Ancient philosophical influences Flashcards
What did Socrates believe society needed?
- Critical method of uncovering truth
- People need to be trained to look beneath the surface and ask questions
- Recognise the difference between knowledge and opinion to expose ignorance by asking questions
- People need to understand that there are limitations to knowledge
Describe the socratic method
Asking questions to clarify ideas e.g. counsellors are taught to only ask questions so they can come to their own conclusions and not be told what to do
Why was Socrates arrested?
Corrupting the youth against the Greek gods and put to death by poisonous hemlock
Name Socrates’ four paradoxes
- No one desires evil (Socrates served in army in war)
- No one does wrong willingly
- All virtue is knowledge
- Virtue is sufficient for happiness
Define ‘virtue’
Behaviour that shows high moral standards
Why is philosophy sometimes referred to as the ‘footnotes of plato’?
Some regard him as the greatest Philosopher of all time as many of his ideas still divide scholars today
After (1) died, Plato wrote to carry his legacy, he founded an school called (2) where he taught until he died, his family was one of the wealthiest and (3) in Athens, his uncle was leader of (4) who overthrew the Athenian (5)
1 - Socrates 2 - The Academy 3 - Politically active 4 - Thirty Tyrants 5 - Democracy
Describe ‘Platonic love’
Plato saw love as motivated by a longing for the highest form of beauty, love is the motivational power through which the highest of achievements are possible
What was Plato’s philosophical approach?
Emphasising the world of ideas and reason as the source of knowledge
Aristotle was one of (1) students and travelled to Athens aged (2) to study at The Academy, he followed the same philosophical techniques as (3)
1 - Plato’s
2 - 17
3 - Plato and Socrates (decided against many of Plato’s ideas)
Describe Aristotle’s philosophical approach
- Emphasising the physical world and experience as the basis of knowledge
- Founder of many sciences including physics, biology and psychology
- Tutored Alexander the Great
Give a quote from Plato
“The things that we see in the physical world around us and what we learn through experience are imitations and examples”
What did Plato notice in the world?
Constantly changing
Describe Plato’s theory of reality and forms
- True reality exists beyond normal perceptions of the world
- What we perceive is a shadow of the truth
- The real world is unchanging and eternal, it is a world of ideas not senses where there are perfect forms of everything we know on this earth
How does Plato describe the material world?
Transitory - moves in time and space, relative, changing, impermanent, superficial, contradictory, sensory, measurable and imperfect
How does Plato describe the Realm of forms?
Outside of time and space, real, absolute, unchanging, permanent, superior, beyond the senses, immeasurable and perfect
Quote the Republic 507b
“And we say that the particulars are objects of sight but not of intelligence while the forms are the objects of intelligence but not of sight”
What is a form?
Not a shape but the essence of the object
How do we recognise a form?
We are born with a dim recollection of them from our prior existence in the world of forms, the soul is the inner part of humanity that is eternal and unchanging, before it was attached to the body it was connected with the real world of forms
What are the criticisms of the realm of forms?
- Only exists for philosophers
- Ordinary people struggle to see past this illusion of the world because they are ruled by their senses
- Only the person who investigates and questions can learn the truth behind the illusion
- Only the philosopher is capable of making judgements because he can think independently of his senses
How do we see the realm of forms?
We see this world through sunlight and eyes, the realm of forms must be seen with the mind’s eye and the force of intellect to appreciate the forms but we need a ‘sun equivalent’ to illuminate them which is form of good
How are the forms arranged?
- Hierarchy
- Form of good is the most important because it illuminates and gives value to all other forms
- Goodness is the purest and most abstract
- Higher forms are justice, wisdom, courage and beauty
It is only (1) which causes immorality, people steal and lie because they’re ignorant of the (2)
1 - ignorance
2 - form of honesty
Describe Plato’s allegory of the cave
- Group of prisoners trapped in a cave since birth
- Puppeteer cast shadows of objects against the wall
- Prisoners believed the shadows were real
- One of the prisoners set free and found an opening to the outside world
- They adjusted to the light, saw colour, smell and texture
- Fell and stumbled so they were outcasted by the other prisoners
