Plato’s The Republic discusses the effects being uneducated prisoners would have on humans and how we may have reacted to the “real” world. Applying Socrates’s theory to life today, and how children perceive the world will prove how we are the uneducated prisoners. The world we live in is the “cave” Socrates describes. If we think about as that we only get to see the shadows that the media shows us. Our chains are the society we live in, how everything around us in censored by someone and we are not even fully aware this is happening. The only way we see “reality” is if we see it first-hand, before people come and warp the story and facts. Then we can see some of the light from the mouth of the cave. But, this is impossible for us to see every
In accordance with the New Oxford American Dictionary, a craft is a skilled activity or profession, whereas an analogy compares two things that are alike in some way. In addition, a democratic system is a system of government by the whole population or all the eligible members of a state, typically through elected representatives (Merriam-Webster, 2003). Nonetheless, this paper will focus on a debate that deals with the opposite and agreement that involves; governing a craft the same way as medicine or shoemaking and the implications it has on democracy. However, in the republic by Plato, Socrates uses craft to illustrate various ways of justice and virtues. Also, Socrates views the craft of analogy as comparing two different kinds of activities
Socrates once said, “The unexamined life is not worth living.” He questioned the very nature of why things were the way they were, while never settling for simple, mundane answers. Socrates would rather die searching for the truth than live accepting what he considered a blatant lie. I like to think of myself the same way. I too would rather examine the wonders of life rather than accept what I am just told. The truth is some can’t handle the truth. I on the other hand welcome it with earnest anticipation and fervent enthusiasm.
In Walter Mosley’s Always Outnumbered, Always Outgunned, the reader is introduced to Socrates Fortlow, an ex-convict who served twenty-seven years for murder and rape. Fortlow is plagued by guilt and, seeing the chaos in his town, feels a need to improve not only his own standards of living, but also those of others in Watts. He attempts this by teaching the people in Watts the lessons he feels will resolve the many challenges the neighbourhood faces. The lessons Fortlow teaches and the methods by which he teaches them are very similar to those of the ancient Greek philosopher for whom Fortlow was named: “‘We was poor and country. My mother couldn’t afford school so she figured that if she named me after somebody smart then maybe I’d get smart’” (Mosley, 44). Though the ancient Greek was born to be a philosopher and Fortlow assumed the philosopher role as a response to the poor state of his life and Watts, both resulted in the same required instruction to their populations. The two Socrates’ both utilize a form of teaching that requires their pupil to become engaged in the lesson. They emphasize ethics, logic, and knowledge in their instruction, and place importance on epistemology and definitions because they feel a problem cannot be solved if one does not first know what it is. Socrates was essential in first introducing these concepts to the world and seemed to be born with them inherent to his being, Fortlow has learned the ideals through life experience and is a real-world application in an area that needs the teachings to get on track. While the two men bear many similarities, their differences they are attributed primarily as a result of their circumstances provide the basis of Fortlow’s importance in Watts and as a modern-...
As Source A stated, “forced schooling: six classes a day, five days a week, nine months a year, for twelve years.” Source B also outlines the strict scheduales in schooling by presenting a bell scheduale that is followed every day in a public school. Both Source A and Source B present arguments about the ridig structure of the school system. There is very little individuality within school days, students are required to be in every class and repeat these expections for twelve years. As Source E adds, “nothing of what it costs to repair the damage that these angry and resentful prisoners do every time they get a chance.” Source E is quick to compare America’s school system to America’s prison system in that public school presents structured days in oder to promote conformity to all. These constant and long school says that America’s kids are exposed to every day hardly promote creativity, free time, or individuality for children. Instead, it promotes conformity and teaches kids to be able to sit for eight hours a day bored out of their
I am going to attempt to show that although the argument that Socrates makes in The Republic by Plato is valid, it is not sound. I am going to explain his argument and challenge a premise that he has made to support his argument.
Socrates presents a lengthy discussion about the lifestyle of the guardians. Socrates states that females will be raised and taught together with males, receiving the same education and taking on the same political roles. This method will benefit the ideal city. Socrates then deliberates the necessity that all spouses and children be held in common. For guardians, sexual intercourse will only take place during certain fixed times of year, designated as festivals. Males and females will be made husband and wife at these festivals for roughly the duration of sexual intercourse. The pairings will be determined by lot. Some of these people, those who are most admirable and thus whom we most wish to reproduce might have up to four or five spouses
Socrates was a revolutionary thinker. He brought new ideas and processes of thought to Athenian society and his work still has its place in the world today. However during his time, his ideas were not always thought of as a good thing. Many viewed him as a corrupting influence on other people and accused him of forcing his ideas upon others. Perhaps most frequently the center of controversy was his thoughts on theocracy and piety as seen in the Plato’s Euthyphro. Socrates also appears at the butt end of Aristophanes’ comedy Clouds, where he is satirically ridiculed and seemingly corrupting the youth of Athens in his school, the Thinkery. Although virtually completely seen as a positive influence now, in ancient times, Socrates may have done more harm than good for his society.
Dodd, Vikram. "Why Prison Education?." . Prison Studies Project, Teaching Research Outreach, 16 Jan. 2010. Web. 12 Apr. 2014. .
In “The Allegory of the Cave,” Plato describes the cave as very dark with chained people inside and a wall where they can only see shadow illusions, which they believe is reality. Outside the cave, there is “light” and “truth.” One chained person is released into the “light,” which is uncomfortable at first, because of how bright the “light” or “truth” is however, once he adjusts, he realizes the outer world is the “truth” or reality and the cave is a shadow of reality. He pities the ones in the cave, still lost in the darkness yet, when he tries to make them see reality, their ignorance overpowers them and they kill the enlightened one out of fear and confusion. This is the kind of society, full of puppet-handlers, the narrator Sylvia in “The Lesson” dwells in and the author, Toni Cade Bambara, depicts Sylvia as being freed from the chains of ignorant society. Bambara’s released prisoner, Miss Moore, is the one to free Sylvia and the other chained prisoners and exposes them to the “light,” which is the unequal distribution of wealth and the “truth,” which is educating youth on economic inequality so the freed prisoners can learn to change their society’s shadow of reality.
There are times in every mans life where our actions and beliefs collide—these collisions are known as contradictions. There are endless instances in which we are so determined to make a point that we resort to using absurd overstatements, demeaning language, and false accusations in our arguments. This tendency to contradict ourselves often questions our character and morals. Similarly, in The Trial of Socrates (Plato’s Apology), Meletus’ fallacies in reason and his eventual mistake of contradicting himself will clear the accusations placed on Socrates. In this paper, I will argue that Socrates is not guilty of corrupting the youth with the idea of not believing in the Gods but of teaching the youth to think for themselves by looking to new divinities.
Every day the human race is enlightened by new information that challenges the way people operate. The philosopher Plato observed the natural human reactions to new information and used a perfect analogy of a “cave” to describe human tendencies to fall back on old habits and beliefs but also how this can change overtime. Plato describes a situation where prisoners have been kept in a cave there since their earliest memory. These prisoners are chained to one another in such a way that forces them to look at a wall. Behind the prisoners toward the entrance of the cave is a big fire; in front of the fire is a small wall that creates a projection on the far wall that the prisoners can see. Throughout the day guards hold puppets and objects that cast shadows on the far wall; these projections would be the prisoner’s world, and overtime become their truth as it would be all they had ever known...
The passage from Plato’s myth of the cave, “For the prisoners, reality would consist of nothing but the shadows,” emphasize the nature of how people can perceive the world. Perception is key and that one could imagine anything. Being trapped as a prisoner, there are limited resources that one can understand about reality. Coming out of the cave, we can see the unrestricted world. The realization that there is more than what the cave holds, brings upon that the shadow cannot hold them further back. The world passed the caves brings opportunity for individuals to set their own standards and intellectual ideas in how they see the world because not everything is what they emerge to be. Similar to people, there might be a mask that had not yet fallen off of a face. We must discover
How would you feel if someone called you a sophist? Before you answer, it's important to know how the meaning of this word has evolved. "During the fifth century, sophists were teachers, speakers, and philosophers who were paid to use rhetoric (Mardner 1)." But many people opposed their style of teaching. Socrates was a philosopher who disagreed with the Sophist's point-of-view. The main differences between the Sophist and Socrates were their views on absolute truth.
The history and the evolution of what we know as law, has developed out of many different viewpoints and philosophies. It has been the result of the operational and manipulative aspects of public affairs, and also seems to be the creation of different philosophical systems. There have been many that have been innovators in this area of thought from political leaders and dictators, to others who were simple political idealists and philosophers. Through the wisdom and teachings of Plato, law has evolved into many different systems, and through this paper we will discuss the impact this particular philosopher had had on our modern system of democracy. We will also try to recognize that law will continue to evolve, as does man throughout history.
Philosophy can be defined as the pursuit of wisdom or the love of knowledge. Socrates, as one of the most well-known of the early philosophers, epitomizes the idea of a pursuer of wisdom as he travels about Athens searching for the true meaning of the word. Throughout Plato’s early writings, he and Socrates search for meanings of previously undefined concepts, such as truth, wisdom, and beauty. As Socrates is often used as a mouthpiece for Plato’s ideas about the world, one cannot be sure that they had the same agenda, but it seems as though they would both agree that dialogue was the best way to go about obtaining the definitions they sought. If two people begin on common ground in a conversation, as Socrates often tries to do, they are far more likely to be able to civilly come to a conclusion about a particular topic, or at least further their original concept.