Plato's Definition Of Happiness Essay

Albert Einstein asserted “adversity introduces a man to himself” because in hard times you get to know yourself better and know what you’re capable of doing. Everyone has some kind of talents that are hidden which are brought out when they face adversities. But some people may think why is it only brought out when we we face adversities; however, i believe that whether we like it or not adversities are a part of our life and it is our duty to overcome them. Just like how the Roman poet Horace stated adversity has the effect of eliciting talents which in prosperous circumstances would have lain dormant. I agree with Horace because our inner potentials are brought out only when we face difficulties and misfortunes in life because adversities gives the opportunity to build a character with our inner hidden potentials to overcome our adversities.

I believe this because of the existence of so much judgment among Equality 7-2521’s fellow men. They believed it should be a certain way of living and completing conventional tasks which was absurd and irrational. “The moral principle to adopt in the issue, is: Judge, and be prepared to be judged.” stated by Rand. I feel that Equality 7-2521 wanted to escape this concept. The motive powers of his fellow men were to keep everyone as single-minded as possible which led to the many rationalizations of Equality 7-2521’s distinctive ways.

Materialistic desires can be defined as any non-essential item one owns. And lastly, a noble life is a life full of purpose and adherence to said purpose or purposes. Socrates’s argument rests upon two essential premises. One, that truth, self-discovered wisdom, logic, and reason are the most important aspects of life. And secondly, that one should forgo material desires and concern over reputation for the sake of the first premise.

So according to Plato, “knowledge” and “virtue” are corollary meaning that as long as one exists the other will follow. He says that as long as you are aware of the truth and you know what the good is, it automatically means you will do the good. We all have the capacity to see the truth and the “eidos” of the good but it needs to be developed. Once it is developed that means it is logical that you will automatically do what

Thucydides and Plato have a clear set boundary in their writings as to what type of assertion they are fabricating. Thucydides sets a very narrow view with his piece of The Peloponnesian War that holds more weight in solid evidence of what a “good life” is demonstrated as. Plato, on the other hand, has several writings that go into depth of weighing what someone’s soul ought to have within itself. The statement of Thucydides making empirical claims, with Plato making normative claims, is supported with evidence in their respected works. For a claim to be considered similar to an empirical one, it must be almost like it is a law to be followed.

Socrates shows that the three parts of the soul, reason, thumos, and appetites must work in harmony much like the city to achieve optimal success. Only through harmony can the soul just. When the soul is just, the body can function properly as a whole. At this point, the quest for knowledge can be achieved. Through knowledge, one can ultimately achieve the good.

This idea comes into play often when choosing leaders to follow. If a person promiseś us one thing that we crave but while achieving that for us will do things we do not believe morally right we force ourselves to focus solely on that thing we want and overlook what we don´t. In our minds we are justifying the leaderś actions as necessary because they lead to our ¨prize¨, an example of cognitive dissonance effects.. This is especially true in ¨Lord of the Flies¨ when the boys desert Ralph to join Jack. Ralph is a natural leader and commands respect having ¨a stillness about [him]¨ that ¨marks him out¨ (Golding, 22) from the rest of the boys.

In Plato’s Republic, Socrates utilizes logical dialogue with his fellow Athenians to uncover the timeless and elusive ideal of justice. The dilemma begins to surface in book II through Glaucon’s challenging that justice is not inherently, but rather consequentially good. Socrates argues that justice is among the highest of virtues that are both consequentially and intrinsically good, individually defining it as the harmony of the tripartite soul: the balance between reason, appetite, and spirit (132). Upon further investigation, however, Socrates’ assertion not only fails to refute Glaucon’s argument for people’s reluctance toward justice, but he is also unsuccessful in outlining the innate worth behind the ideal. Nonetheless, Socrates’ endeavor

That is freedom. This is nothing else.” (Rand, 101) All along he knew his happiness came from being alone, yet it wasn’t till now he realized the great burden of constantly serving others. His great epiphany derived the question, “What is my life, if I am but to bow, to agree and obey?” (Rand, 97) At this point he realizes his curse of exising as inquisive is actually his “greatest virtue.” (Rand) The thought of existing for others becomes repelling and Equality instead makes his goal to fight for the freedom on man and for the welfare that comes from

“I doubted at first whether I should attempt the creation of a being like myself or one of simpler organization; but my imagination was too much exalted by my first success to permit me to doubt of my ability to give life to an animal as complex and wonderful as man.” (35) Victor 's self-absorbed nature leaves him no other choice as to always strive for the most demanding challenge, as he is confident he will not fail. Therefore, he chooses to build a human being as his project, a recreation of his own self. This undertaking eventually proved itself to be the ultimate peak of his pathological narcissism. It was his hubris as he indisputably attempted to play God. He created a 'self ' purely after himself and his ideas.