Plato's Philosophy and Works

"Unless," I said, "the philosophers rule as kings or those now called kings and chiefs genuinely and adequately philosophize, and political power and philosophy coincide in the same place, while the many natures now making their way to either apart from the other are by necessity excluded, there is no rest from ills for the cities, my dear Glaucon, nor I think for human kind, nor will the regime we have now described in speech ever come forth from nature, insofar as possible, and see the light of the sun."(THE REPUBLIC OF PLATO By Allan B- 473d - 473e)

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.

Our country is built on a set of values derived from ancient civilizations, individuals, and city-states; both negative and positive attributes of these relics can be proven to have assisted in molding our government into a unique and prized entity. Never would one imagine that western civilization is actually inclined by theories of truth and the human beings perception of it. Few would have thought that a primitive concept could be linked to the setbacks of other societies and their forms of socialization, as well as to the success to ours. The basic concept of truth and our natural response to socialization developed an ideal image of our current day country, long before our country existed. In ancient Greece, a great philosopher named

ABSTRACT: This paper discusses the viability of certain aspects (the sex lottery) of Plato's Republic, book V. It is college level 'A' paper.

The dialogue opens up with Meno asking what virtue is and whether it could be taught. Socrates asks Meno for a general definition of virtue, since as Socrates points out, we cannot figure out if virtue can be taught if we do not have a clear idea what it is. Socrates is looking for a general, or formal definition of virtue, not just examples or instances of it. Socrates wants to know what all the examples of virtue have in common. He wants to know the essence of virtue. Meno initially offers a list of virtues, but Socrates rejects this as a sufficient account. Meno also states that there are different virtues for everyone. The virtue of a man is to order a state and the virtue of a woman is to order a household. I believe that virtue can

Plato was a philosopher who was born in Athens (470-390 BCE), and was also a student of Socrates. He felt that intelligence and one’s perception belonged to completely independent realms or realities. He believed that general concepts of knowledge were predestined, or placed in the soul before birth even occurred in living things. Plato believed that the cosmos was intelligible, and the the universe was mathematically understandable. He believes that mathematical objects could be seen as perfect forms. Forms, a doctoral of Plato, can be understood as an everyday object or idea, which does not, exists in the everyday realm, but merely is existent in the hypothetical realm or reality.

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

Socrates continues the conversation with Glaucon and now focuses on the obligation of the guardians and philosophers to serve the people as a result of their education.

“the having and doing of one’s own and what belongs to one would be agreed to

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,

The idealistic views of Socrates cannot be clearer than what they are on the most famous of Plato’s books, the Republic. The Republic is said to be the most influential book in western history after the Bible and has four themes to it: Justice

In order to compare these great philosophers, it is important that we first of all view their history from an individual perspective.

“One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors” – Plato. Plato states that refusing to utilize the right to vote is equivalent to giving away one’s future and leaving it in hands of inappropriate people. In order to stride for progress one must wisely choose the people who are going to be in power to handle the nation properly. The human race has proven that an authority figure has to constantly be present in order for humans to work to the best of their abilities, or at least to work normally and not have anarchy; such authorities are represented by the government who makes and forces laws. Plato expresses the idea of democracy and encourages people to be involved in politics. Ignoring politics is misusing rights as a citizen thus not making any progress to the nation. For example, if citizens think they 're paying too many taxes, they can vote for a person who promises to lower taxes. If citizens want more services, they can vote for someone who will promise to spend funds to gain more services. Every vote counts; an election might be decided by a single vote and history would be changed because a person got, or lost, that one vote. Refusing to be involved in politics is refusing to live a better life. Therefore, disregarding politics is giving away power to the government. Once that occurs people jeopardize such rights as privacy.

The Republic by Plato was a fascinating piece of literature to read. This book focuses on issues that are still very relevant to this day. That just really shows two things, how smart Plato was and also how humans haven’t changed. Over the years’ humans may have developed and advanced so much, but who we are and how we behave, think and feel hasn’t changed a bit. Prior to reading this, I believed that as time has gone on we have developed as a people, but Plato shows that the problems and issues of Ancient Greece are similar, if not the same as our modern day ones. Plato has made me aware that we have only developed on the surface, our natural desires and instincts however are something that hasn’t changed. In fact, it bares to question if we will ever change.

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).