Plato's Duality

Plato is remembered as one of the worlds best known philosophers who along with his writings are widely studied. Plato was a student of the great Greek philosopher Socrates and later went on to be the teacher of Aristotle. Plato’s writings such as “The Republic”, “Apology” and “Symposium” reveal a great amount of insight on what was central to his worldview. He was a true philosopher as he was constantly searching for wisdom and believed questioning every aspect of life would lead him to the knowledge he sought. He was disgusted with the common occurrence of Greeks not thinking for themselves but simply accepting the popular opinion also known as doxa. Plato believed that we ought to search for and meditate on the ideal versions of beauty, justice, wisdom, and other concepts which he referred to as the forms. His hostility towards doxa, theory of the forms, and perspective on reality were the central ideas that shaped Plato’s worldview and led him to be the great philosopher who is still revered today.

Have you ever questioned the nature of your reality? Questioned if you are completely able to see from the outside looking in? Philosopher Plato, presents his view of reality through an allegory to explain the concept, and how we gain knowledge of our reality. Two other philosophers that I will mention both touch base with their description of reality and how it relates to Plato’s conception. All three of these philosophers believe knowledge is attainable through acts of realization and simple knowledge, and each philosopher presents his/her main point of reality through different ways of attaining it. I will further mention the relevance of Plato’s theory in today’s world and why I believe it to be valuable.

I will identify the content and form of Plato's Lysis. Lysis is a dialogue by Plato which the discussion of the nature of friendship is the main theme. This works form is like that of a debate or a discussion between Socrates, Lysis, Menexenus, and Hippothales. Ideas are shared about the subject which in this case is the true nature of friendship. The content of this work would be the issues raised concerning the true nature of

Plato, arguably one of the most famous philosophers in history is known for his dialogues and theory of Forms. The theory of Forms argues that ideas (non-physical forms) are more real than tangible objects or what our senses perceive. According to Plato, there is the visible realm and intelligible realm. Reality could be divided into three different levels; the level of appearances, the real level, and the ideal level which he explains through the analogy of the ‘Divided Line’ in The Republic.

In the Republic, Plato composes a theory of the psyche, the tripartite soul. Plato asserted that the ψυχή (soul) is divided into three parts; the λογιστικός (logical), θυμοειδές (spirited), and the ἐπιθυμητικόν (appetitive). In Book IV of the Republic, Plato attempts to answer whether the soul is one or made of parts. Plato states, “We seem to perceive the soul behaving in contradictory ways or reflecting two opposing states at once, we must conclude that the soul is many and not one.”

Plato argues against retaliation using two assumed premises and a deduced premise. The argument takes the following form:

Plato’s dualism theory which is depicted during the accounts from Allegory of the Cave is more often than not a process of the minds maturity as one progresses in life. It is important not to limit your ideas too centrally and to remain open minded as one follows a path to higher education. Many of us can relate to this state of mind in everyday life, for me this is best portrayed during my battle with depression. Depression, “the cave,” has a tendency to hold you back. Not really being able to see the silver lining in things, one forgets their true ambitions and goals. It is easy to remain depressed because fighting back means doing something that puts you out of your comfort zone. Simple tasks become projects and depression slowly overwhelms

In Plato’s The Republic, Socrates reasons that poets are detrimental to society because they portray false and abstract images that feed the bad and impious parts of the human soul, corrupting people by allowing them to indulge in inappropriate and cowardly behavior. However, Socrates’s views seem to be based solely around reason and an objective, quantifiable truth. He wants people to be so pious and under control that they do not even experience impulses towards impiety, however the elimination of the choice between right and wrong also eliminates any value in the choosing right. Duality is an integral part of human experience and it can perhaps teach us more than a simple existence of piety.

Transcendence is the belief of something higher than the physical realm. Immanence is just the contradiction. Plato thought that form is transcendent, that is, that the form of an object lives in a different realm, “The Realm of Forms,” and is not something that an be achieved in the physical world. In other words, he believed that the form and the object were separate from one another. Thus, Plato argued in the existence of two worlds. Aristotle, on the other hand, argued the opposite. He philosophized that the form was not separated from an object in actuality; only one world existed.

“Everything which exist in this world and all things that we see around us are not as they appear to us” this is the core idea behind plato’s theory of forms.From this idea only he moves towards explaining his world of forms or ideas.

Plato's system of ethics called Platonism consists of a dualism belief. He cites there are two worlds, a world of forms and a world of things. The world of forms is comprised of unchanging, perfect ideas that are immaterial. The world of things is comprised of changing, imperfect materialistic items. If someone drew a circle on a piece of paper, it would not be a perfect circle. One’s hand cannot manage that there will be little jerks, it will be a bit oblong, and the ends won't meet at the same point. According to Plato, the perfect circle ideology comes from a perfect immaterial world. Plato's idea is there is another world we all know of and share as rational souled humans, a world of ideas, separate from the imperfect physical.

Plato showed more interest in the success of society as a whole as he suggested that not revealing the wisdom or truth to others is a disservice to society. Plato showed more interest in everyday material objects than the average man, he looked towards material objects having a transcendental aspect. This is what made Plato such an interesting philosopher. Not only was he able to look at the world in a more unique way, which showed that Plato was truly a loving person. He was certain that as a philosopher the only way to know the true meaning of real causes, and reasons for all events and things was to have the inner knowing of transcendental aspects. Plato’s research is unique compared to other philosophers, this is

Plato was a philosopher and educator in ancient Greece. He was one of the most important thinkers and writers in the history of Western culture. Plato was born in Athens into a family that was one of the oldest and most distinguished in the city. His father Ariston died when Plato was only a child. The name Plato was a nickname meaning broad shoulders. Plato's real name was Aristocles. Plato had aspirations of becoming a politician, however these hopes were destroyed when his friend Socrates was sentenced to death in 299 B.C. Extremely hurt Plato left Athens and traveled for several years. In 387 B.C., Plato returned to Athens and founded a school of philosophy and science that became known as the Academy. Topics such as astronomy,

In this paper, we will show Plato’s argument that the soul is distributed into three parts. We will examine what these parts are, and will also explain his arguments behind this conclusion. Lastly, we will describe how Plato relates the three parts of the soul to a state the different social classes within that state (p.20).

Ethics? Philosophy? What do these two words mean? Living life the right way? Always doing what parents instruct? Some people walk through the motions of life and never fully understand what living is really about—it is more than paying bills, earning an education, and having a family. By definition, philosophy is: “a search for a general understanding of values and reality by chiefly speculative rather than observational means”.1 Humankind has studied philosophy for many years trying to figure out the complex meaning of life, an example being Plato one of the greatest Greek philosophers. Philosophy can be very complicated, but life is a beautiful thing (Thesis statement).