Platos Life Essay - 747 Words

Platos Life Plato was born in Athens, about 427 B.C., and died there about 347 B.C. In early life Plato saw war service and had political ambitions. However, he was never really sympathetic to the Athenian democracy and he could not join wholeheartedly in its government. He was a devoted follower of Socrates, whose disciple he became in 409 B.C., and the execution of that philosopher by the democrats in 399 B.C. was a crushing blow. He left Athens, believing that until â€Å"kings were philosophers or philosophers were kings† things would never go well with the world. ( He traced his decent from the early kings of Athens and perhaps he had himself in mind). For several years he visited the Greeks cities of Africa and Italy,†¦show more content†¦Plato’s works, perhaps the most consistently popular and influential philosophic writings ever published, consist of a series of dialogues in which the discussions between Socrates and others are presented with infinite charm. Most of our knowledge of Socrates is from these dialogues, which views are Socrates’ and which are Plato’s is anybody ‘s guess. ( Plato cautiously never introduced himself into any of the dialogues. Like Socrates, Plato was chiefly interested in moral philosophy and despised natural philosophy ( that is, science ) as an inferior and unworthy sort of knowledge. There is a famous story (probably apocryphal and told also of Euclid of a student asking Plato the application of the knowledge he was being taught. Plato at once ordered a slave to give the student a small coin that the might not think he had gained knowledge for nothing, then had him dismissed from school. To Plato, knowledge had no practical use, it existed for the abstract good of the soul. Plato was found of mathematics because of its idealized abstractions and its separation from the merely material. Nowadays, of course, the purest mathematics manages to be applied to the heavens. The heavenly bodies, he believed, exhibited perfect geometric form. This he expresses most clearly in a dialogue called Timaeus in which he presents his scheme of the universe. He describes the five ( and only five) possible regular solids– that is, those with equivalent faces and with allShow MoreRelatedPlatos Views On Life And Death1859 Words   |  8 Pagesfocusing on nonphysical forms as a means to the truth, Plato uniquely analyzes the true implications of life and death. Plato applies his personal viewpoints on the connection between soul and body in order to direct people towards an appropriate approach to life and prepare them for what to expect after. After much conversation with others, Plato created his own firm ideals about the topics of life and death that I am later going to compare to my own. Philosophers are known to be avid seekers of knowledgeRead MorePlatos The Apology : The Meaning Of Life759 Words   |  4 PagesPlato’s â€Å"The Apology† takes places in Athens in 399 BC. Socrates, a natural philosopher, is put on trial and accused of failing to recognize the god of Athens, creating new deities, and corrupting the minds of the city youth. The Athenians, Anytus, Meletus, and Lycon fear that Socrates’ teachings lack respect for the legal customs and religious beliefs established in the city and could create a damaging effect on Athens’ community (Dan I.(n.d.). In this piece, Plato writes an account of Socrates’Read MorePlatos Happiest Way of Life Essay780 Words   |  4 PagesPlatos Happiest Way of Life A just life in a just society would be the happiest possible way to live for Plato. Justice is defined as a balanced and well-integrated specialization of functions both within the scope of society and the individual. 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The similarities between Socrates’ definition of the Philosopher King of the aristocracy and the tyrant are that a single ruler governs over the republic. In some ways, the empowerment of a single individual provides a catalyst for an aristocratic engagement of the nobleman to support this form of governance. In these seeminglyRead MoreShutter Island : A Life In The Cave : Platos Allegory Of The Cave1677 Words   |  7 PagesHayley Vlaz-Troutman Professor Mileo Philosophy 243 17 Septemeber 2017 Shutter Island: A life in the cave Plato’s Allegory of the Cave dates back many years. However, it is relevant today in many ways. This view can be observed and experienced in our society, in our personal ways of thinking and being, and in many cinematic adventures one can enjoy. I chose to look at it in terms of personal application to find its relevancy andRead MoreImmanuel Kant : A Worthwhile Life In Platos Five Dialogues1632 Words   |  7 PagesWhat determines â€Å"a life worth living† has remained a question philosophers have asked since the birth of philosophy. Socrates, a well-known philosopher puts it simply: â€Å"The unexamined life is not worth living† (Plato 41). Now, this is wonderful advice if one could only figure out what exactly an â€Å"examined† life would consist of. While Socrates, through Plato’s Five Dialogues, provides a method for examination, it is not very clear what is always right or wrong. Immanuel Kant through his work, GroundworkRead MoreE ssay about The Value of Life in Plato’s Cave and the Divided Lines674 Words   |  3 Pages Plato’s Cave and the Divided Lines People must learn the value of life and the difference between living a dream and making your dreams come true. Being considered a father in western philosophy, Plato presented the Divided Line and Plato’s Cave to show the differences between the intelligent and visible world people live in; as the visible world being a world of one’s own reflections and shadowing’s, while the intelligent world is about the mind and thoughts. Plato uses a complex dialogue ofRead MoreIn the words attributed to Socrates in Plato’s Apology, â€Å"The unexamined life is not worth living.†1000 Words   |  4 PagesIn the words attributed to Socrates in Plato’s Apology, â€Å"The unexamined life is not worth living.† David Foster Wallace expands on this idea in his â€Å"Kenyon College 2005 Commencement Address,† pointing out the importance of awareness and escaping the natural, default-setting of an unconscious, self-centred life. While commencem ent speeches are typically epideictic—celebratory—in nature, Wallace takes a deliberative rhetorical stance. According to Fahnestock, deliberative discourse is used in order