He believes that one should live their life learning from their “mother and nurse and father and tutor” (18). One should follow in their footsteps “and if [they] obey, well and good; if not, [they are] straightened by threats and blows, like a piece of bent or warped wood.” It is his process of education. Protagorean moral education mainly gives a person habits, not knowledge, because they have to follow a certain pattern. Protagoras thinks by following these patterns, a person will be morally just. Socrates believes that there is moral knowledge but it cannot be taught.
In order to create the type of society that both Plato and Lao Tsu desire to emulate, it is critical that the ruler have the characteristics and qualities that will lead the respective societies in harmony with their philosophical principles. The Republic of Plato offers a theoretical society of enforced elitism. In the work, Plato, citing Socrates whom was Plato’s teacher and often referenced in the dialogue, explicates that the ideal community would be one in which each person has a particular craft, a particular rank, and a fond love for knowledge. Although Socrates expects citizens to love educating themselves and searching for wisdom, he also believes that children of the community should be brought up believing that the world is a perfect realm with no blemishes. Socrates endorses that children’s stories should be modified to encourage the notions of a perfect civilization, which in-turn would directly influence the way the youth view life.
If moral judgments are solely based upon pure reason then they must necessarily be either right or wrong, true or false. This would imply that principles of moral judgments are equivalent to a mathematical formula in which our answers are eternal and cannot be subject to change. If they are based in our passions alone, then they cannot be said to ever have a constant outcome. There can be no disputing our moral judgments because our preferences cannot be disputed; they simply are what they are. Moral judgments will vary as much as one individual varies from another individual.
While Socrates arguments may be sound in his opinion, I'm not sure if I agree with them. Just because of the good laws of the state benefited Socrates and helped him in his upbringing, it doesn't mean that he has to remain completely loyal to them for his entire life. His main point about never returning an unjust act with another makes sense to a degree, but only if you agree with his view that the soul is the only thing that matters and not the body. While I understand that point, I don' think every unjust act ruins the soul. Some acts such as telling a white lie in some situations are
In #10 he asks us to ask ourselves what capacity we have within ourselves to deal with a particular situation, “If hardship comes to you, find endurance,” (p14) so that we might not let outside influences affect our own happiness, and that our happiness can be created only by our own judgments, perceptions, decisions and actions. Plato, on the other hand addresses happiness as attainable through the actions of the just man. Through Socrates he points out that the man who never falls sick is happier than the man who is cured from sickness, “Happiness surely does not consist in being delivered from evils, but in never having them,” which could be what Epictetus is suggesting – avoiding negativity all together – or at the very least, not perceiving these situations to be negative. All three of the Ancients address the function of human beings in some form or another. Aristotle says that we are considered to be good when we perform our function well, when we are excellent at our purpose in life.
Aristotle argues that material is what an object consist of and this matter we could not live without. He feels that education is the key and having the experience is good for happiness. Aristotle states that it is important to consider our ethical first principle not merely as a conclusion drawn from certain premises, but also in its relation to the popular opinion (Aristotle, 701). He says how it is important to follow what we believe and because
Plato’s theory of forms is unconvincing discuss Plato was a duellist and thus believed that there are two worlds; the material world and the world of ideas/Forms. The world of ideas or Forms is the true reality and the world of appearances is just reflections of world of Forms. Plato believed that our knowledge of the Forms was a priori which means that our souls knew the Forms before it was inside us, therefore we have knowledge prior to experiencing the objects with our senses. Plato believes everyone is born with an intuitive but imperfect understanding of the Forms. He also believes the philosopher is able, through using his intellect, to achieve true knowledge of the abstract Forms without using his senses.
Paul Starita Pol Sci 201 10/26/12 Examining Justice and Education In The Apology, Socrates defends himself in a court of law after being accused of creating new deities and corrupting the youth. In this text, we find subtle opinions and explanations about the nature of justice. The Republic is a text written by Plato, where Socrates and several of his students deeply explore justice and how an ideal society might look. Especially present in The Republic, both texts have undertones of how education ought to be and why it is so important. These two texts define justice as an important virtue that every person should learn to possess through a balanced, self-discovering education.
The existence of God, in most human lives, serves as a path or map guiding us toward moral perfection, a way of living, thinking or striving in order to earn wonderful gifts. The gifts that have been set aside for us if we reach or surpass predefined goals that have been set for lives. However, do we in fact have a moral set of directions for us to follow? Who developed these rules and are we able to change them? According to St. Anselm in his ontological argument, he describes God as an idea or concept of which nothing greater can be conceived (Living Issues in Philosophy, page 388).
Aristotle also suggests happiness conforms to goodness of virtue (Kucukuysal and Beyhan, 2011). To be happy and good, one must make the right choices. Virtue is taught and learned. The ability to define happiness and decide what is virtuous is an individual choice based upon life teachings and experience. In order to make someone else happy, you must be happy with yourself.