plato

Question 1

What was the academy?

Answer 1

A school that Plato found which was a philosophical retreat that is separate from Athenian politics
-he wrote dialogues and taught here

Question 2

How did Plato reconcile theories of Heraclitus and paramenides?

Answer 2

He took their theories to create his theory of forms
Heraclitus: everything is always changing
Paramindes: change is an illusion, everything is the same, world of forms

Question 3

Three parts of the soul according to Plato?

Answer 3

Appetite
-the part of the soul that makes us move to get things > food and mates
Spirit
-the part of the soul that makes us want to achieve things and improve > school, achievements, work
Reason
-the only part of the soul capable of knowing
-guides our spirit and appetite
-makes rational decisions based on logic

Question 4

Plato’s instrumental theory of morality and functionalist theory of morality

Answer 4

instrumental theory of morality:
-theory that right/wrong are determined by the consequences of acts
-right/wrong actions are instruments for some other ultimate end/desire
-ulterior motive

Functionalist theory of morality:
-our happiness is the result of living a fully functional life
-being good =functioning well

Question 5

Plato proposed that the state should be run by a philosopher king. What did he mean by this?

Answer 5

Someone who is a philosopher king
-love of wisdom and search for true reality
-some who loves wisdom negates the possibility of the love for falsehood, physical, sexual, material, desires -> all that threaten corruption
-trained in philosophy and understand the forms
-make decisions based on reason and not bias
-wants common good not self-interest

All these qualities make a good leader because they pursue common good and understand concepts such as justice and happiness.
These type of leaders should be chosen based on their qualities and not outer physical qualities.

Question 6

Why did Plato despise democracy?

Answer 6

-the death of Socrates was one of the contributing factors to this
-he hated democracy because everyone could vote regardless of if they were qualified or not
-no distinction between, teachers, elders, immigrants, aliens
-this type of democratic voting would give rise to corrupt manipulative leaders or tyrants.

Question 7

Explain in detail Plato’s idea regarding a three-part hierarchy between workers , warriors, and guardians

Answer 7

Plato developed a three-part hierarchy that was his idea of an ideal state of a nation in “the republic”. He believes that each of these classes have their own distinct function in society and if this type of society was built in it would lead to prosperous, fair, and stable.

Workers: ones responsible for goods and shelter, the citizens as well sustain the state
Warriors: the ones responsible for guarding the nation, police, knights, maintain law and order
Guardians: the ones who have wisdom and able to discern the true nature of things. They should have a knowledge of the forms and be able to use their intellectual abilities for common good and not their own good.

Question 8

What is innate rationalism by Plato

Answer 8

That all truths are innate and they are in us from birth and part of our rational nature
-we don’t learn but we recall information that is already within us
-information comes from reality where change does not happen because truth does not change
- this is called the realm of forms

Question 9

Where does information actually come from?

Answer 9

It comes from a reality where change does not happen
This is because truth is something that never changes its eternal, immutable, and perfect
This universe is called the realm of forms

Question 10

What is Plato’s definition of truth? What are the characteristics of it? (4)

Answer 10

Eternal, immutable, perfect; it is unchanging
-cannot be found in our empirical world
-truth cannot be determined by senses
-discovered by reason, independent from opinion or bias
-objective

Question 11

What is Plato’s definition of knowledge? What about scientific truth?

Answer 11

-justified, true, belief
-knowledge is something that is always true no matter what
-the highest form of knowledge comes from the understanding of forms
-fixed, absolutely and eternally true
-Plato said scientific knowledge cannot exist because it relies on the study of the absolute truths of the physical/empirical world which is constantly changing therefore we cannot ever have complete knowledge of it

Question 12

What is a platonic form?

Answer 12

Perfect models by which people judge objects and experiences
-these are truth

Question 13

Explain why Plato believed that truth cannot be found in the physical world

Answer 13

He believed that truth cannot be found in the physical world because:
-we cannot rely on the sense of the empirical world
-truth must be discovered by reason
-truth is only found in the perfect, immutable, and eternal and the world is not any of those because the actual world is always changing
-truth is found in a world where reality doesn’t change
Truth can only be found if you understand the Forms

Question 14

Plato Knowledge vs opinion

Answer 14

Knowledge is fixed and absolutely/eternally true
-fundamental knowledge of reality must always be the knowledge of forms
-knowledge distinct right/wrong true/false better/worse

Opinions are changeable and unanchored
-they are based on subjective personal belief and experiences

Question 15

What is a priori knowledge?

Answer 15

Knowledge discoverable by reason

Question 16

Term form comes from the Greek word…

Answer 16

Eidos

Question 17

Empiricism vs Ratoinalism

Answer 17

Empiricism: learning comes from observations and sensory experience
-we can only know with senses
-knowledge gained through observation, experimenting, and verification

Rationalism: all knowledge is gained through reason and intuition
-truths can be known through reasoning alone, not senses
-reason + intuition for a deeeper understanding of the world

Question 18

Innate rationalism

Answer 18

We all have truths within us, they are in us from birth and part of our rational nature
-before birth we are in the world of forms and we must learn to recall these truths rather than learn them

Question 19

Plato’s theory of forms. Why did he create this? (6)

Answer 19

This is the theory that our physical/empirical world is always undergoing change and is an inaccurate shadow/replica of the true forms of things.
-the theory of forms is the ultimate goal of human understanding
-the world of forms are what actually exist, pure, and unchanging regardless of the shift in universe
-not physical objects, but do exist
-true and realizable knowledge only exists within those who understand the forms
-we must recall the knowledge of forms because we were in the world of forms before birth

Created to refute the sophists who claim that there is no absolute truth and it is relative to culture or society.

Question 20

How does the “Ring of Gyges” support Plato’s idea of happiness?

Answer 20

The ring of gyges is a story where a Shepard finds a ring that can make him invisible, and he begins to commit corrupt acts and becomes a ruthless tyrant.
-Plato believes that happiness comes from living a just and virtuous life (4 cardinal virtues)
-three parts of the soul, reason should control appetite and spirit in a way where it strives for wisdom and not wealth and power (the chariot and horse analogy)
-in this story, it shows how Gyges part of his soul reason, lost control and could not regulate his appetite and spirit which lead him to commit such corrupt actions due to imbalance of soul

Question 21

Describe the divided line by Plato, how does it explain his theory of forms?

Answer 21

The divided line is a philosophical concept described by Plato in “The Republic” which is a way of understanding knowledge, reality, and the Forms.
There are two parts:
-intelligible world (being): the world full of Forms, characterized by pure thought and unchanging nature of reality
-sensible world (becoming): full of appearances, sensory experience, and physical objects

Intelligible world = A understanding and B reason
Sensible world = C perception and D imagination

This helps us understand his theory of forms which states that the visible, physical world is just a mere imitation, shadow, replica of the true intelligible world, the Realm of Forms.
-The forms are the basis for all knowledge and understanding

Question 22

Summarize the allegory of the cave. How does Plato use this to explain his theory of forms? Make a connection to contemporary society.

Answer 22

The allegory of a cave surrounds a story of prisoners who have been in a cave since birth and their only knowledge of reality relies on the shadows of the events and objects that pass through the fire in front of them. These are merely imitations of the real physical objects and events. Once a prisoner finally leaves the cave, they are now aware of the true reality of things and have knowledge of the forms. This relates to Plato’s theory of forms because he claims that outside of the physical, empirical, sensible world there is a intelligible world where knowledge and truth are absolute and the true nature of things lay. These are the absolute, true, eternal, unchanging forms of things and our world is just a mere imitation of these.

Example fake news:
Fake news is what we see and believe but once we step outside of this we realize that is not true

Question 23

What is the rule of the wise?

Answer 23

Plato’s idea behind the ideal state

Question 24

Dualism is

Answer 24

The believe of a physical and non-physical existence

Question 25

What are the gettier problems? How do they relate to Plato’s theory of Forms?

Answer 25

The gettier problems are the problems relating to Plato’s definition of knowledge which is true justified belief.

A belief: a mere claim that you accept
A true belief: a claim that you accept that lines up with the nature of reality
A true just belief: a claim that you accept which is backed up by evidence and lines up with reality

The issue is that some knowledge can have all three of these but still not be true. For example, the snow example.

This relates to the theory of forms because Plato claims there is some eternal, unchanging, universe called the Realm of Forms which is the source of all knowledge and reality.

Example: someone has access to the Form of beauty, they use this to correctly identify a beautiful object. However if they do this for the wrong reason, like mistaking the object for something else, they are being influenced by their emotions.

IDK