Plato’s Writings Essay

This paper will discuss several of Platos literary productions much(prenominal) as The Apology, Phaedo, Crito, etc. The paper will be in part an analysis and in part a presentation of the philosophical system of Plato through with(predicate) is writings as well as his writings in accordance with Socrates school of thought.MortalityHu hu realityness nature is a nature of causation, non strictly adherent to passion or feelings. morals whence, becomes the crux of this nature. Morality is reason. This is non to say that Plato was an ascetic he placed passion, and feelings in his school of thought just the ethics of gentle macrocosmity are tied into the good of a mortal because reasonably, being virtuous, or good led a some one(a) to being happy (eudemonism). Anything else that a someone may be presented with and make to make a choice, that choice should be rooted in virtue. whatsoever else is chosen by free will should simply serve to do that person virtuous. Plato was a art object filled with faith in hu hu hu opuskindness nature. Platos ism of human race nature doing despicable was that a person only does evil in ignorance, for he deald e trulyone, just as himself wants only what is good. The source of someone doing evil is brought about by unlimited desire. Something that goes blooming(prenominal) becomes possessive of that person and they in turn want, and want, without satiation. This is when the appetitive part of the intelligence (the part of the brain that wants sex, food, etc.) overtakes the rational (part seeking truth, and reason) of the soul resulting in moral weakness or akrasia. It is not and so self-interest that leads a person to happiness, and on that point is a explicit equilibrium between the all toldowance of distributively part of the soul head by reason, and asceticism. Plato was a not a Sophist. Without the guidance of moral reason then a farming of pandemonium would ensue entailing an everyman for himse lf type of attitude. Morality essentialiness then be shown as adhering to individual interests. Plato did not agree with the type of hedonism exhibited by the Sophists, who thought human nature was an extension of the animal world. Instead, Plato states that the nature of man is reason and in this reason exists an organized union constructed by reason. Happiness for the rational man then comes into fruition by governing their more base, animal, desires, which are irrational. This devotion is extended into the realm of confederacy because of human interaction. on that pointfore, if a man is to be the pinnacle of reason, and morality, and happiness, then the guild that he lives and associates must then too exhibit such a moral temperance. If then a golf club is blinded by hedonism, or pure desire of self, a man in that rescript has no hope for personal happiness because of neglect of morality, reason, and thus fully succumbing to akrasia.Platos Phaedo and ImmortalityThe r ealm of the reasoning man, according to Plato in his work Phaedo, is extrapolated by Socrates, that is, a man who is within reason also must admit to the fundamental truths regarding brio after death. That is to say, in Socrates story of immortality, in that location remains the outlook that the be and the soul are not eternally combined but the soul is grounded in the body through emotions, and feral states of macrocosm. When the soul is released from such torpor, it then reclines back into its previous non-corporeal state to either rest, or to transform and reinvent itself in the world. The soul, according to Socrates, is that which is in us that commands and it is the body that serves. The soul then, according to the previous statement is created in the divine will, and since divinity canfulnot be learnd through the corporeal, the body must be mortal, and therefore finite. The soul on the other hand is infinite. The soul is the image of divinity in the soul there is pitc h an sodding(a) existence of transformation. The reasonable man must then accept the wave-particle duality of the body and soul, as well as accept their harmony he must distance the thinker that the body and the soul are one. The body is mortal, and can succumb to dissolution, but according to Socrates, the soul is indissoluble. The soul then has a life of her own. Socrates questions the ideas of what humankind supposes to be immortal. God is immortal, and the diversity of enlightenment and hell in all fallible senses is immortal, but the reasonable man but design for himself the idea that he too is of a mountain chain of divinity. The soul is associated with the ideal and the invisible. The body commands emotions, and its fate lies within those external circumstances, that is nature, but the soul, in Socrates view is above nature.The soul is a higher self. As the introduction to Phaedo states, The human being alone has the consciousness of truth and referee and love, which is the consciousness of God. And the soul becoming more conscious of these, becomes more conscious of her own immortality (23). The soul hinges upon the realization that she is immortal. In that consciousness, and in that state of being, there exists God, and all that is immortal. Therefore, Socrates is trying to define the perimeters of immortality, and the fact that a reasonable man cannot indubitably believe that the body and the soul will perish, but must in fact take credence to the soul existing at a higher level of existence, that is, at the level with God. Socrates is placing a persuasion system in his dialectic, and in so doing he goes into analyzing the existence of God, or the intangible being that is the divine. In Phaedo Socrates circulates his ideas around the immortality of the soul and the acceptance of this by the reasoning man on the basis of the dimension that God portrays. By dimension, suffice it to say that God, in divine right, is perfect. It is in that perfecti on that man may find allusions to his reasoning, and by so doing, reason that since the soul is of God, then man himself is immortal, as Plato wrights, An evil God, or an indifferent God competency have had the power but not the will, to preserve us simply is he is perfect, he must will that all rational beings should apportion of that perfection which he himself is (23). Life after death then is a veritablety on a celestial level. Socrates is attempting to connect his theory of intimacy with that of the souls ability to reincarnate or transform or simply exist beyond the development of the natural world. In this philosophy he attempts to bring forth the ideas of past and future states of existence. He is attempting to define eternity, which is incomprehensible to the mortal keen, but with the soul, the soul being undoubtedly of a higher fiber than that of the mundane, Socrates must conclude that the mind itself is therefore aquiline on an ephemeral essence that is beyond its comprehension. This type of thought bear upon is one that is known as the transcendental method of interpretation.The Apology and The subvertIn The Apology Plato presents Socrates explanation of immortality. The Apology presents the principles of Socrates in that philosophers should be basal and admit that they know nothing. Also, in this book Socrates is explaining why he is being persecuted and the following few paragraphs will highlight his philosophy about religion.Socrates taught philosophy in a question answer dialogue. The dialectic art of arriving at the truth was the system Socrates used. In this regard he would arrive at the truth by questioning the belief of engaged speakers in a philosophic circle. Although this idea of philosophy may come across as non-confrontational, Socrates used this method to verbally jab at the speaker until they themselves found fault in their philosophy, and through a system of negative or positive responses came to recognize the truth.This ty pe of philosophy has been likened to a cross run present in todays court rooms, where the person at a lower place oath is asked a series of questions that are both(prenominal) destructive and humiliating, until they are forced to acknowledge the truth, much like the arguments around Socrates. The aim of such confrontational questioning was al expressions about truth Socrates believed that this was the main end of philosophy, and philosophical discussions, and he believed that everyone involved with the account was in pursuit of this address as well. In order to be human, not only the idea of reflection upon life is necessary but in emphasizes of the use of the Socratic method in that reflection and in the course of finding the truth, questions are paired with such reflection. At this level, questioning and reflection are the superlative of what it means to be human. Socrates however had some varying views on philosophy that opposed some of what Plato believed. Socrates was a s keptic, as was Plato, and as can be exemplified in the cave metaphor, but Socrates also believed that a person can be convicted of their own beliefs even if they cannot find their pathway of truth.Plato, in contrast, believed that philosophers were the delegates who maintained what was and was not truth, and led the way to such truth for the common man. It is not then self-interest that leads a person to happiness, and there is a definite equilibrium between the allowance of each part of the soul guided by reason, and asceticism. Plato was a not a Sophist. Without the guidance of moral reason then a state of chaos would ensue entailing an everyman for himself type of attitude. It is a bitter debate on whether or not Socrates was a Sophist, he himself vehemently denied it but some of his philosophies correlated with Sophist thinking (i.e. the issues of ethics, and nutriment a good life, each Sophist preoccupations).Platos Crito, The Trial, Death of SocratesPlato is a firm believer in man not adhering to the masses tactual sensation but staying true to one singular person, a person of wisdom, and as Plato states through Socrates, And he ought to live and train, and eat and drink in the way which seems good to his single master who has understanding, rather than according to the opinion of all other men put together? Platos basic blandishment involves the golden rule of do unto others as you would have done unto you. There must then remain the basic principles of morality in society for society to maintain its virtuous code of ethics. Socrates gives many examples of when a man is injured then he in turn must not injure, for here is the principle of a moral society, and the society in which Plato was integral. Socrates is continually requesting of Crito whether or not it is right to do evil. For, Socrates states, that doing evil in return damages not only the man, but also the society in which the man presides. It is therefore unjust to do evil, for committing evil is the said(prenominal) as injuring man, and by extension, the call forth. Though the difference of partnership and dominator society is both prevalent in Platos Crito the difference can also be subjective. So, subjectively speaking there is a definite sense of the dominator society in Socrates adherence to their death sentence for him. Though Socrates philosophy dictates that the recite has to maintain control in order for morality to support society, Platos partnership with the State is deceived by the phallic nature of humans innate aptitude for error. If the State is do up of individuals, and in Platos own writings, man is presumable good, or at least strives to be good, the objective reader must not misinterpret this to mean that man will unendingly be good. In the absolute of this believe there can exist no room for fluctuation, and it is within the nature of humanity to be inconsistent, fallible, and wrong. Therefore, Socrates is misguided in the State, for the Sta te is within reason debile for its members are human. The State, according to Socrates is holier than father and obtain for they beget father and mother and all generations. It is because of the State that humanity exists, but it is also with the State that human nature is best exampled as dichotomized. The State and humanity are both good and bad, capable of very evil and wicked deeds as well as adhering to moral laws. Plato is optimistic with Socrates, or Socrates was a very gullible man who professed to the rightness involved with the State because he was a man who liked control and not chaos. With an objective mind, there must exist both sides of the spectrum, both control and chaos so that society can function. The dominator societies were about autocratic power and partnership societies were about share responsibility. Socrates placed his faith in not the masses but the one man that was full of wisdom that is, the State, Plato writes,Are we to say that we are neer intentio nally to do wrong, or that in one way we ought and in another way we ought not to do wrong, or is doing wrong evermore evil and dishonorable, as I was just now saying, and as has been already acknowledged by us? Are all our former admissions which were made within a few days to be thrown out? And have we, at our age, been earnestly discoursing with one another all our life long only to discover that we are no better than children? Or are we to rest assured, in malignity of the opinion of the many, and in spite of consequences whether better or worse, of the truth of what was then said, that injustice is always an evil and dishonor to him who acts unjustly? Shall we affirm that?Crito says yes, injustice is evil, and those who oppose the dictation of the State are acting with dishonor. Socrates forgets in his delusions of morality that the State is not always guided by such moral virtue, and that in its compromise of this, becomes evil. In current worldviews, there is a definite di ssatisfaction in the governing of certain states, such as mass genocide, child crimes, etc, and if a person is to believe fully in Socrates and Platos philosophy the State is just in such action.Work CitedMacDonald, Ross. Socrates versus Plato. Aspects of Education. P9-22. 1996.Plato. Phaedo. Plato. Crito. Translated by Benjamin Jowett. http//classics.mit.edu/Plato/crito.html