Plato's and Aristotle's Views on Knowledge

Towards the end of Meno, Socrates states that knowledge differs from true opinion in its ability to last over long periods of time. Socrates acknowledges that in many ways, knowledge and true opinion are equal; since both are certainly true, they lead to correct action without distinction. For example, in the passage Socrates compares a man who knows the way to Larisa to one who has a right opinion about the directions but has never actually been there, concluding that both would be equally competent guides. However, knowledge is, he argues, “fastened by the tie of the cause,” meaning one who has knowledge of a certain statement has grounded that truth in explanations and reasoning. Earlier in Meno, Socrates

Knowledge vs. True Belief The discussion of true belief and knowledge in the Meno develops in the analogy of the traveling men; one who knows the correct path to Larissa and the other who has a true belief of the correct path to Larissa (Meno 97a-c). Socrates tells Meno that if both men led to the same result, then true belief is no more useful than knowledge and both beneficial (Meno 97c). This comparison changes in book five of the Republic when Socrates says an ideal state must have a philosopher-king as a ruler (Republic 473d-e).

Plato’s Theaetetus starts off with Euclid of Megara by speaking with his friend Terpsion about a dialogue he has between Socrates and Theaetetus. He says, that the dialogue was from when Theaetetus was young. Euclid of Megara’s conversation with Terpsion acts as the structure for the dialogue itself. The other participants of the dialogue are Socrates, Theodorus, and Theaetetus. The question that the participants are asking is “what is knowledge?” Theaetetus gives four definitions to the question “what is knowledge?” The first being that knowledge is arts and sciences, the second being knowledge is sense-perception, the third that knowledge is true judgment, and the fourth being knowledge is true judgment with an account. But Socrates was

Between the two schools of epistemology, rationalism and empiricism, I am inclined towards the philosophies of rationalism. I am persuaded towards philosophical approaches which are superior at attaining truth. Empiricism relies on observation using the five senses in reasoning to achieve truth. However, in Plato’s Thaetetus, Socrates gives strong arguments for the limitations of human perception. The Canadian legal system, also, recognizes flaws in human observation, which increases my skepticism of empiricism. Conversely, rationalism relies solely on the use of logic and deduction in reasoning. Both, Plato and Socrates stressed the value of rationalism through the ability to know and express combinations of elements through mathematics. Large

Socrates thinks that it requires wisdom to know the difference between the knowledge and an opinion. And what he means by that is knowledge is based on reasoned ideas beliefs, and can be proved and confirmed by rational arguments, where’s other opinion is not proved. For Socrates, the reason is the bigger way to show the truth. Socrates explained that role model is how to act well for example an equivalent way, knowledge is in an unqualified manner, according to Socrates statement beauty and wealth could benefit us sometimes if we used correctly, however, also harm to us if we did not use it the right way. This is means with knowledge we know how to act well. Socrates explained of wisdom and knowledge, as expressed by Plato in The Apology (StevenM. Cahn 29p-30), is sometimes interpreted as an example of a humility theory of wisdom Socrates and his friend Chaerephon visit the oracle at Delphi. As the story goes Chaerephon asks the oracle

Socrates was placed at the origins of Skepticism. It was understood that he only asked questions and never taught positive doctrines, many sought to “attempt to make sense of his seemingly paradoxical claim that the one thing he knew was that he knew nothing.” (Gascoigne, 2002) Plato and Aristotle strayed from Socrates path when they claimed to know the truth. Plato viewed knowledge as an awareness of absolute and existing independent of any subject trying to apprehend to the philosophers. Though, Aristotle put more emphasis on logical and empirical methods for gathering knowledge. Aristotle still accepts the view of such knowledge is an apprehension of necessary principles. Around the Renaissance period, the two main epistemological positions dominated in philosophy are empiricism, in which sees knowledge as the product of sensory perception, and rationalism sees epistemology as the product of rational reflection (Tempo). Another philosopher by the name of Arcesilaus, gave a renewed form of skepticism, arguing against the opinions of all men. Arcesilaus also claimed that skeptics could make

Plato's Theory of Human Knowledge Plato contended that all true knowledge is recollection. He stated that we all have innate knowledge that tells us about the things we experience in our world. This knowledge, Plato believed, was gained when the soul resided in the invisible realm, the realm of The

Philosophers are known to question, analyze and evaluate everything but do not always end with concrete conclusions. Plato’s Euthyphro and Apology, to no surprise, highlight one of such debate: the human characteristics of wisdom. Though Plato was one of the earliest philosophers, the topic of wisdom is still debated by modern philosophers today, contemplating questions such as “What are the classifications of ‘wisdom’?” According to Plato’s two dialogues, the characteristics of wisdom have a strong correlation with the characteristics of “being a good person”. This concept highlights the values of virtue and selflessness and at the same time juxtapose views on virtue while taking into account the different forms of rationality. In this paper, I will highlight how Plato uses his two dialogues to enforce his own opinion about the relationship between being wise and being a good person, and evaluate the inconsistencies within this claim.

“If the truth of all things always existed in the soul, then the soul is immortal” (The Philosophical Journey 89). This states that since the soul has all knowledge integrated, one recollects this knowledge through situations in an individual’s life and use one’s reasoning. With the dialogues of the Meno and Phaedo, Plato discusses the ideas of recollection and immortality of the soul in general. As well, the Republic, through the three different situations shown, Plato shows the ideas of the forms and what is real and what is not.

Philosophy Essay (Descartes vs. Locke) Socrates once said, “As for me, all I know is that I know nothing.” Several philosophers contradicted Socrates’ outlook and believed that true knowledge was in fact attainable. This epistemological view however had several stances to it, as philosophers held different beliefs in regards to the derivation of true knowledge. Rationalists believed that the mind was the source of true knowledge, while in Empiricism, true knowledge derived from the senses. Rene Descartes, a rationalist, and John Locke, an empiricist, were prime examples of epistemologists who were seen to differentiate greatly within each of their philosophies. However, although Descartes and Locke’s ideas did contrast in that sense,

Philosophy Essay (Descartes vs. Locke) Socrates once said, “As for me, all I know is that I know nothing.” Several philosophers contradicted Socrates’ outlook and believed that true knowledge was in fact attainable. This epistemological view however had several stances to it, as philosophers held different beliefs in regards to the

When humans were the first baby, they do not have the ability to use their mind in the first place. They touch and sense the surrounding and also taste the things on whatever they can sense. Moreover, children have few or no ideas of the surroundings near them till they grow up. In addition, experience also shapes the human’s mind. John Locke mentions in the Concerning Human Understanding that one explanation that human use sensation first. In the context, he mentions, “but yet, I think, it will be granted easily, that if a child were kept in a place where he never saw any other but black and white till he were a man, he would have no more ideas of scarlet or green, than he that from his childhood never tasted an oyster, or a pine-apple, has of those particular relishes” (Locke 1870). In this example, the sensation affects the thought in human’s mind. Also, the sensation might be essential for understanding or people will have less or no ideas of things they have not seen or sensed

The most important thing to understand regarding the philosopher's tenet of being as being is that it is essentially at the core of his notion of metaphysics, and plays a significant role in development of epistemology. What Aristotle is actually referring to in the quotation "men by nature have a desire to know" is man's basic nature which is of material substance. Men therefore, have a number of different senses (most of which are physical, some of which are not) that they use to perceive other aspects of life and its different facets. Therefore, these senses are what men use to observe, interact with, and ultimately understand the world around them. As a material being man has been endowed with such senses; therefore, he inherently has this propensity for using those senses for perceiving and understanding the

What is knowledge? What does knowledge mean and how does a person get to know something? And taking the step further than that how does a person know that the something is true? What is the basis for knowledge? There are two main forms of knowledge; a priori and empirical. A priori is knowledge that is independent from a person 's experience and can be proven to be true by simple logic or basic definition of what is being stated. For example 2+2=4 is considered a priori type of knowledge because it can be proven true by using the mechanics of mathematics. The other type of knowledge is knowledge that can not be true without a personal experience to give justification to why it is true, this knowledge is called empirical knowledge. Empirical knowledge is much harder to prove to be true just by the nature of where the justification comes from. An example of this is that "the writing is in blue ink" the statement can only be true if I had seen for myself that the writing was done in blue ink because by definition writing does not have to be in blue ink. To solve this problem, Plato would say that knowledge is a justified true belief and gives us specific steps to work through this problem. This means the person making the claim must be able to justify it in someway. The claim in itself must be true. And the person must believe

Anuradha Singh Metaphysics Fall 2014 Plato and Aristotle: Knowledge Plato and Aristotle meet at the student union for a drink. As the teacher, Plato is ready to have a discussion with his pupil. Plato: As we sit here today Aristotle, I believe this is the time to have a wonderful discussion! Aristotle: Yes, and what is