopher Socrates, which instilled his ultimate desire to pursue philosophy, rather than his destined profession in politics. Plato had grown close to Socrates and his teachings; this close connection was a cause to Plato’s finalizing opinions of Democracy. In 399 BCE Socrates was executed by the newly leading Democratic leaders of Athens, and was voted by a majority to be put to death. Plato turned in disgust from contemporary Athenian politics afterwards and went on to be the founder of the Academy; a gathering place, which one could consider a school, that housed great scholars and their revolutionizing thoughts on Mathematics, Philosophy, and Theoretical Astronomy. Due to the events of Plato’s life, he was able to develop the most profound and employed ideas associated with western civilization. His influence had such great impact that his principles are often used in modern-day establishments, from government forms, to fundamentals pertaining to philosophy, the impacts of socialization, as well as religion. To begin an analysis of principles, there must be an understanding of human nature and his personal thoughts regarding the topic, in having that basis of knowledge one could further understand how the basic

The ancient Greek have also contributed and influenced in the area of philosophy. Many famous philosophers have created the basis for what we use today. For example Pericles, a Greek philosopher, believed that citizens, freeborn men over eighteen, had an equal opportunity to serve their country.

In Ancient Greece, the great heights that were reached in education, technology, and government led them to their Golden Age. Included in the vast education of Greece were philosophy and literature. Socrates was one of the most famous philosophers of that time. He was a

Socrates’s way of life can be viewed as a threat to the city of Athens because he rebelled against the structure and characteristics that the city was built upon. Socrates threw his opinions and beliefs in the face of the Athenians by not participating politically, engaging in different religious beliefs than the polis, and by questioning those in the city who claimed they had knowledge. Despite these differences Socrates became the ultimate threat to the livelihood of the city by rejecting and opposing the idea of a direct democracy.

Ancient Greek philosophy focused on the role of reason and inquiry. It had a meaningful influence on latest philosophy, as well as science. The impact from ancient Greek and Hellenistic philosophers was expanded to medieval Muslim philosophers and scientists, to the European Renaissance and Enlightenment, to the modern technology and natural sciences. Ancient Greek architects strove for the

The contributions to Western civilization from the ancient Greeks were philosophy, arts and math, and government. The ancient Greeks contributed to philosophical thinking by providing a spectrum of ideas of how the world works. World History Textbook states that “[Philosophers] were determined to seek the truth, no matter where the search led them” (p138). Because of democracy and freedom of speech, there are multiple contributions to

Greek’s created Philosophy. Figures such as Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle in the fifth and fourth century endlessly questioned and debated how we developed. The Greek’s had a branch of philosophy to suit all tastes. Anaximander provides the first surviving textual reference of western philosophy. We have still not made very much progress since then. The Greek’s desire to answer all questions no matter their difficulty. We may not have found many more solutions since the Greek thinkers. Their unbounded spirit of enquiry is perhaps their greatest and long lasting contribution to western

In 399 B.C.E. Athens, Socrates, one of the greatest axial philosophers, was charged with impiety and corruption of the youth by Meletus, Lycon, and Anytus. Socrates was convicted of these accusations and executed. Socrates was one of many great thinkers in Athens, which was experiencing a Golden age as the most progressive and learned democracy in Greece. Strangely, Athens executed Socrates for his speech, which contrasted with Athenian democratic values. Moreover, Socrates was seen as annoying to authorities of the time, but never considered threatening enough to receive punishment to Athens before this. In order for Socrates to be executed, Athens needed to have undergone a deep shift that changed perceptions of Socrates from a gadfly to a danger to society. As a result of a crippling defeat by Sparta in the Peloponnesian Wars, Athens was paranoid of threats to its democracy, Athenian citizens were looking for a scapegoat for their recent troubles, and Socrates made enemies out of powerful politicians and thinkers due to his irritating Socratic method and uncustomary beliefs, therefore, he was easy to blame and execute.

Plato’s academy is a great example of how humans attempted to develop knowledge. This is one of the first examples of a Greek school taking concepts that Plato learned about in the Islamic Empire and returning them into Greece. This transfer of information between the Islamic Empire though Plato is very important because it gave access to knowledge that was unknown to most of the Grecian world. Those who were starving to learn must have been incredibly fascinated by this discovery seeing as how the university was open for 900 years before closing for good. Plato also helped make mathematics more philosophical overall through the academy setting. Teaching that mathematics is the centerpoint of philosophy rather than just another subject.

Greek Philosophers have made drastic changes from a basic lifestyle to one of questioning. Their persistence to find meaning behind basic concepts has lead to great technological advancements that are still used in today’s world. The law of nature by Thales proved that there is a system to the world and there is more to what is seen. Pythagoras uses that strategy of observation to create a rule for sound and the way it travels. Archimedes used both theories to point out the rule of mechanics and the way things move. Without these early advancements, the world would probably be an era

What is philosophy? Today when the word “philosophy” is spoken, it provokes thought in most people. Philosophy is often associated with the wisest ones from the past such as Aristotle and Plato. In fact, the word itself originates from the Greek word “philosophia,” directly translating into the “love of wisdom.” Ancient Greek philosophy covered an extensive amount of subjects such as science, the analysis of common political and social life, along with religious affairs (Adkins and Adkins, “Philosophy, Ancient Greek”) . Ultimately, Ancient Greek philosophy is a complex system of thought shaped by pre-socratic thought, sophist thought, hellenistic thought, and the thought of highly esteemed figures.

Socrates was one of the greatest philosophers of the ancient world. His teachings inspired young philosophers to go and explore the world. In addition, His Knowledge even influenced boundless minds like Plato, who help make gigantic pushes in geometry. Or Aristotle, who mad giant leaps in astronomy (also made a theory that the earth was round in about 384 B. C.). therefore, a new era of philosophy was inaugurated and the course of western civilization was decisively shaped. Modern mathematics, Medicine, and cartography was all modernized during this age of philosophy. Without the Greeks, present ideals and the way we live our life would not be the same. So it is important that we know what the Greeks invented and their power over our civilization.

It is said that following a visit to the Oracle of Delphi he spent much of his life questioning anyone in Athens who would engage him, in order to disprove the oracular prophecy that there would be no man wiser than Socrates. Through these live dialogues, he examined common but critical concepts that lacked clear or concrete definitions, such as beauty and truth, and the virtues of piety, wisdom, temperance, courage, and justice. Socrates' awareness of his own ignorance allowed him to discover his errors as well as the errors of those who claimed knowledge based upon falsifiable or unclear precepts and beliefs. He wrote nothing, but inspired many disciples, including many sons of prominent Athenian citizens (including Plato), which led to his trial and executionin 399 B.C. on the charge that his philosophy and sophistry were undermining the youth, piety, and moral fiber of the city. He was offered a chance to flee from his fate but chose to remain in Athens, abide by his principles, and drink the poison hemlock.

Throughout the history of the world, philosophy has been at the forefront of the human search for knowledge, but there is no other philosophy like ancient Greek philosophy. Ancient Greek philosophy roughly began in the sixth century BCE and continued on up until ancient Greece became apart of the Roman Empire. The great Greek philosophers of the time, like Plato, Socrates, and Aristotle focused their study of philosophy in subjects like political philosophy, ethics, metaphysics, ontology, logic, biology, and rhetoric to name a few. Even today many philosophers agree that ancient Greek philosophy has influenced much of today’s Western culture. Among the broad subject of ancient Greek philosophy there were many sub-forms of Greek philosophy like the Pre-Socratic philosophy, which involves the Milesian school, and Pythagoreanism, and classical Greek philosophy, which involves Socrates’, Plato’s, and Aristotle’s teachings; and then there was sophism and the sophists. Who are the sophists and why/how are their teachings relevant with the rest of ancient Greek philosophy?