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Platos theory about human nature
Platos theory about human nature
Platos perspective on mankind
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Hinduism’s view on human nature is complex and involves the concept of the self or soul. According to the Hindu concept of self, it is recorded that “the atman is beyond sound and form…it is eternal, unchangeable, and without beginning or end: indeed above reasoning” (Wall, 30). What this refers to, is that Hindus believe there to be a deeper self that lies within us. This self hides behind our experienced self and is referred to as atman. Atman is what survives our deaths and continues to be reborn again. This type of self is continually reborn into different bodies until it escapes the wheel of rebirth. Through prayer, meditation, and ascetic practices, this self can become known, especially because it is essentially the same in all human beings. The idea behind atman tends to be more complex because of its dealings with the levels of consciousness, samsara, etc.
The concept, previously referred to as atman, is understood not as a familiar, day-to-day self, but rather something less physical. This self does not deal with our social selves or psychological selves and is not viewed as a collection of thoughts and feelings that we experience. However, this self is deeper within ourselves that can be thought of as spiritual, permanent and infinite. To fully know this self one must experience a process of deep meditation and withdrawal from society. This process is recognized as a process of ascetic discipline; and through this process one can discover atmans similarity to brahman. According to Hindu thought, Brahman is a hindu concept of absolute reality and is referred to as a transcendent being that all concrete things are dependent upon for existence. According to the Hindu concept of self, Brahman is “spirit of light..who in t...
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...s if the soul.
To gain a full understanding of Plato’s view of human nature and its innate tendencies, one must refer to the three aspects of the soul. These aspects are explained through a model known as the chariot model. This model involves three elements: a chariot, two horses, and a driver. The two horses of the soul are explained as the irrational elements and the drive represents the rational part. One horse is easy to maintain and remains calm while the other horse is difficult to control and runs off. It is the drivers duty to control both horses and make sure they work together. The chariot driver must also whip both horses into shape, mainly the difficult one, in order to make progress. This model refers to the soul and its three parts. One part of the soul is irrational and difficult to control, another part of the soul is relatively calm and obedient.
Some of the most prominent aspects of Hinduism are the atman and samsara which is one the clearest distinctions between Hinduism and other religions. When Krishna states, “I have never not existed; nor have you, nor have these lords of men. Nor will we cease to exist, all of us, from now onwards” (Bhagavad Gita, 185), he is referring to the atman or the human soul which is believed to have always existed and will continue to exist. And when he says, “Just as one throws out old clothes and then takes on other, new ones; so the embodied self casts out old bodies as it gets other, new ones” (Bhagavad Gita, 187), he is talking about samsara and reincarnation. It is from this text, where Hinduism gets its defining characteristics. As long as the Gita continues to be relevant in India so will these philosophies. It reinforces the idea of reincarnation, the soul, and duty which shapes the way the Hindus live their lives. The goal for a Hindu is to break out of samsara and achieve Brahman, and according to the Gita, fulfilling one’s dharma is the way to accomplish this. The Bhagavad Gita is significant to Hinduism, because it has helped Hindus identify an ultimate goal and teaches them how to achieve
In his Allegory Plato shows us how a man ascends from the darkness of a cave to the light of the outside world. In this ascent Plato’s man passes through four distinct stages of cognition: from imagination, to belief, understanding, and finally knowledge.
In the chapter on Hinduism in Philip Novak’s book The World’s Wisdom the section titled “The Transmigration of the Soul” describes the Hindu concept of reincarnation, the wheel of life, and ultimately becoming one with god. The lines in this passage very concisely describe the Hindu concepts of Brahman, Atman, Samsara, Karma, Maya and Moksha (Molloy). I believe that these concepts are at the core of all of the expressions of the Hindu religion; which makes understanding this paragraph the key to having a basic understanding of the Hindu religion.
... subtle and elusive. It can’t be named, held, seen, or heard, but it is the essence of it. It is part of us and everything around us. It is first and foremost life itself. Unfortunately, we do not recognize it unless we truly destroy of our ignorance. Daoism and Hinduism influenced the Dao and the Brahman in their own unique ways but the core remains the same – indescribable. The Dao is motion-like and entails a process thus called “The Way,” while the Brahman relates to the transcendent spirit. Perhaps each possesses its own cultural uniqueness originating from India and China but both are pointing to the fundamental nature of reality. The Dao and the Brahman are in nature, are natures; they are the life force, and the core of nature. In order to experience them, we must at least follow world-renowned martial artists, Bruce Lee’s advice: “Be like water, my friend.”
Plato's philosophy of government sees the State as a larger version of the individual, and the soul of an individual is comprised of three parts. Plato states that these three parts include the appetite, the spirit, and reason (167), and these parts have goals and desires that pertain only to them. For example, reason finds fulfillment in the study ...
Listening as the family spoke to me about what is important in their family I couldn’t help but refer back to Marcus and Conner’s idea of interdependence versus independence. As the family spoke to me on how important it is that the soul reincarnates itself, which is when all bad karma is out of the body, I kept referring to the independent self. But often again when they spoke of theologies and learning constantly from what they take from others around them, I found interdependence. Both selves balance each other out but do not reside on one more than the other. Adhita kept telling me the main goal of being a Hindu is “self-realization or just to be free from any type of suffering or hardship/bad karma,” (You achieve this through reincarnation) you have to acknowledge the simultaneous efforts that take place to achieve this goal. “You can’t just set a high sta...
In the novel Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse, the protagonist attempts and fails several stratagems to achieve nirvana, a quality of life that is rid of desire, but ultimately finishes meeting his objective. To grasp this idea of complete bliss, Siddhartha looks inside of his Atman, or his soul, to find the key to his enlightenment. Starting off, he is motivated by the role religion has in his life as well as a close companion,Govinda, but he undergoes many changes, mentally and bodily, throughout his journey. After becoming an ascetic as well as acquiring riches, Siddhartha succeeds conclusively by allowing himself to see the world as complete.
In conclusion, Plato and Aristotle present two different conceptions of the soul. By examination of their formulations, and the structure and genre they used, Aristotle's perception of the soul is more convincing. I am more convinced by facts than I am ideals. But his views should not be thrown away, for Aristotle's focus upon the organism as a whole as the proper object of study is a successful approach to the question of the nature of and relationship between mind, body, and soul.
Hindus believe that when a soul expires, it acquires rebirth in a new body. This cycle is called samsara. To be set free from the endless cycle of birth, death and rebirth one must discover their true nature in order to be with the Brahman in Nirvana. In figure G a picture of a Cambodian statue of the A.D. 900 of Brahma meditating is presented. Nirvana is a state where pain, worry and the outer world do not exist. When a person in Hindu religion has bad Karma, they must take rebirth multiple times. The sacred source of all existence is divided among three gods. Brahma is the creator, Vishnu is the preserver, and Shiva is the destroyer. All three contribute to a person’s life and death and afterlife. In figure H a picture of a Vishnu sculpture is shown, and in figure I a picture of a sculpture of Shiva is
In Plato’s Republic, justice and the soul are examined in the views of the multiple characters as well as the Republic’s chief character, Socrates. As the arguments progress through the Republic, the effect of justice on the soul is analyzed, as the question of whether or not the unjust soul is happier than the just soul. Also, Plato’s theories of justice in the man, the state, and the philosopher king are clearly linked to the cardinal virtues, as Plato describes the structure of the ideal society and developing harmony between the social classes. Therefore, the statement “justice is the art which gives to each man what is good for his soul” has to be examined through the definitions of justice given in the Republic and the idea of the good
Plato’s Republic introduces a multitude of important and interesting concepts, of topics ranging from music, to gender equality, to political regime. For this reason, many philosophers and scholars still look back to The Republic in spite of its age. Yet one part that stands out in particular is Plato’s discussion of the soul in the fourth book of the Republic. Not only is this section interesting, but it was also extremely important for all proceeding moral philosophy, as Plato’s definition has been used ever since as a standard since then. Plato’s confabulation on the soul contains three main portions: defining each of the three parts and explanation of their functions, description of the interaction of the parts, and then how the the parts and their interaction motivate action. This essay will investigate each segment, and seek to explain their importance.
India’s three primary religions; Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism are all responses to the Aryan religion of Brahmanism. The Aryans came into power in Indian around 1000 B.C.E., and as their political influence spread, their religious beliefs followed in its wake. Two fundamental beliefs of Brahmanism are samsara and karma. Samsara deals with the cyclical nature of the soul and how death only brings rebirth into a new form. Depending upon the tally of a person’s good and bad deeds, which is considered karma, determines whether or not the next reincarnation will be an improvement or a disappointment. However, if one were able to completely understand that life was actually an illusion and that the only way to escape the endless cycle of reincarnation was to realize that reality is unchanging one could ascend above the endless cycle of birth, life and death. According to the Aryan priests, those that transcend the cycle of life will become one with Brahman and enter into an eternity of blissful non-being.
Plato supposed that people exhibit the same features, and perform the same functions that city-states do. Applying the analogy in this way presumes that each of us, like the state, is a complex whole made up of several distinct parts, each of which has its own proper role. But Plato argued that there is evidence of this in our everyday experience. When faced with choices about what to do, we commonly feel the tug of many different impulses drawing us in different directions all at once, and the most natural explanation for this situ...
Philosophical way on humanity, for centuries philosophers have debated on a topic called Monism. Monists hold the principle that being is purely based upon one critic “category of being” this means that either the person is made up of only the body or only the mind (Morris). Because Animists, Hindus, and Buddhists believe that reality is one and that everything that exists is a functioning part of that whole which is spirit are for the most part monists. Western people for the most part may be called a monist also as they believe that God is dead and matter is the only substance to reality. As a consequence, monism is the claim that mind and matter essentially the same. The concept of transcendental reality (spiritual) in terms of Vedanta is the essential philosophy original to the Hindus. The major ideas of Vedanta are, first, the ultimate existence. A strong hold that all the things we see around us are ultimately reducible to one substance/one existence. But we claim it to be the essential philosophy of all religions, which makes it Non-Western Religious more than Non-Western Philosophy.
Eastern enlightenment religions have been gaining popularity throughout the western world for the past few decades, with many people attracted to a "different" way of experiencing religion. As with many other enlightenment religions, Buddhism requires disciples to understand concepts that are not readily explainable: one such concept is that of no-self. In this essay I shall discuss the no-self from a number of modern perspectives; however, as no-self is difficult to describe I shall focus on both the self and no-self. Beginning with psychological aspects, and neurophysiological research on transcendental meditation, I shall discuss the impact of modern brain science on our understanding of the self and transcendence. Next I will outline the relationship between quantum physics and non-locality, as this gives a western scientific explanation for no-self. Returning to the original source of Buddhism, I will briefly outline the discussion between Siddhartha and Vaccha regarding atman, then discuss the mind and no-self and their relationship to liberation. Finally I will summarize a few issues that the western mindset may face approaching this topic.