“The Allegory of the Cave” and “Qualities of the Prince” (Authored by Plato and Machiavelli, respectively) have different viewpoints in contrast to one another. Looking at the texts, it seems that Machiavelli would be critical of the views Plato expressed in The Allegory of the Cave for a number of reasons. Plato states that people are inherently good, although good can be “seen only with an effort” (35). Machiavelli, on the flipped side, states that “for a man who strives after goodness in all his acts is sure to come to ruin, since there are so many men who are not good” (7), suggesting that most people are by nature not good, and that pursuing the act of being good, will only lead to disaster. Therefore, he would likely think that Plato’s ideology is too optimistic, if not ignorant, and that one must have a realist viewpoint to survive this world.
Djabir Yaya Professor Cindy Linden Legacy of Western Society 9/21/2012 Iliad Essay Homer uses some poetic devices to demonstrate that praising a hero can do nothing, but lead to excessive pride and result in violence. Although, sometime people do things that are above normal standard, but we do not need to glorify them since this lead to conflict in our society. There are many ways we tend to glorify individual; sometime we give them trophies while other time we just considered them as an outliers and heroes. Homer uses simile and metaphor to demonstrate the superiority of his main character Achilles to human being, but make it difficult for modern readers to understand his point. Homer uses metaphor with the purpose of showing his main character arrogance by
Victor had no reason to put his creation though such pain he just did it through pure selfishness. Victor is the real monster because he has no respect for his creation, abandoned him, and causes him to turn on his creator. The lack of respect towards the Monster is so horrendous that Victor's creation has every reason to be furious. The disrespect starts right when the monster was created, "[a] flash of
By persecuting his father is piety. But Socrates discards his definition because it is in fact not a definition but rather an example. It does not give reason on why things are pious. So, Euthyphro rebounds by claiming piety is what is pleasing to the gods. He says that “ The things and the men that are pleasing to the gods are pious, and the things and the men that are displeasing to the gods are impious.” Socrates approves of this definition because it is of a very generalization.
His fickle favor toward his servants, and not to mention his family, proves his inconsistency and instability. Although appointed by the gods, his reign has exposed the abused and misused privilege of representing the gods in his earthly position. King Creon’s irrational edict stated that any man who dares to bury Polyneices would suffer death by stoning. Is it a mere human’s prerogative to determine another man’s eternal fate? Because Antigone had nothing left to live for, while knowing the sentence of stoning, Antigone defied King Creon’s edict in order to fulfill her duty.
The root of Creon’s immoral behavior, towards Antigone, is not an inability to distinguish between what is wrong and what is right, but rather a fear of what would happen if he were to choose the morally right way to function. In the play, Creon says that he is very afraid to stray from the established laws in anyway, until the very day he dies (Sophocles 1495). Creon is a power-hungry leader. He is developing into a tyrant. Creon is compared to “a politician without the capacity to be a statesman, because he cannot resist the temptations of power” (Winnington-Ingram).
The second argument, Socrates has is that piety and impiety are opposites, and that the gods are always in a state of discord. Some of the gods think one thing just, the others think another, and therefore the same thing would be pious and impious. Different gods will make different evaluations, and these differences blur the distinction between piety and impiety. Lastly, the third refute Socrates has with Euthyphro’s definitions is that, Socrates points out that love is not a necessary characteristic of holiness, love is an action. Euthyphro is now at a loss of how to proceed with his definition of piety, and he seems to get very
Socrates continued his point in saying that “an action or a man dear to the gods is pious, but an action or a man hated by the gods is impious” (Euthyphro, 7a). However, Socrates also points out that gods, just like people, can have their differences and disagreements about anything. Therefore, there could be no unification in what is right and wrong, good and bad, or pious and impious. Again, we see Socrates’ doubt in having more than one god. If the gods can have their disputes about piety and impiety, then how would we ever know what exactly is the right course of action?
Lack of democracy In many ways the US Constitution is an undemocratic document. Many of the founders were scared of democracy because they believed in bad human nature: people are both virtue and self-interest, so simple democracy can’t work (Federalist #55). In general, the constitution was created to protect the minority from the majority. In order to prevent over use of power, faction (#10) and tyranny a separation of power complex structure (also known as “checks and balances” #51) was built (based upon the philosophy of Montesquieu), under which the legislative, executive and judicial branches of government are kept distinct. Philosophers, such as John Locke, supported the principle in their writings, whereas others, such as
Meno gives examples of different position of people acquiring virtue, without answering Socrates' question, 'what virtue really is.' Meno's examples does not fit one definition hence his answer is considered incorrect by Socrates. And more so in the Meno it states the view of traditional Greeks which goes in favour of a 'moral traditionalist' and not that of Socrates. For Socrates views are in accordance with that of a 'moral rationalist,' therefore in the Meno the view will not work with Socrates'