U4 AOS1 - PLATO AND ARISTOTLE Flashcards
what is Socrates doctor analogy?
Doctor analogy - According to Socrates, immorality is a disease, judges are doctors. If you do wrong, you should immediately appear before a judge and seek punishment.
Because immorality is the worst thing possible, worse than death, we should denounce ourselves for doing wrong, and if we care about our friends and family we will also expose them and ensure they are punished so as to ‘cure’ them from their immorality.
what does Socrates say about enemies?
SInce immorality is the worst fate, if we see our enemies doing wrong, you must do everything in your power to ensure that he does not get punished and does not appear before a judge. If death is the penalty, you must keep them alive no matter what. And THIS is when rhetoric has some use.
what does callicles say about Socrates ideas and conventions?
He claims Socrates’ belief is simply a convention decided by the masses, who, due to their weakness, make up such rules to protect themselves from the strong. He says with the natural order, it should be the right of the strong to dominate and have more than the weak.
at what age does Callicles say you can practice Philosophy?
According to Callicles, the pursuit of philosophy is acceptable in one’s youth, but as an adult, it deprives an individual of their capacity to interact with his community and thereby earn distinction and be a ‘real man’.
Analogy: Callicles compares philosophy to playing games. As a child, it is expected, yet a grown man stammering and playing games seems ridiculous and immature.
why is Socrates excited at having found Callicles to debate with?
Socrates is excited at having found a person who has the knowledge, affection, and candour to effectively debate with him and therefore test the truth of his beliefs and engage in the ‘finest work in the world’. Socrates claims the finest work in the world is trying to answer questions such as ‘what should a person do with his life?’.
how does Socrates deconstruct Callicles argument about nature and convention?
Socrates says that it would be natural for a mass/the general populace, given their collective strength, to be superior to a single individual, to which Callicles agrees.
The masses create the conventions that we live by and the general populace rules that equality is right and doing wrong is more contemptible than suffering wrong.
So it must follow that societal conventions are the natural order as they are created by the superior group.
That is, using Callicles’ reasoning, the laws prescribed by the masses are in accordance with nature as nature endorses the law of the superior.
what life does Callicles propose?
Callicles responds that self rule is the very antithesis of freedom because it involves enslavement to others, an idea that is incompatible with a life of happiness. Instead Callicles proposes a life of hedonism, wherein the individual makes every effort to satisfy every passing desire he may have. The highest happiness is fulfilling every desire and whim. And this view is in accordance with the natural order. What nature sanctions is right, to grow one’s desires until they grow no larger.
what does callicles say about the life Socrates is proposing?
He says the lifestyle that Socrates is proposing reflects the views of the masses, who are too weak to win satisfaction for their own pleasures and therefore praise self discipline in an attempt to enslave the superior people who are able to satisfy their own desires.
what is callicles political leader analogy?
If you were born into a position of power, there would be nothing worse than self discipline. If you had to abide by all the previous laws and follow the will of the masses, you couldn’t possibly be happy with so much unused power.
what is Callicles stone analogy?
Callicles asserts that those who do lead a life of self restraint, such as Socrates’ purposes, are not living at all, and are more like a stone or a corpse. Those who are content and need nothing would simply be stone.
what is Socrates leaky jar analogy?
He compares the mind of someone with no self restraint who is ruled by desire to a leaky jar that needs to be refilled with liquid incessantly. His mind is insatiable, it constantly has new desires and is never actually content. The minds of fools are leaky because they need to continually be filled and are unreliable. A jar that constantly needs to be filled is low functioning, so the person with the non leaky jar, ie. the self disciplined mind, is most content.
what does Callicles respond to the leaky jar analogy?
Callicles responds that the joy comes from the action of filling the jar, so then the person who is constantly refilling their jar constantly has a source of happiness. The one with the full jars can no longer feel pleasure and is like a stone. That is, someone with no desires wouldn’t be very happy
what is Socrates gully bird analogy?
Socrates tries to convince Callicles of the futility of such a self indulgent life by equating it to the life of a gully bird. Fulfilling your desires is like eating and drinking whenever you are hungry or thirsty, and you feel pleasure as a result. They poop at the same time, ie. fulfilling their desires and gaining new ones at the same time, and therefore are never satisfied.
what is Socrates itching and scratching analogy?
Socrates tries to convince Callicles of the futility of such a self indulgent life by equating it to the life of a gully bird. Fulfilling your desires is like eating and drinking whenever you are hungry or thirsty, and you feel pleasure as a result. They poop at the same time, ie. fulfilling their desires and gaining new ones at the same time, and therefore are never satisfied.
what is Socrates male prostitute analogy?
Socrates responds with the example of a male prostitute and says he cant believe Callciles would say that the endless satsifaction of the male prostitutes needs would make him happy. Therefore, he trumps Callicles by showing him that his inability to distinguish between good and bad pleasures will lead him to approve of a lifestyle he would hardly believe is good and happy.
how does Socrates argue against Callicles argument that pleasure = good? (thirsty man analogy)
Socrates points out that pleasure and not pleasure can co-exist. The feeling of desire is distressing.
If you are in a state of thirstiness it is distressing, and satisfying thirst by drinking is pleasant. However, drinking would not be pleasant if you weren’t thirsty in the first place.
Since pleasure and distress can then co-exist, as the thirsty man feels distress and pleasure simultaneously and loses pleasure when the distress is satiated, then pleasure and good cannot be synonyms.
how does Socrates argue that pleasure does not = good? (Cowards in battle analogy)
You would not call fools and cowards ‘good’ and you would not call a brave man ‘bad’.
He asks Callicles who is more pleased by the enemy’s retreat in a military campaign, the coward or a brave man?
Callicles replies that the cowards would perhaps feel greater pleasure.
He then again asks Callicles who would be more distressed when the enemy advances, the cowards or the brave men?
Callicles says the coward perhaps would be more intensely distressed.
Socrates then points out that if both good and bad people can feel pleasure and stress to the same degree, then there is little to tell the difference between good and bad people, so would that follow that good and bad people are equally good and bad if bad people can feel pleasure and good people can feel distress?
Thus if pleasure can exist in a bad state and distress can exist in a good state, then how can pleasure and good be identical?
what does Callicles say about good and bad pleasures?
Callicles: Changes to admit that there are better and worst pleasures
Pleasures which are beneficial with good consequences
are better than pleasures which are harmful and have bad consequences.
He also says that pleasant and unpleasant experiences can have good or bad effects and we should pursue those which have a good end.
according to Socrates, what is the difference between a knack and an expertise?
Knack: A skill or action which purpose is for pleasure alone (eg. cooking. Unhealthy foods can taste pleasant)
Expertise: Aims at a good beyond merely pleasure (eg. medicine. Medical procedures can be unpleasant yet have a good objective and outcome).
what does Socrates say about political rhetoric?
He asks Callicles what would be left if things like poetry were stripped of the theatrical elements, the answer of which being words that are performed before a large crowd ie. popular oratory or rhetoric. Therefore, political rhetoric is no different to poetry. Its aim is mere flattery and not goodness.
Ie. political rhetoric is about flattery of the masses to earn merit. You don’t actually want what is best for the audience but to simply please their ears so as to gain support.
Philosophy on the other hand is not concerned with saying what is pleasant to hear, but rather it’s about goodness and improving the mind.
what does Socrates say the speeches of good men should be like?
Should be like the goal of a craftsman - to organise materials in a way that is good. They have a purpose.
Eg. painters, builders, shipwrights. The goal is to get an object to acquire a certain form.
A mind that is organised in such a way is in a state of health that the self indulgent mind cannot reach. Hence an orator whose goal is the betterment of minds is practising an expertise not a knack as he is aiming at good rather than pleasure.
what does Socrates say the speeches of good men should be like?
Should be like the goal of a craftsman - to organise materials in a way that is good. They have a purpose.
Eg. painters, builders, shipwrights. The goal is to get an object to acquire a certain form.
A mind that is organised in such a way is in a state of health that the self indulgent mind cannot reach. Hence an orator whose goal is the betterment of minds is practising an expertise not a knack as he is aiming at good rather than pleasure.
what is Socrates life view?
Order leads to the good. Anything constructed in an orderly manner is good. Eg. a house or ship is good if it is organised.
The effect of order and organisation on the body is health and fitness. We describe processes that ‘organise’ the mind as ‘law’ or ‘convention’ because they make the mind law-abiding and orderly.
Therefore, if the mind is bad we should stop it from doing what it desires. Keep it to a regime and through discipline makes it less indulgent. The process of rendering the mind healthy is ‘discipline’, thus self discipline must be better for the mind than indulgence.
what is Socrates conclusion?
Socrates points out that as a specific state of organisation is necessary for something to be deemed good, a mind that is self-disciplined is good, for such a mind is orderly. One who possesses such qualities is able to act in an appropriate manner, act justly, have courage, and act religiously, making him a paradigm of goodness. Therefore a good person is self disciplined as he can’t have such qualities without an organised mind.
what does Socrates say leads to unhappiness?
A good person will do things successfully. Success brings fulfilment and happiness, whereas a bad man (a self indulgent man) does badly and is subsequently unhappy. Unhappiness is therefore the fate of someone who is self indulgent.
Anyone who lacks self restraint will be condemned to a life of endlessly trying to satisfying desires which will render them an outlaw who is unable to sustain relationships with others and with gods since he is incapable of cooperation, which is a prerequisite for friendship.
Therefore, since happiness depends on a person having the attributes of justice and self-discipline, and unhappiness on immorality, it can only follow that doing wrong is in fact more contemptible than suffering wrong.
Callicles claims it is more contemptible to suffer wrong than to do wrong.
How could u evaluate this?
Compassion is natural (examples of animals showing kindness to each other and this either helping or at least is not detrimental to their survival)
Guilt
We have social needs - anti-social behaviour will affect our ability to fulfil these needs (Maslow’s hierarchy)
Socrates claims it is more contemptible to do wrong than to suffer wrong.
How could you evaluate this?
Natural instinct to defend ourselves.
Is it really wrong if it becomes a matter of life or death? (i.e. stealing to feed starving children)
Callicles claims that nature endorses the view that it is right for the better to have a greater share than the worse and the superior to dominate the inferior and have more than them.
How could u evaluate this?
Cooperation and compassion occur in nature. We naturally feel sympathy and don’t like seeing others in pain, it’s not that easy to just take from others.
Anarchy
Socrates argues that nature endorses the prescriptions of the masses.
How could you evaluate this?
What about when the masses are wrong? Eg. slavery, holocaust.
Collective ignorance (i.e. world is flat)
Callicles argues that men skilled in the art of rhetoric and involved in the heart of their community are the best sort of men.
How could you evaluate this?
Rulers who did bad things / are remembered as bad people. There are plenty of historical political leaders that had excellent oratory skills but would hardly be remembered as good people. For example, Hitler.
Socrates argues that someone should only use rhetoric to prevent a loved one from committing wrongdoing, or to make sure that they themselves or someone they care about is punished if they have done wrong.
How could you evaluate this?
Role of rehabilitation. Punishment isn’t necessarily the only means of getting justice and curing immorality. Arguably, rehabilitation is far more effective. For example, Norway’s prison system focuses on rehabilitation rather than punishment and they have one of the lowest recidivism rates in the world.
Callicles claims that the pursuit of philosophy will lead to certain deficiencies, and prevent people from being connected to the community.
How can you evaluate this?
Historical leaders in intellectual fields (i.e. metaphysical open mindedness and philosophical ideas drove the scientific revolution, which would hardly be seen as a deficiency) -
political figures who also studied philosophy eg. lenin, marx
Socrates - stood firmly by his choice to pursue Philosophy and is remembered 2500 years later
