D Socrates believed philosophy should achieve actual practical…

D Socrates believed philosophy should achieve actual practical…

D

Socrates believed philosophy should achieve actual practical results for the well-being of society. He seeked to create an ethical system that would not be based on religious doctrine but instead on human reason.

He believed that decisions that humans make are based by the desire to be happy and that therefore the wisdom comes from knowing yourself. When a person knows himself, then the person has a greater capacity to make decision that will bring actual happiness. He did not have any writings and everything we know of Socrates comes from mainly his students, Xenophon and Plato.

One of the truly fascinating aspects of Socrates, is his how his philosophy rejected myths that explained the world. He always seeked to find rational and mathematical answers to find solutions to questions about nature with reason and logic. This is truly remarkable considering the era in which he was living in. Questioning myths and religious books even today would spark a lot of backlash so doing so in over 2400 years ago speaks volume of Socrates.

Socrates’ views would continue to live on in the form of major philosophical movements such as Platonism. Plato was a student of Socrates and Plato’s academy would go on to teach Aristotle who would become the advisor to Alexander the Great. His views on life of austerity combined with morality was later adopted into Stoicism. Socrates’ stature in Western Philosophy was reinforced in the Renaissance era as well as the Age of Reason era in Europe. John Locke was just one philosopher who would adopt much of Socrates’ political theory.

 

1.      According to Socrates, an unexamined life is not worth living; and it certainly could not be a virtuous life. Why not?

2.      In spite of the fact that Socrates claims to be ignorant of the essence or nature of certain things like justice, he is wise insofar as he recognizes that without such knowledge actions are rationally unjustified. That is, his wisdom consists in his recognition not only that he is ignorant of such essences but also that:

3.       According to Socrates, the value or quality of one’s life depends on understanding the principles of, or basic rationale for human existence. Without such knowledge (he suggests) life lacks virtue, because:

4.       According to Socrates, it is important that we discover what makes a particular action (e.g., a merciful or just act) the kind of action that it is, because without such knowledge:

5.       For Socrates, the belief that “virtue is knowledge” is related to his claim that “the unexamined life is not worth living,” because he believes that:

6.      Socrates’ claim that “the unexamined life is not worth living” is often cited as a central theme in the activities of people. By it, Socrates is typically understood to mean that:

7.       According to Socrates, the task of the wise and virtuous person is not simply to learn various examples of just or virtuous actions but to learn the essence of justice or virtue, because:

8.      Plato indicates that the knowledge of pure reason is preferable to conceptual understanding, because knowing that something is a certain kind of thing is not as good as knowing:

9.       Like most rationalists, Plato defines knowledge as justified true belief. In terms of this definition, we might be able to claim to know something as true which might actually be false, but it is impossible for us really to know something that is false. Why?

10.  Plato distinguishes knowledge from mere belief or opinion by saying that knowledge must be a true belief for which one can give a justification, a rationale, or “logos.” In terms of his image of the Divided Line, for Plato, knowledge is attained only when our sensible experience is: