The Argument On Virtue In Plato

The novel, "All Fall Down" by Ally Carter, contains many differing themes. Although, the one that's the most significant is: don’t give up on what you believe in. The author portrays this theme throughout the novel by telling how Grace finds out what really happened to her mother.

In the Meno, Plato tries to define virtue (arete), meaning virtue in general and not just particular virtues like justice or temperance, by going over three central philosophical questions regarding this topic which are if it’s taught or inborn, if we can know it before actually undergoing it, and finally the distinction between having the knowledge of it and having the exact correct belief of it. While searching for the truth, Meno challenges the possibility of inquiry by asking those questions about knowing and not knowing and providing supporting arguments against that possibility, turning the dialogue into a profound discussion (Fine, The Possibility of Inquiry: Meno’ Paradox from Socrates to Sextus, 1). He even suspects knowledge recollection. This deep discussion is what is known as “Meno’s Paradox, or Paradox of Inquiry” (Westacott,

Plato, being a Socratic apprentice, followed and transcribed the experiences Socrates had in his teachings and search of understanding. In Plato’s first work, The Allegory of the Cave, Socrates forms the understanding between appearance vs. reality and the deceptions we are subject to by the use of forms. In the cave, the prisoners’ experiences are limited to what their senses can tell them, the shadows on the walls, and their shackles; these appearances are all that they have to form their ideas. When one of the prisoners begins to question his reality he makes his way out of the cave and into the day light. This prisoners understanding of his reality has now expanded, thus the theory of forms; when he returns to the cave to spread the news, the others do not believe him. They have been deceived by their reality and what

In Chapter 2 of Republic, Glaucon uses the Myth of the Lydian Shepherd to portray a pessimistic view of human nature. Plato, the author of Republic, uses his brother Glaucon to tell the Myth of the Lydian Shepherd. We are led to believe that Plato takes the myth and its implications on human nature very seriously by use of a personal character. The argument, originally given by Thrasymachus, contends that at the root of our human nature we all yearn for the most profit possible. It also contends that any man will act immorally if given free reign. The theory proves unplausible due to circularity in the argument and implications that prove untrue.

In the Meno, Plato believes that true beliefs becomes knowledge by the grounding true belief. As mentioned before, if virtue is x, then it can be taught (because knowledge can be taught), therefore virtue (x) is equal to knowledge. Plato's expositions of elements of his own theory of knowledge, yet, the investigation of knowledge is indirect. I believe Socrates states that everyone was born with a knowledge of right and wrong, he / she needed to experience situations where he / she needed to recall this knowledge. He makes reference to the initial knowledge being in the soul.

I contend that Plato 's theories on morality are persuaded by concerns he had about moral theory. Specifically, Plato rejects rationality as the boost of subjectively evaluated self-interest because, had he received such an account, his hypothesis of justice would be liable to reactions which he holds are lethal to the contractarian theory of justice. While detailing a hypothesis to stay inside ethical constraints in some cases disregards the groups of scientific theorizing, Plato maintains to avoid this mistake.

“As far as I am concerned, the result is that I know nothing, for when I don 't know what justice is, I 'll hardly know whether it is a kind of virtue or not, or whether a person who has it is happy or unhappy” (Republic 354c)

In Protagoras by Plato, the question “what is virtue?” is being assessed. They come to many definitions of virtue but one definition that is being discussed is that virtue has five different components, this can be seen on page 46 at 349d of Plato’s Protagoras. Protagoras states, “What I am saying to you, Socrates, is that all these are parts of virtue, and that while four of them are reasonably close to each other, courage is completely different from all the rest. The proof that what I am saying is true is that you will find many people who are extremely unjust, impious, intemperate, and ignorant, and yet exceptionally courageous” (Plato 46). In order to understand this quote we need to assess: why it is significant, how courage is

My first read through of the text left me confused and irritated but upon multiple reads I feel as though I grasped some content on it. I think he is addressing human ignorance. We cannot fully see life and all it’s events/organisms so the little things that we do see, in the pretext of making sense of them our minds connect it to words. It doesn’t necessarily mean that whatever name/meaning we give to something is correct, it just means that is all we know and by categorizing that object we can demystify its existence. It’s like when someone grows up in a small neighborhood their whole life that is all they know but then for some reason they venture out of that comfort zone, everything is strange and almost unreal. But within time the veil

“No one willingly chooses to rule […]; but he asks for wages, because the man who is doing anything fine by art never does what is best for himself nor does he command it, insofar as he is commanding by art, but rather what is best for the man who is ruled. It is for just this reason, as it seems, that there must be wages for those who are going to be willing to rule— either money, or honor, or a penalty if he should not rule (346e, 347a).”

In this dialogue we see Socrates in intellectual argument with a fellow philosopher: Protagoras who claims to be Sophists (professional expert in wisdom) they both use various arguments and counter arguments to prove their arguments on the topic of piety and virtue. Socrates believed that Virtues is something that could not be taught or learned, where Protagoras claimed that he can teach people “good judgement” in both personal affairs, civil issues and teach political science so that his students will become good citizens.

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.

Plato was interested in how we can apply a single word or concept to many words or things. For example how can the word house be used for all the individual dwellings that are houses? Plato answered that various things can be called by the same name because they have something in common. He called this common factor the thing’s form or idea. Plato insisted that the forms differ greatly from the ordinary things that we see around us. Ordinary things change but their forms do not. A particular triangle may be altered in size or shape but the form of a triangle can never change. Plato concluded that forms exist neither in space or time. They can be known not only by the intellect but also by the senses. Because of their stability and perfection, the forms have greater reality than ordinary objects observed by the senses. Thus true knowledge is knowledge of the forms.

In modern moral philosophy there are four major points. The first is Relativism, which is the doctrine that morals are a matter solely of personal opinion. There is an objection to it that is to society, it is freighting to have someone live by this concept. There is also the moral point of view. With this there can be some common consent. Most modern philosophers look for the same thing as Plato, the common reason moral principle. The first idea about this is that we must at least be capable of non-selfish motives. Kant, a German philosopher, was from the 1800s. He proposed that the moral principle could be built from a widely accepted religious belief. For instance, the Golden Rule, which means act the way you want to be treated. There is a flaw to that rule though. The Sado Masochist is a person who enjoys to be hurt. If they would follow the Golden Rule, they would be treating others by inflicting pain. Kant notes that motives should then be focused on. To do this the motives would need to be universalized. Consider a Sado and possible his girlfriend. The Sado would want the girlfriend to cause him pain but the girlfriend would possible want to be kind and affectionate. Another way of viewing this would be using the veil of ignorance. By using this, the difference between the victim and the aggressor is indistinguishable and that way you could be put into someone else’s shoes.

Plato is perhaps one of the philosophers that is read about most often. In fact, he has several pieces of work that are still commonly read to this very day; the number one work that is read nowadays is known as Plato’s Republic. Another bit of information about Plato is that he was born into a family out of Athens. Plato had many key concepts that he focused on. One of the well-known topics associated with Plato is his four cardinal virtues: temperance, courage, wisdom, and justice. He liked to focus on these virtues and the roles that each individual played in a society. Another topic that can be discussed is the particular differences between Plato’s beliefs about virtues and an ideal society and the Sophist’s view of Moral Realism which is also known as “might makes right.” Now although Plato has many more topics related to his name, let’s just talk about these.