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Short summary about plato s the republic book
Plato's thoughts on lying
Critical analysis of plato
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In, Book II of “The Republic of Plato” Socrates affirms there to be a true distinction between lies “to the soul” and lies “in speech.” As Socrates engages with Adeiamantus, his observation comes to fruition. Lies in the soul is the worst type of sorrow a man can feel comparable to other lying told or story telling. The purpose of this paper is to establish the difference between lies of the soul and lies in speech, why that separation is justified to be true, observe how lies in speech are effective in use, and illustrate these examples with an earlier discussion Socrates had with previous men, such as Cephalus in Book I. When Book I begins, Socrates is walking home after a religious ceremony with his comrade Glaucon. There he is stopped and brought to the comfortable home of Cephalus, a wealthy metic father of Lysias, Euthydemus, and Polemarchus. Cephalus invites Socrates to his home, commenting on his lack of strength to ascend out of the Piraeus due to old age, his sexual appetite staunched by time and his desire for pleasures of mind. (328c) Socrates must descend to Cephalus and his children because ascenion, to what exactly, is out of the men 's power as we learn later as a main principle throughout The Republic. Cephalus attributes his …show more content…
Socrates is seeking for the ultimate gain of greater knowledge and truth. If lies to the soul exists, then he, along with man Athenian scholars will be unable to seek out truth due to not knowing if their rhetoric is tainted with lies. But where do these lies manifest? For Socrates, there is an empirical problem. The knowledge that Socrates needs, and that everyone should want to have can only be received by educators that have not been predisposed to lies in speech nor lies to the soul. The structures of our lives are laid down as foundation as
At the beginning of the chapter, Cephalus invites Socrates to his home for philosophic discussion. Although it is the first scene, Cephalus appears only in this scene and does not reappear in the dialogue. To understand why he departs the scene so early, first we must focus on the purpose of philosophy.
For these two articles that we read in Crito and Apology by Plato, we could know Socrates is an enduring person with imagination, because he presents us with a mass of contradictions: Most eloquent men, yet he never wrote a word; ugliest yet most profoundly attractive; ignorant yet wise; wrongfully convicted, yet unwilling to avoid his unjust execution. Behind these conundrums is a contradiction less often explored: Socrates is at once the most Athenian, most local, citizenly, and patriotic of philosophers; and yet the most self-regarding of Athenians. Exploring that contradiction, between Socrates the loyal Athenian citizen and Socrates the philosophical critic of Athenian society, will help to position Plato's Socrates in an Athenian legal and historical context; it allows us to reunite Socrates the literary character and Athens the democratic city that tried and executed him. Moreover, those help us to understand Plato¡¦s presentation of the strange legal and ethical drama.
Socrates put one’s quest for wisdom and the instruction of others above everything else in life. A simple man both in the way he talked and the wealth he owned, he believed that simplicity in whatever one did was the best way of acquiring knowledge and passing it unto others. He is famous for saying that “the unexplained life is not worth living.” He endeavored therefore to break down the arguments of those who talked with a flowery language and boasted of being experts in given subjects (Rhees 30). His aim was to show that the person making a claim on wisdom and knowledge was in fact a confused one whose clarity about a given subject was far from what they claimed. Socrates, in all his simplicity never advanced any theories of his own but rather aimed at bringing out the worst in his interlocutors.
According to Pierre Hadot, “Thus philosophy was a way of life, both in its exercise and effort to achieve wisdom, and its goal, wisdom itself. For real wisdom does not merely cause us to know: it makes us “be” in a different way” ( Pierre 265) This explanation of a philosophical way of life is in all ways the definition of Socrates’ life. Socrates made his way through his entire life living in this way, seeking out wisdom, seeking out answers and never once got in trouble with the court until the age of seventy years old. He believed that by telling people about ignorance and wisdom, that he was only doing so for the good of the people. Socrates even goes as far as saying, “I am that Gadfly which God has attached to the state, and all day long and in all places am always fastening upon you, arousing and persuading and reproaching you”(Plato 9). Socrates believes that he was sent from God to show people a different way of life, a life of questioning and reason to which he should teach to all people. When asked if he was ashamed of a course of life of which would likely bring him to an untimely end Socrates says, “you are mistaken: a man who is good for anything ought not to calculate the chance of living or dying; he ought only to consider whether in doing anything he is doing right or wrong” (Plato 7).
Another philosophical ideology reflected by Socrates was the importance of the universal truth which helps one be closer to their souls, many principles of ethics and philosophical ideologies that are still used today originate from this concept. He believed the closer to the truth a person gets, the healthier their soul is, the kinder they are and the happier they would be in life. In the words of Socrates, “The soul holds the key to happiness and a good life”. He believed that perfecting the soul would decrease the urge to commit crimes, since they would already have all they need. Socrates called this ‘The care of the soul.’ Most of his philosophies are driven by this belief. For example during Socrates
In Plato’s Phaedrus, Socrates encounters Phaedrus who has just come from a conversation with Lysias. Phaedrus invites Socrates to walk with him and hear what he has learned from his conversation with Lysias. The two read and discuss Lysias’ speech, and then enter into a discussion on how one can become an expert in rhetorical speaking and on whether writing is beneficial and acceptable or the contrary. Socrates’ thoughts on the subjects of rhetoric and writing will be the main points of this paper.
In Plato’s Apology, Socrates uses religious appeals, proof by contradictions and various examples to argue for his innocence in court. Socrates is forced to argue for the sake of his life to prove that he is not guilty. In Socrates’ speech, however, he is not apologizing for anything instead, the word comes from the Greek word “apologia,” that translates to a speech made in defense. In this paper, I will argue that Socrates’ decision to stay in Athens and to accept suicide was unethical, because he purposefully antagonized the people who control his fate and this ultimately led to the death penalty.
Socrates lived such a private life that it lead to the most important revelation of his entire life. He would go about his life doing nothing but self-examination. In examining his life so strenuously others would come to him to be taught, or to have their children be taught by Socrates. They would offer him money and he would refuse. They would do whatever they could to learn anything Socrates had to teach. What they did not know is that Socrates was not teaching anyone he was simply going about his usual life and people just happened to learn from it. This was also why Socrates was put on trial. He was brought up on two charges, one of impiety and the other of corrupting the youth. These two charges set the course for the last month of his life.
(37) The problem is that many of the citizens of Athens who wanted Socrates dead, lacked that emotional intelligence and thought highly of themselves. So of course they become defensive when Socrates sheds light on the idea that they may be wrong. As someone who cared most about the improvement of the soul, Socrates would have made a constructive role model to the criminals of Athens, as he would go on saying, “virtue is not given by money, but that from virtue comes money and every other good of man…”(35) Socrates was able to benefit everyone alike as he had human wisdom- something that all the Athenians could relate
...njust: Socrates realizes that he, by free will, chose to live in a community wherein inquiry about the intelligible realm is punishable by death. He never attempted escape from the city, and thus finds no reason to escape prison as an old man. This higher understanding of justice comes only from a higher understanding of the good.
During this essay, the trail of Socrates found in the Apology of Plato will be reviewed. What will be looked at during this review is how well Socrates rebuts the charges made against him. We will also talk about if Socrates made the right decision to not escape prison with Crito. Socrates was a very intelligent man; this is why this review is so critical. In Plato’s Apology, it seems that overall Socrates did an effective job using the 3 acts of the mind.
Imagine the time just after the death of Socrates. The people of Athens were filled with questions about the final judgment of this well-known, long-time citizen of Athens. Socrates was accused at the end of his life of impiety and corruption of youth. Rumors, prejudices, and questions flew about the town. Plato experienced this situation when Socrates, his teacher and friend, accepted the ruling of death from an Athenian court. In The Last Days of Socrates, Plato uses Socrates’ own voice to explain the reasons that Socrates, though innocent in Plato’s view, was convicted and why Socrates did not escape his punishment as offered by the court. The writings, “Euthyphro,” “The Apology,” “Crito,” and “Pheado” not only helped the general population of Athens and the friends and followers of Socrates understand his death, but also showed Socrates in the best possible light. They are connected by their common theme of a memoriam to Socrates and the discussion of virtues. By studying these texts, researchers can see into the culture of Athens, but most important are the discussions about relationships in the book. The relationships between the religion and state and individual and society have impacted the past and are still concerns that are with us today.
What is a lie? And when is it appropriate to tell a lie? Are two questions to think about after reading Plato's Republic translated by G.M.A Grube. A lie by definition is a false statement intended to deceive. Most people would agree this is not a "just" thing to do to your friends. In American society today, lying has always been a "bad" thing to do. Trust is very important, parents always tell their kids never to lie or they will loose their trust. Plato disagrees, with what most parents say to their children. He states there are two different kinds of lies, ones that are always improper to tell (True falsehoods). And ones that are suitable to tell against enemies, to prevent something bad happening to a friend, and to make up a story for a point. (Verbal falsehood).
For example, whenever he exchanged answers with The Laws it was an “you’re wrong,” where as it when it came to Critos it was an, “I can’t.” Socrates demonstrates that the conversation that each situation differed was that one was with an audience he could trust and one that he could not. Socrates had demonstrated The Laws that were unjust and had to come up with some “smart” way to get him behind bars because he recognized that both sides knew nothing, including him. He explains to them that their wisdom should be classified more as ignorance because all that Socrates has ever tried to do was to help the citizens of Athens. His goal was to influence the community on how one can live a more valuable life by listening to the truth rather than falsely accusations stated by the
He went about doing that by questioning people. Socrates realized that he truly knew nothing, of importance. So he tried to seek the truth. To be able to do this he had an open mind, and told his followers they should also have open minds. This is why Socrates was falsely accused of a culture that was both strict and hypocritical.