Socrates Ideas

Gorgias invites Socrate to the party of an unknown person’s house to show off his knowledge and sees how much Socrate knows as Gorgias brags about how rhetoric is something he have a good knowledge of. Socrate may be prepared to battle against the rhetoric and finds a way to defeat Gorgias in the competition. Socrates first arrives late the competition in front of the crowd of people in the party to show his opponent his disrespect. Socrate blames his friend Chaerephon of being late to the party because he didn’t want others to know that he is doing it purposely. Before Gorgias shows up Socrates has a conversation with Gorgias’ student Callicles. Callicles claims that Gorgias can answer any questions are being asked. As Socrate finds a way

The metaphor behind Plato's "allegory of the cave" is simple: comfort causes ignorance. In the story, the prisoners have been held captive in the cave their entire lives. In only being able to view the shadows made by the puppeteers, the prisons have accepted this as reality. They have found comfort in this "reality" and refuse to accept the outside world causing ignorance. The allegory and the metaphor behind it can be found in all aspects of our lives. When we leave high school and head off to college or begin our lives, we must move away from relying on others or be left behind in the state of kidulthood. History also speaks on this metaphor in the case of Galileo. Galileo found evidence that contrary to popular belief the earth is not

In "The Allegory of the Cave,” by Plato, there are prisoners in a cave with a fire that is located behind them. They have always faced the wall of the cave and have only seen what was outside of the cave from the shadows. They believe that the shadows of the objects carried are real but in reality, it 's just a shadow of the truth. The prisoners play a game where they guess what the shadows are and end up believing that it is the truth. However, when one prisoner escapes and faces reality, where the sun is a source of life, he realizes that the game was pointless. He seeks for meaning and truth from his journey outside of the cave. Socrates then insists that he must return to the cave and share what he has found with the prisoners because it will benefit everyone as a whole. However, when he returns and informs the prisoners, they react by not believing him and threatening to kill him if he set them free, because they are scared of the change that would occur after knowing the truth. Socrates believes that knowledge gained

Socrates expressed many beliefs that opposed the commonly held beliefs of many of the elite members of Athenian society. For instance, he believed in divine power—that gods could use their powers to affect life on Earth—but he did not believe in many of the gods that most Greeks believed in. For Socrates, focusing on what is moral, or right, and on how people should best lead their lives was more important than focusing on what the gods wanted. In addition, he emphasized the search for knowledge related to important moral issues, such as justice. Because of this, he often questioned people about their beliefs and criticized the democratic system of Athens

therefore, should comply with the laws of the state. Speaking for the laws, Socrates says the proof of his love for the state lies in the facts that he raised his children there, never left the city, did not show interest in visiting any other city states, and most importantly, shunned the idea of exile in exchange for his life during his trial, saying he would rather die than leave Athens. By these arguments, Socrates shows that from the state’s POV, he is a loyal citizen who has chosen to live under its rules and to disobey the rules which have been accepted and instilled in him since birth, would be changing his own belief system, to benefit him in a time of need.

In the allegory of the cave Socrates said to Glaucon "Imagine human beings living in an underground cave, which has a mouth open towards the light which reaches into the den; here a group of men have been from their childhood, and have their legs and necks chained so that they cannot move." In modern times, Socrates' point of view remains true because people can be "blind" to the outside world and live their lives in and box never knowing what consists of the

In order to understand the moral fabric of the world, it is important to question any information that is given to an individual, instead of blindly accepting the majority opinion and giving it full credibility and validity based on other people’s opinions. Plato’s work, The Republic introduces the allegory of the cave, which is metaphorical scenario that attempts to explain the importance of questioning norms that may seem trivial. Plato illustrates a cave where bounded prisoners have lived all their lives in seclusion, away from the outside world. In their immobile state, they can only look at the wall in front of them which is illuminated by a small fire that has been going on behind them. The wall constantly projects shadows of people

The metaphor behind Plato's "Allegory of the Cave" is simple isolation causes ignorance. In the story, the prisoners have been held captive their entire lives. Through only being ab;e to view the flickering images made on the wall by puppeteers they believe these are in fact reality and are not willing to accept anything else causing ignorance towards the outside world. The allegory can be found all throughout history and present day. An example of this in the past is when humans believed the earth was flat and if they were to travel towards the edge they would fall off. Once Galileo claimed the earth was round the catholic church excommunicated him because they refused to acknowledge anything but the bible and have their comfort shifted.

There are men chained to one side of a cave and a fire behind them, casting shadows along the wall that they are facing. If men were to walk with objects behind the chained men they would only see the shadow of the object and assume that that was what the objects looked like. However, if one of the men was to be dragged out of the cave and actually seen the object in the real world, it would look much different. The man who had stepped out of the cave would be much more educated then the man inside and would see justice firsthand. To be "good", as Socrates puts it he will need to go back in an educate the others, to achieve the same knowledge that he has. In comparison to the real world, the trip out of the cave is the mind. My interpretation of the allegory is that Socrates is suggesting that him and his followers are the only ones who have dared to venture out of the cave and enlighten their minds with new ideas. Once they embark back into the cave however to bring back their new ideas they are not warmly welcomed. Plato says, "Wouldn 't they say of him that by going up above was neither prudent nor advisable? And if they could free their hands to seize and kill the man who had released and led one of them up, wouldn 't they kill him."(12). In other words, the men inside the cave felt threatened by the man who was bringing men above the cave and wanted to get rid of him, just like Athens wanted to dispose of

Plato in his famous Allegory of Cave compared the ordinary human existence to that of chained prisoners in a cave. According to Plato, we are all stuck in a false reality in this world like prisoners in a cave. His cave theory still applies today in the sense that the people are influenced and controlled by the world around them. They do not want to realize or seek the truth; instead they wish to live in the comfort zone inside the cave.

Socrates spent his time questioning people about things like virtue, justice, piety and truth. The people Socrates questioned are the people that condemned him to death. Socrates was sentenced to death because people did not like him and they wanted to shut him up for good. There was not any real evidence against Socrates to prove the accusations against him. Socrates was condemned for three major reasons: he told important people exactly what he thought of them, he questioned ideas that had long been the norm, the youth copied his style of questioning for fun, making Athenians think Socrates was teaching the youth to be rebellious. But these reasons were not the charges against him, he was charged with being an atheist and

The philosopher and mathematician Plato, who established the first learning institution, the Academy in Athens, wrote “Allegory of the Cave”. He is considered one of the most fundamental contributors of his time to both science and philosophy. Socrates, Plato’s mentor, who is conversing with Plato’s brother Glaucon, narrates the tale. Plato uses symbolism throughout the story: chained prisoners represent ignorance and an escaping prisoner represents finding knowledge or truth. Socrates states in the beginning that he wants to “show in a figure how far our nature is enlightened or unenlightened” (211).

There are prisoners living inside the cave and have been there since childhood, “fixed in the same place...able to see only in front of them” (The Republic pg 187). Behind them is a fire that reflects shadows onto the walls, this is the only reality those prisoners know. They do not know anything that is going on in the real world, which is right outside. Once one of the prisoners manages to break free from his chains, he wanders outside of the cave. At first, it is difficult for his eyes to adjust to the blinding sunlight. Plato writes, “Finally, I suppose, he’d be able to see the sun, not images of it in water or some alien place, but the sun itself, in its own place, and be able to study it” (The Republic pg 188). Fundamentally, the sun is equal to form or an object of knowledge, while the shadows inside the cave are equal to appearances. This metaphor illustrates how education affects the human soul. The prisoner is expanding his mind in the outside world now that he is able to experience and see so much more than the shadows on the wall. The prisoner takes note of how different life outside is. He is slowly realizing what life and education truly mean to

Socrates was perhaps the most interesting and influential thinker in the fifth century. He was dedicated to careful reasoning and he wanted genuine knowledge rather than the victory over his opponent. He learned the rhetoric and dialectics of the Sophists, the ideas of the Lonian philosophers, and the general culture of Periclean Athens. Socrates used the same knowledge by the Sophists to get a new purpose, the pursuit of truth. He called everything into question and he was determined to accept nothing less than the truth.

To be as good as one can be without the fear of having to face death is what Socrates strongly wants Athenians to do. “You are wrong,sir, if you think that a man who is any good at all should take into account the risk of life or death… whether he is acting like a good or a bad man.” (Apology, 28B). What Socrates is trying to say to the Athenians is that a good man should only focus on his actions, to make sure that what he is doing is the right and not wrong, and whether what he is doing will make him a better person. It is not about what everyone else wants us to do and follow but to live a good and moral life. That if a person examines whether what he is doing is right death should not even cross his mind. If someone is being put on trial or tried to death he should not be ashamed or embarrassed and the reason for that is because he is following what he believes is right and not wrong. Socrates mentions in his “Apology” that if someone were ever to ask him if he felt ashamed of living the life that he was living and he was being put to trial and tried for death for it he would say that he is wrong for having asked such a question like that. Wrong because if he is living and knows he is living a pious life then there is nothing to be ashamed of, he is living the way that the gods want him and everyone else to live and that is by having self knowledge. It would then be wrong if one started living a life of falseness and wickedness by doing things that would get him to avoid death.