Essays on Philosophers

The Republic by Plato follows a series of philosophical debates between Socrates and several of his colleagues. These debates attempt to decipher the meaning of justice and determine its role in Athenian society. The Republic reiterates a lot of the same themes as Plato’s earlier works, Protagoras in particular. One of such themes is Plato’s blatant aversion to sophism. In both The Republic and Protagoras, Socrates primarily serves as a conduit to express Plato’s grievances with sophists, which is why…...

The Holocaust was a period in history marked by the destruction of millions of Jews and others by factions of imperialists and believers who had different religion, social and political ideologies. The Holocaust had a great impact in global history and transnational characterization of nations (Assman, 2010). Historical experts perceive the event as a byproduct of undying fascism and strong inclinations toward the ideology of social Darwinism. It was perceived that belonging to weak societies meant that they were limited…...

Absolute stability in philosophy refers to the concept of the unconditioned, ultimate, Supreme Being or wholly other. The term is used to describe anything that is free from restrictions and thus upholds independence, while rejecting relativism. On the other hand, relative stability is established as the thesis that all points of views are equally valid. The position holds that all moralities are equally good and all belief systems are equally valid. This essay discusses the concept of modernity and philosophies…...

In order to fully understand the context behind why Socrates despised the Sophists, their individual philosophies must be understood in order for the distinction to be clear. For a brief introduction, the sophists were nomadic professors and intellectuals who frequented cities such as Athens as well as other Greek cities and for a price, the sophists offered Greek men a form of education and therefore gained a considerable amount of wealth and fame while also raising significant hostility towards them…...

Throughout life, one will encounter many different people some with similar views and others with contrasting perspectives on reality. This topic and discussion on life and reality continues to rise debate since ancient times. Some of history’s most influential philosophers that attempt to describe life and reality are Aristotle and Plato. A student may choose to accept the teachings of a mentor or reject, question, and modify what is taught. Aristotle was a student of Plato’s and chose to reject…...

One world view that harmonizes particularly well with self action leadership is Aristotelian philosophy, and more specifically Aristotle’s concept of the Golden Mean. This concept holds that virtue or the good is to be found within a balance between extremes. Aristotle’s famous philosophy posits that right thinking and doing cannot occur in the presence of either deficiency or excess. The implication of course is virtually that all extremes can be labeled in the very least as incorrect and at the…...

Discussing Aristotle’s ideologies and theories regarding morality and ethics, its seen that these concepts seem to adhere to the idea of rationality, pleasure and their coercion to an individual's happiness and how an individual's actions are dictated by moral virtues and rational thought. The integration of pleasure and rationality in Aristotle’s ideas reflect the discussion that if pleasure and rationality both dictate and individuals actions on a daily basis, that the theoretical response of those actions should positively affect a…...

Aristotle’s works cover a variety of ideas, claims, and theories. The one I will be discussing is his idea of final cause and chance. Specifically, the idea of final cause in nature and the role of the accidental cause chance. Aristotle states at stephanus pagination 199a around line six, that things which come to be by nature or exist by nature have a final cause. The way I interpret his logic and explanation on ensuing pages is that essentially function…...

“For just as man is the best of the animals when completed, when separated from law and adjudication he is the worst of all” (1253a32). Aristotle believes that humans are the best animals when they are being ruled and following a set of laws. For this reason, Aristotle chooses to describe cities as being “natural.” The nature of the city arises from Aristotle’s belief that cities came “…into being for the sake of living, it exists for the sake of…...

In the book of “The Basic Works of Aristotle”, Aristotle begins Nicomachean Ethics by trying to answer the question of 'What the ultimate purpose of human existence is?”. He explains that there must be one end of all human actions, because a human action is one which is done on purpose and as an end goal. Aristotle suggests that we might arrive at a clearer beginning of happiness if we could first establish function of a human being (NE 1.7…...

I believe that the meaning of life is to explore in order to find our truths and being able to learn from them. As we continue to live, we tend to long for the truth as we are all curious about our lives and the world around them. In Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave”, he explains how the person that escaped the cave did not only discover the truth of the shadows but also was able to face the realities…...

What exactly is justice? According to Velasquez, we can view justice as the fairness within a punishment or the fairness in which society itself “distributes benefits and burdens” (p. 538). The nature of justice is seen as whether a person should compromise with being just and be “good” while suffering through the injustice without being able to fight back or to become injustice and be considered “evil” while not being punished. There are different views on what justice is along…...

Socrates (469 – 399 BCE) was a classical Greek philosopher, known as one of the founders of Western philosophy. Socrates’ trial and execution in 399 BCE still remain controversial to this day and divides historians. If I was a member of the Athenian jury hearing the case of Socrates, I would vote to acquit Socrates. The basis of philosophy means to question. The people of Athens grew up being taught things and told exactly what to believe. Socrates gave a…...

Socrates was unlike most Athenians of his time. Socrates was morally radical and intellectual. During his trial for impiety and wrongdoing the youth Socrates felt that the people of Athens should concern themselves about their wellbeing of emotions rather than their family. Socrates ideas affected the views towards the knowledge politics and virtue of the Athenians society. He also believed that one should give attention on the growth of himself than on physical things and encouraged people to develop a…...

In “Plato, Defense of Socrates”, Socrates was in trial for his charges for not recognizing the gods of the city or that he was religious or an atheist. Socrates disputed that he is innocent of both charges; corrupting the youth and impiety. Socrates' defense is failed at the end and he is sentenced to death. He concludes that a simple man should have no concern when it comes to death. Socrates defends himself towards the costs delivered in opposition to…...

Socrates allows his enemies to win by staying and accepting his sentence. From the onset of the case, Socrates fails to put a strong defense on his innocence. Rather, he appears unconcerned about the case brought against him. He is rude, arrogant, and fails to empathize with the prosecutor and Athens’ society. As a result, he is unable to convince more than 50% of the jurist that he is innocent. In addition, he appears to be unconcerned with his first…...

The Trail of Socrates occurs in 399 BCE. This was shortly after the Peloponnesian War where Athens fell to defeat against Sparta. Athens’s government at this time was a democracy. Because of the young Athenians having different people impact their decisions Athens society went through a change. One main person who is a suspect for this change is Socrates. This is why he got the charge for corrupting the youth of Athens along with not worshipping the Gods of the…...

In Plato’s Apology, the reader finds much interesting information about the philosophic thought that is derived from Socrates’ defense speech. Socrates, Plato’s teacher, and friend is ready to defend himself. Socrates’ mission is to help people to better understand the meaning of life in order to change their lives, placing emphasis on virtue and souls. He says, It is the greatest good for a human being to discuss Virtue every day and the other things About which you hear me…...

What is “the good”? “The good” is defined as the ultimate place where everything makes sense and falls into place. In order to have a good life, a person must do something in their life. As Aristotle explains his views and thoughts on pleasure and why it is not good, he tends to be grey with his points (Curtis, lecture notes). According to Aristotle, he believed that pleasure is good but not “the good”. Aristotle’s views as to why pleasure…...

Aristotle outlined six main fundamentals of tragedy: plot, character, diction, thought, spectacle, and music or song. He reflected on plot and character as the first two components or the primary components. In his Poetics, he explained the proper mix of these fundamentals using instances from various tragic dramas, specifically those of Sophocles, amongst other playwrights (Rizzoli, 3 - 6). Previous to reading Aristotle, Sophocle’s Antigone was similar to any of the previous stories I have read — the protagonist’s character…...

The cave taping that we listened to in class was a metaphor that contrasted real life and the things that we believe to be true. In the tape, Plato has Socrates describe a group of prisoners who are chained to a wall of a cave. They are facing a bare wall, watching the shadows that are cast from objects passing in front of a fire. The imprisoned people believe that the shadows are real and give them names. The named…...

Have you ever had the feeling where you are uncertain if you are awake or is still dreaming? Those are not phrases from a metaphysical book but perhaps a popular Hollywood film "The Matrix." Nevertheless, freedom is not about having a really good illusion, but about realizing it's all just an illusion. Furthermore, the philosophies in the movie and the truth borrowed from eastern philosophies from the great philosophers including Plato and Aristotle. There are several similarities between Plato's "The…...

In Plato's Allegory of the Cave, Socrates depicts a gathering of detainees being affixed to a divider watching these shadows which are truly individuals strolling behind them, making them believe them to be anything they desire them to be. They know nothing else with the exception of what they believe is their very own world. When one of the detainees is discharged he understands that what he thought was the truth, was extremely simply his own mind going on with…...

The ways people connect have changed with the use of social media. People throughout the world use social media to network and interact with family and friends. Social media has so many aspects that most users can see that it has become the entertainment source, the key form in which some people can communicate. It is one of the applications to share your life. While social media may seem like a good place to view other people’s life and show…...

The cave taping that we listened to in class was a metaphor that contrasted real life and the things that we believe to be true. In the tape, Plato has Socrates describe a group of prisoners who are chained to a wall of a cave. They are facing a bare wall, watching the shadows that are cast from objects passing in front of a fire. The imprisoned people believe that the shadows are real and give them names. The named…...

According to Aristotle’s theory of tragedy, a tragic hero is a person with high social status and somebody who has a confidential flaw that could in the end lead to facing a downfall with courage and dignity causing the audience to feel sympathy. Generally, a tragic hero is a grievous legend that is seen as an honorable character. A tragic hero experiences a change from not bad to good, but from good to bad. To go moreover, the character Macbeth…...

What is a tragedy? A tragedy is an event that causes great suffering, destruction, and distress, sometimes a catastrophe. Aristotle\'s characterization of a tragic hero is through his ability to preserve his virtue, despite his flaws. Oedipus is considered a tragic hero because he is not perfect but has many tragic flaws. Oedipus shows many flaws and braveness throughout this story. A tragic hero is the protagonist of a tragedy in dramas. This tragedy shows where a person suffers from…...

From the time of Aristotle (384-322 BCE) , the notion of friendship and even the term friend have fascinated philosophers. Aristotle, a famed philosopher himself, opine that ‘Without friends, no one would choose to live, though he had all other goods.’ (Aristotle, and Ross. 2016: 307) In elaboration, every man seems to be quite iffy when the term ‘loner’ is discussed at length. A loner is in his essence someone without any friends or even acquaintances and humans as species…...

“According to John Loke, the self is identified as a thinking, intelligent being that has the abilities to reason and to reflect”. (Chaffee, 2016). Self is an individual person as the object of his or her own reflective consciousness. Self is a reference by a subject to the same subject. In chapter 3 of the text, the author talks about “self” and the many different perceptions of it. I chose “The Self Is Consciousness and We Construct the Self. Locke…...

  Thus, though he asserts that women in general are not as capable as men in general, especially in physical strength, individual members of both sexes will be capable of performing all the functions needed by the city, including guardianship and philosophy. The only way to ensure that persons are assigned the jobs for which they are best suited is to asses the merits of each, independently of sex (gender)'. 4 The three primary types of desires are divided into…...

    If truth was objective then there would be absolute truth and there shouldn't be any dispute to this viewpoint. Truth should be evident based on fact according to people who believe that truth is objective. 15 However Sophocles had a different view to this and he portrayed this in his play called the 'Antigone'. 16 Creon was the ruler of the cit of Thebes. He wanted to leave the body of Antigone's brother Polyneices out in the open…...

In The Three Little Pigs, and The Story of the Three Little Pigs, the first two pigs set out and end up making their houses out of unstable materials that, in The Three Little Pigs, the fox, and in The Story of The Three Little Pigs, the wolf, destroyed. However, the third little pig builds his house out of bricks and is able to resist and eventually vanquish the wolf and fox. At the surface these stories appear to be…...

The Marxist theory targets the flaws in capitalism where the bourgeoisie, who are rich owners, are able to control the proletariats (working class). According the Karl Marx, the bourgeoisie can control education, politics, media, etc due to their wealth. Due to the inequality, Karl Marx predicted that the proletariat would start a revolution. Karl Marx believes that capitalism leads to commodification where society only cares about impressing others and conspicuous consumption. Karl Marx believes that communism would make the bourgeoisie…...

“The Republic” is a work of “Plato” that talks about his “ideal society” (Plato et. al. , 2003, pp. 1 – 496). According to him an “ideal society” is: 1) one that is ordered/structured, just/reasonable, wise/sensible, courageous/spirited, temperate/controlled; 2) a society that is geared towards the well-being of the whole population and not just one class; and last but not least 3) a society that is ruled by the “philosopher-ruler” (Plato et. al. , 2003, pp. 1 – 496). Plato…...

Socrates’ take on justice was a rather controversial viewpoint for his era, in that he opined about virtues men should possess and strive for that they might otherwise have no desire to obtain. A just man strives to promote justice for the sake of justice in itself. He, as one who is good, seeks to further justice because it fulfills his daimon, or nature. The nature of man is therefore, naturally, to do the right and proper thing. Good, as…...

Socrates once said, “Education is the kindling of a flame, not the filling of a vessel. ” With this, he revealed that education should be thought about and questioned for curiosity and understanding rather than for memorizing facts and information without any deeper thought on the matter. Socrates’ metaphor, “filling of a vessel,” relates to our type of educational system and administration. It is often that teachers do not want students to ask questions they cannot answer; they do not…...

Jean-Jacques Rousseau believed that only the general will, the will of all people together granted sovereignty. In his Book, 'The Social Contract', Rousseau highlights the need for a lawgiver. He considers the possibility that that the General will err, if it errs, it would simply not be the General will of the people. "The general will is always right and is always tends towards the public utility. However, it does not follow that the deliberations of the people always have…...

In his famous work The Social Contract Jean-Jacques Rousseau proposes an absolute rule of the general will (Melzer 1983, p. 633). He argues that the general will 'is always rightful and always tends to the public good' and that it can never 'err', i.e. that it never makes mistakes (Rousseau 2006, 1762, pp. 30-32). In my essay I am going to evaluate this statement. Firstly, I am going to outline Rousseau's vision of society and government which he described in…...

Introduction “The Declaration of Independence,” written by Thomas Jefferson, is a statement adopted by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776. “The Origin of Civil Society” is an article written by Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Jefferson writes about human rights because all men shall be equal and free; Rousseau writes about social contracts because by understanding the concepts of social contracts, the people will live with better security and significance. Understanding the concepts from previous generation of writers By analyzing these two…...

According to Augustine, the state has a purely relative and provisional value. Political structures aim to maintain earthly peace and security and civil authority is necessary due to the fallen nature of man. While the state can promote and maintain peace among the Fall, one cannot rely on the state, for it only addresses the conditions in which one lives. In other words, the state can help create an approximate just environment that makes it easier for Christians to live…...