The Greeks and Philosophy - Research Paper Example

? The Greeks and Philosophy Word Count: 1505 (6 pages) A) Use the seven passages supplied and cite where Plato speaks ABOUT Philosophy. Copy and paste the exact words from each of the seven passages using quotation marks and the source citation for the exact passages where Plato describes what Philosophy is about and how to do Philosophy. What was philosophy to Plato? Describe the process. What does the process involve? Philosophy, to Plato, was about having attitude. “For at this moment I am sensible that I have not the temper of a philosopher; like the vulgar, I am only a partisan.”1 Perception of the good is key. For, “…without any assistance of sense, and perseveres until by pure intelligence he arrives at the perception of the absolute good, he at last finds himself at the end of  the intellectual world, as in the case of sight at the end of the visible.”2 Philosophy is about finding points that will lead one to theorize. Philosophy includes “…steps and points of departure into a world which is above hypotheses, in order that she may soar beyond them to the first principle of the whole…”3 “Until the person is able to abstract and define rationally the idea of good, and unless he can run the gauntlet of all objections, and is ready to disprove them, not by appeals to opinion, but to absolute truth, never faltering at any step of the argument --unless he can do all this, you would say that he knows neither the idea of good nor any other good; he apprehends only a shadow, if anything at all, which is given by opinion and not by science; --dreaming and slumbering in this life, before he is well awake here, he arrives at the world below, and has his final quietus.”4 For Plato, what equaled philosophy included the truth. “And I thought that I had better have recourse to ideas, and seek in them the truth of existence.”5 Naturally, the most logical thoughts that were reinforced as correct were what Plato considered philosophy, saying that “…I first assumed some principle which I judged to be the strongest, and then I affirmed as true whatever seemed to agree with this, whether relating to the cause or to anything else; and that which disagreed I regarded as untrue.”6 True philosophy, after all, lies “…in [the] asking and answering questions…”7 Rejecting the false and embracing the truth seems to have been what Plato was searching for all the time in his dialogues. The process of philosophy was about digging into the psyche to find a deeper truth. The process involves lots of rational thinking, evaluation, and critical thinking skills. Not only that, but Plato’s ideas of philosophy held fast to the ideas that what was good and virtuous were things that were worth philosophizing about. This process of parsing out what was good and virtuous in itself was worth it to Plato to take great pains to try to explain—in detail—what was worth expounding upon in his dialogues. Plato consistently maintained that philosophy was a constant search for that which was real, good, true, and reliable—versus that which was fake or a facade, bad, untrue, or inconsistent. Constistency is what made Plato such an emblematic figure in philosophy, because one knew what to expect from his type of logic. Therefore, his points were not only true but rational. B) Find at least two passages in the dialogues that were covered in this module where Plato shows Socrates entering into the dialectical process of Philosophy. Copy and paste the passages using quotation marks and cite the source dialogue. You find two passages where Socrates is exchanging questions and answers with someone on a topic, issue or question. Where do you find these passages? Find them in any of these dialogues: ION EUTHYPHRO APOLOGY CRITO PHAEDO REPUBLIC SYMPOSIUM ?DO NOT USE THE SEVEN PASSAGES SUPPLIES IN PART A THAT DESCRIBE DIALECTICS! Those passages are not demonstrations of the process but are descriptions of it. How long do they need to be? Not the entire dialogue! Just submit a passage long enough to see the back and forth of the question and answer process by which Socrates leads his audience to some point of clarity or some position on an issue. To show how one goes about doing it you should quote the exact lines or the passage in the dialogues where Plato has Socrates interact with others using the dialectical methods of philosophy. ??DO NOT RELATE ALL OF THE NICE IDEAS OF PLATO be specific as to the idea of what Philosophy itself actually is. In the following passage, Socrates leads us through the passage where we see that philosophy is a process in which the intellectual faculties are used in order to arrive at a point or points. Socrates says that it is “…by pure intelligence he arrives at the perception of the absolute good, he at last finds himself at the end of  the intellectual world, as in the case of sight at the end of the visible. Exactly, he said. Then this is the progress which you call dialectic? True.”8 Not only this, but it takes time and the power of dialectics—dialogue between minds of two dueling sides each competing to make philosophical points for the sake of argument. “Whether what I told you would or would not have been a reality I cannot venture to say; but you would have seen something like reality; of that I am confident. Doubtless, he replied. But I must also remind you, that the power of dialectic alone can reveal this, and only to one who is a disciple of the previous sciences.”9 Therefore, the empirical arts such as math and science are definitely precursors to how one arrives logically at certain conclusions—because there is a certain mathematical precision about philosophy which is required of the one philosophizing. C) In your own words describe how philosophy is done according to Plato. What does one do doing philosophy? Be somewhat extensive in describing the exact process. Do not describe what it is good for or what you think about it. Describe exactly what philosophy is for Plato. This means that you should describe what the dialectical process of thinking is and its steps. Take the seven passages in part (A) above and put them into your own words in a single description of the process of inquiry known as Philosophy. Please indicate your familiarity with the readings in your answer-this means use some quotations to support your answers. Plato definitely saw the world in terms of opposites. He argued with many people, proffering that his views were right and the other peoples’ views were wrong. He refuted the arguments of many so-called ‘philosophers’ who, in reality, had no idea what true philosophy was all about. “Plato's refutations of Protagoras, of Parmenides, of strict materialism and of Heracliteanism are attacks on mean-minded theories…”10 Philosophy sought to bridge the gaps in reasoning and went where others feared to tread. Plato expounded upon all kinds of “[P]hilosophy might perceive a parallelism between two thinkers of which they were probably unconscious themselves.”11 Plato wanted his followers to recognize the fact that knowledge and the ability to grasp concepts were everywhere. “The dialogues enable us to see a world ripe for enlightenment…”12 In turn, philosophy was about “unearthing” new information about a subject, not just about definitions alone.13 Perhaps it was not possible for all of Plato’s adversaries to be able to understand all of the disagreements in detail which he had with his fellow man. In any case, of course, not everyone could always agree on whose points were better even though they were based on solid foundations and principles. “[A]lthough in words he is not able to meet you at each step of the argument, he sees as a fact that the votaries of philosophy, when they carry on the study, not only in youth as a part of education, but as the pursuit of their maturer years…”14 So then, typically, many of the people who were philosophers were the elders—as many younger people had no interest in reason, nor what was true, good, and virtuous. This is in direct contrast to how interested someone like Plato was in philosophy and what was good in the world to expound upon with some rapt attention. Philosophy left no room for doubts. “…I [don’t] see any room for uncertainty, except that which arises necessarily out of the greatness of the subject…”15 “The ancient philosophers made no distinction between sense and intellect, and referred both to a corporeal principle. Plato, however, drew a distinction between intellect and sense yet he referred both to an incorporeal principle…just as understanding belongs to the soul…”16 When it comes to the question of whether or not the souls of other animals are subsistent, one must obviously ask oneself if he or she believes that they are. One sticking point regarding this point is that animals are generally thought not to have souls, mainly because they cannot speak. It is language that separates humans from other animals. Thus, the power of language cannot be underestimated. It is definitely this aspect that makes animals lesser than people. Thus, the appearance of language in humans and the lack of language within the animal kingdom—language here meaning spoken words—seems to prove that humans are rational beings with souls. Plato’s philosophy is especially indelibly etched on the philosophy of religion. “It follows that if an anomaly is to evoke crisis, it must usually be more than just an anomaly.”17 Take, for example, Newton’s theory of gravity. Newtonian theory was, at first, considered rather absurd. However, for him and his work to be recognized, Newton’s theories had to withstand the tests of time and various scientific de rigeur before his theories were considered generally acceptable. In fact, Newton strived to have his theories accepted within the scientific community. At first, no one posed any objection to his theories. But much like Copernicus’s and Galileo’s discoveries, Newton’s laws had to go through a rigorous process in order to ensure that these laws were indeed laws that could be applied universally. Once the scientific community accepted his theory as law, however, his three laws of motion—as well as the concept of gravity—became staples of physics and a slew of other sciences. In the first sections of Western Philosophy, Cottingham focuses upon the fact that all knowledge must come from somewhere (epistemology).18 Where does knowledge come from indeed? What is the root of it? Socrates argues that all enquiry and learning is merely “recollection.”19 This is true to a certain extent. While information is an important part of learning, it is the ability to recall this information that makes learning a worthwhile activity. Moreover, “…spontaneous recovery of knowledge [within someone] is recollection…”20 Thus, it is the art with which one is able to retrieve information and learning that sets one apart from simply recalling or remembering. In order for learning to take place, one must have a source from which to draw upon knowledge. Once this is achieved, recollection is attained. Thus, knowledge has a purpose and a direction which can be analyzed through various means. This is the nature of knowledge. WORKS CITED Blitz, Mark. Plato’s Political Philosophy. US: JHU Press, 2010. Cottingham, John, Ed. Western Philosophy: An Anthology, 2nd Ed. Oxford, UK: Blackwell, 2008. ?? McCabe, Mary Margaret. Plato and His Predecessors: The Dramatisation of Reason. UK: Cambridge University Press, 2000. Pappas, Nicholas. Routledge Philosophy Guidebook to Plato and the Republic. US: Psychology Press, 2003. Plato. The Dialogues of Plato: Volume 3. US: Clarendon Press, 1871. Plato & Rouse, W.H.D., Ed. Great Dialogues of Plato. US: Signet Classics, 1999. Read More