Outline of the Pre-Socratic philosophers where the principle grouping is in terms of various kinds of Monism as against Pluralism. That is to say the question is whether here is one basic element that counts for everything or whether there are many basic elements. That would be obviously kind of Qualitative Monism or Pluralism. But it also involves a quantitative question whether the universe is numerically one, all-inclusive, solid kind of sphere or whether there are numerically many kinds of distinguishable things. Quantitative Monism is going to arise some very fundamental questions about the reliability of our sense experience. Because if sense experience tells us we are many in number, the theory becomes we are one in number, there is …show more content…
Now disregard for a moment that you don’t think it’s an element, he wasn’t to know that. It still sounds as rather a wild hypothesis. But water is a remarkably adaptable kind of thing. It comes in liquid, solid and vapour, it is essential to life, to vegetation, it is fundamental to everything that goes on, that necessity. Then understandably Thales conjectured that this is the basic stuff. But he wasn’t the only person. This fluidity is best represented by tragedy. Examander who because he recognised that you had not only wetness, you have also dryness. He began to see you have opposing qualities. And the same in other regards. Heat and cold, light and dark, male and female. If you have opposing qualities, no one could be more basic than the other; he supposed that the basic element would be something that is indefinable. That it cannot be defined, delineated, marked off; that it always means the border or demarcation line. Such a non-categorical entity is best represented by Tiresias, the …show more content…
E.g. is a saucer concave or convex; its aspect changes with the viewer’s position. So to say that the saucer is both concave and convex is to talk about the double aspect. What Pythagoras and Heraclitus are impressed with is that there are two aspects to everything in nature. On one hand, everything seems to be in a process of change on the other hand there is order, what we call uniformity of nature, predictability. To think of that change, Heraclitus suggested that the basic element is like fire since fire is always changing (flickering flames – constant change). Yet on the other hand this is an ordered universe, there’s regularity. So you have both change and
The first realm is the Physical world that we can observe with our senses. And second, is a world made of eternal “forms” or “ideas.” He believes that there exists another dimension where perfect templates exist. This means forms are mind-independent entities. Forms are independently existent whether we grasp them with our mind but do not depend on being grasped in order to exist. In the Allegory Plato compares the level of becoming to living in a cave and describes the ordeal necessary for the soul’s ascent from shadowy illusions to enlightenment. From just an opinion to an informed opinion to rationally based knowledge to
A simple process formed the backbone of most Greek philosophy. The ancients thought that by combining two equally valid but opposite ideas, the thesis and the antithesis, a new, higher truth could be achieved. That truth is called the synthesis. This tactic of integrating two seemingly opposite halves into a greater whole was a tremendous advance in human logic. This practice is illustrated throughout Oedipus at Colonus in regard to Sophocles’ portrayal of vision, sight, and the eye. In Colonus, there are many and varied descriptions of the aspects of the eye, whether the eye be human or divine. To Sophocles, the eye must have been a synthesis, both physical and spiritual, yet something apart from both.
Whereas objects in our world might be more or less equal to each other, the Equal is perfect and stable, existing with other perfect and stable entities in a world of 'being' rather than in our world of 'becoming' where everything is imperfect and changeable. Plato called all imperfect and changeable entities 'particulars' to differentiate them from the Forms -- the unalterable and perfect 'universals'.
For Plato, Forms are eternal and changeless, but there is a relationship between these eternal and changeless Forms and particular things we perceive by means of our senses in the world. These particular things change in accordance to the perceiver and the perceiver’s environment and this is why Plato thought that such things do not possess real existence. For Plato, onl...
In the play Meno, written by Plato, there is a point in which Meno asks that Socrates give a definition of shape. In the end of it, Socrates is forced to give two separate definitions, for Meno considers the first to be foolish. As the two definitions are read and compared, one is forced to wonder which, if either of the two, is true, and if neither of them are true, which one has the most logic. When comparing the first definition of shape: "that which alone of existing things always follows color," to the second definition: "the limit of a solid", it can be seen that the difference in meaning between the two is great. Not only in the sense that the first is stated simply and can be defended easily, while the later is more difficult to comprehend and back up; but also in the sense that the second would have to involve the defiance of mathematical theories and/or proofs in order to stand true, while the first does not. It should also be noted that in the first definition, the word "a" is never mentioned. Socrates is not making a statement about "a shape" or "a color", but about shape and color themselves. In the definition given to please Meno, Socrates' words are "a shape" and "a solid". It can be taken from earlier discussions in the play that the second definition is simply a definition of a shape, rather than a definition of shape in and of itself.
In Federalist No. 10, James Madison stresses that “measures are too often decided, not according to the rules of justice and the rights of the minor party, but by the superior force of an interested and overbearing majority.” Madison philosophized that a large republic, composed of numerous factions capable of competing with each other and the majority must exist in order to avoid tyranny of majority rule.# When Federalist No. 10 was published, the concept of pluralism was not widely used. However, the political theory that is the foundation for United States government was the influential force behind pluralism and its doctrines.
Rene Descartes certainly didn't lack for credentials. As the "Father of Rationalism," "Father of Modern Philosophy," and originator of Cartesian geometry, he had more than enough interests to fill his spare time. But his role as "Father of Skepticism" helped popularize a major change in thinking about the nature of human experience. Dualism, or the doctrine that mind and body are of two distinct natures, is one of the key philosophical problems inherited by psychology. In both philosophy and psychology there have been several attempts to reconcile the mind and body.
Meanwhile, Aristotle's hylomorphism is necessary here, however, in that he would like to be able to explain how living things are generated and change and grow. “For Aristotle this is the matter. Matter can take on new forms some of which are accidental while some our essential”. It is clear from this quote that Aristotle means something very different by his use of Forms. While Plato believed Forms were universal truths that can only be truly known to the immortal soul, Aristotle believed the Forms to be fully knowable through investigation unlike Plato's theory, “which sees individual things in this world as somehow participating in the unchanging world of the Forms, has difficult with explaining how thing...
He argues that non-physical forms or ideas represent the most accurate reality. There exists a fundamental opposition between in the world like the object as a concrete, sensible object and the idea or concept of the objects. Forms are typically universal concepts. The world of appearance corresponds to the body. The world of truth corresponds with the soul. According to Plato, for any conceivable thing or property there is a corresponding Form, a perfect example of that or property is a tree, house, mountain, man, woman, Table and Chair, would all be examples of existing abstract perfect Ideas. Plato says that true and reliable knowledge rests only with those who can comprehend the true reality behind the world of everyday experience. In order to perceive the world of the Forms, individuals must undergo a difficult
Pluralism is present through the variety of demographics in operation within states and societies as well as universal suffrage in democratic nations meaning that there is the opportunity to participate politically. However, this is undermined by the presence of spoils system, clientelism, pressure groups and fundraising organisations. Spoils systems are when power is allocated to officials due to their connections with elites rather than based purely on their own merits. This may be seen in the US; although technically ended by the Pendleton Act (1883), Presidents are more likely to choose friends or campaign colleagues due to trust having been built such as Sestak or Romanoff with Obama. This weakens pluralism as the President is becoming more dictatorial rather than voters choosing the officials, although it may be argued that this is in fact legitimate as the public votes in the president which gives them a mandate to govern accordingly. But with the presence of flawed electoral systems clearly shown by President Bush winning the minority of popular vote in the 2004 election due to the warped nature of the electoral college this argument that the people vote for the presidents and therefore his actions are representative is diminished.
Socrates is easily one of the most well known names in the history of philosophy. He is even portrayed via the magic of Hollywood time travel in the popular movie “Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure” and was more recently quoted inaccurately on a t-shirt as saying, “I drank what?” Despite his fame, Socrates was not the first philosopher by far, and certainly not the earliest to make meaningful contributions to the field of philosophy. Some of the great “Pre-Socratics” include Anaximenes, Parmenides, Xenophane, and Democritus. The philosophical issues of their days were significantly different from the popular discussions today, though no less relevant, and provide ample fodder for the cannon of philosophical consideration. The issues in consideration here that may benefit from discussion are the problem of the one and the many, the distinction between phusis and nomos as regards the nature of god(s), and distinction between appearance and reality. Appropriate and thorough discussion of these topics in the pre-Socratic context is certain to yield insight into the connection between these three issues.
He also used evidence based on observation. If the earth were not spherical, lunar eclipses would not show segments with a curved outline. Furthermore, when one travels northward or southward, one does not see the same stars at night, nor do they occupy the same positions in the sky. (De Caelo, Book II, chapter 14) That the celestial bodies must also be spherical in shape, can be determined by observation. In the case of the stars, Aristotle argued that they would have to be spherical, as this shape, which is the most perfect, allows them to retain their positions. (De Caelo, Book II, chapter 11) By Aristotle's time, Empedocles' view that there are four basic elements - earth, air, fire and water - had been generally accepted. Aristotle, however, in addition to this, postulated a fifth element called aether, which he believed to be the main constituent of the celestial bodies.
According to Plato, his Theory of Forms states perfection only lives in the realm of thought. There only exists one of every ideal and the rest is just a copy. This one creation is called a form, the most flawless representation of an idea. In the physical world everything is a copy of these forms and all copies are imperfect. Plato believed in two worlds; the intelligible world and the illusionistic world. The intelligible world is where everything is unchanging and eternal. We can only grasp the intelligible world with our mind. It is the world of ideas and not senses. A place where there are perfect forms of the things we know on Earth. According to Plato everything in the world we live in is an illusion. All objects are only shadows of their true forms. His theory further states every group of objects that have the same defying properties must have an ideal form. For example, in the class of wine glasses there must be one in particular that is the ideal wine glass. All others would fall under this ideal form.
He has a student who shared most of his beliefs, his name was Anaximander. While Anaximander shared Thales belief of material monism, he belied the material to be something different. He thought water to be too finite, and that even though there was a possibility that water could form everything, there had to be another substance instead. The substance Anaximander believed to be the one that made everything up was Apeiron which is the Greek word for boundless. He believed if everything was going to be made up of something the material had to be boundless and indefinite yet malleable. This material had to lend itself to be shaped or put in a boundary but not permanently, at one point it had to break to break down to become something else. Anaximander never really chose a specific material and left it as a "something" however, he was the first man to describe an early theory of evolution and gravity. Anaximander's early theory of evolution, was that he believed that humans came from a fish. He believed that the early humans had to have had a thorny skin as a way to hold water in. Furthermore, he believed that humans came from fish. As a way of explaining how humans survived the first ears of lives he suggested that they grew in the bellies of fish until puberty and then came out able to sustain themselves. Still, life began in the water. Anaximander, also showed early notions of gravity and though he thought that the earth was shaped like a column, he understood that something was evenly pulling the earth in place. Anaximander became a teacher as well and down his to his student Anaximenes.
In whatever manner the mechanics of Tiresias' prophetic sight function, to understand the nature of truth, they must include deciphering the ambiguous. As a true slave of Loxias, he is incapable of directly telling Oedipus the truth but always speaks enigmatically. An extreme annoyance to Oedipus, such seemingly vague speech may be the only way that the truth may be expressed. Tiresias is thus fluent in the language of truth and is speaking to Oedipus, who claims to excel in deciphering riddles, in the clearest manner.