Descartes states that “I reflect therefore I am.” Descartes shows through his dualism that though the mind and body are separate , they are connected and reliant on one another. This is one key idea that separates Descartes from thinkers like Plato skeptic. The Matrix can be linked to great Philosophers such as Descartes and Plato and can present many key ideas that support their theories. The Matrix in itself shows a tremendous amount of Cartesian Skepticism. Cartesian Skepticism is the idea that we may only know something if we are certain of its truth, meaning that we know little to nothing about anything at all as many of us can not with confidence say we are 100% sure of anything.
“There is only one good, knowledge, and one evil, ignorance”. Socrates stated that people will instinctively do what is good, if they know what is right - stating that morality is only effective if society is enlightened through knowledge. Which raises further questions such as “what is knowledge, how do we know what we know, are we justified in knowing what we know?” Plato and Aristotle dedicated a lot of their time to a field of Philosophy: Epistemology. Epistemology is the theory of knowledge. It tackles issues of production of knowledge and scepticism.
1 For Plato the chief distinction between knowledge and opinion is that knowledge is fixed, absolutely and eternally true (correct), while opinions are changeable and “unanchored.” Only in the realm of becoming can opinions change from true to false. 2 Plato wanted the theory of Forms to provide a rational explanation of how knowledge is possible. The forms are the foundation of Plato’s bold answer to the sophist’ skeptical assault on knowledge and to their relativistic rejection of universal (absolute) truths. Defense of absolute, unchanging truth is difficult under the best circumstances. Plato knew that unless he could offer more than faith in the existence of absolutes, more authoritarians and dogmatic pronouncement her would fail as a philosopher.
He could have fixated on the positive and negative consequences of a person's actions; such as what impact Euthyphro's prosecution would have on his family. Or, he could have fixated on whether a particular action complies with the rules or not, such as the question of whether his father transgressed a law. These are some approaches of other philosophers. However, these were not Plato's main intrigues; Plato was eager instead to consider, what actions are most salutary for the human soul. As a result, Plato is kenned for his fixate on virtue ethics, an approach to ethics that places highlight on one's moral character.
For many years great philosophers such as Socrates and Plato have defined and given great understanding into life and its moral ethics. Socrates was born in Athens in 469 BC. He was known to be one of the wisest men on earth. Socrates is credited as one of the founders of Western philosophy. Many individuals often as the question in their mind, “Who is the real Socrates?” Socrates never wrote philosophical text, his knowledge and philosophies were expresses based on the writings of his students such as Xenophon, Aristotle and Plato.
Plato on the other hand sees weakness to written communication. Oral communication gives one the chance to defend and refute, while written text can not refute when questioned. It can be inferred through the story of Thamus in the Phaderus that written text promotes forgetfulness and the lack of truly understanding the subject. When one speaks upon a topic efficiently, it is because they believe in the information through their own logic, leading ultimately to
PLATO: A PHILOSOPHER’S LEGACY Plato was a Greek philosopher that believed in eliminating all wrong and focusing on the good of everything as did his teacher, Socrates. He started the Athens’ Academy, striving to make ordinary people into philosophers so many could think, speak, and even vote more wisely than before. He, even today, remains a very important figure that inspired many other philosophers. Plato’s parents were Ariston and Perictione, and he had three siblings and one half-brother. He is very well-known for his numerous theories on ethical questions and such as his Theory of Forms.
This is a practical work answering all the theories of complex situations in human life. This work are the lessons of Aristotle’s lectures at Lyceum. The term “Ethics” deals with science to human behavior. Aristotle has shown reflection to real day society and has given us the path to make it organized. The term “Nicomachean” was used because it is believed that this text was either dedicated to or edited by son of Aristotle named Nicomachus.
First and foremost, it fails to adhere to the long-winded rules of imitation. The entire Republic is Plato’s attempts to imitate Socrates and his beliefs. Although Socrates could be considered to be a noble man to imitate and therefore Plato should not cower at imitating him, for he is a “good man...acting in a faultless and intelligent manner,” (396d) there is the presence of bullheaded Thrasymachus to be considered. In addition, Socrates himself engages in many acts of imitation throughout the Republic in his examples and theoretical
Eisele in his article ‘Must Virtue Be Taught?’ he states that indeed it can because even though the main theory is that virtue is knowledge and that it may be taught, there is no one to fully comprehend and define what virtue is and share the understanding of it with others. Eisle presents an insightful new theory that Socrates knows what virtue is and how to teach it because he is the best example of it. With virtue being equivalent to excellence, Eisle argues that Socrates ‘performs excellence in his incessant questioning and questing’ (Eisle, 1987: