Questions tagged [plato]
Plato (424/423 BC – 348/347 BC) was a Classical Greek philosopher, writer of philosophical dialogues, and founder of the Academy in Athens, the first institution of higher learning in the Western world. Plato is considered to be the founder of Western philosophy.
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Plato's Parmenides conclusion
Reading this http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/plato-parmenides/ and at the end it says that Plato rescues the existence of forms and shows "that Purity-F, Uniqueness, and No Causation by Contraries ...
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Why are there 8 Deductions, and not 6, in Plato's Parmenides?
In Plato's Parmenides, we have the 8 Deductions that go something like this (this applies, as best as I can see, to both the standard and non-standard models that the SEoP describes. All this is ...
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What is the ontological status of Plato's Demiurge?
I've done some searching and have found that he (it?) is the anthropomorphization of the deliberate Intellect's intent (SEP: Plato's Timaeus). I understand that he is neither an idea nor an idea's ...
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Did Plato notice that there could be an arbitrary number of nested caves?
I guess everyone knows Plato's allegory of the cave. He assumes people are in caves and then, he suggests that there is a possibility of "going out of the caves", gaining several nice properties with ...
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Friendships towards humans vs. things and animals in Plato's Lysis
In Plato's Lysis, Socrates and Menexenus argue if friendship must be reciprocal:
S: Then this notion is not in accordance with our previous one. We were saying that both were friends, if one only ...
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In Plato's Symposium, why is Diotima a woman?
Excuse the odd title - what I mean is: Diotima is the sole woman that has her say in Plato's dialogues. There are a multitude of opportunities in which he could've let a woman speak, but it never ...
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What is the distinction between Ancient Philosophy and Religion?
I'm currently reading Pierre Hadot book What is "Ancient Philosophy?" (Qu'est-ce que la philosophie antique?) and as I reach the third part of the book i can't stop thinking about, how ...
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Mathematical style and ethical fictionalism
The SEP article on mathematical style got me thinking: what is the relationship between mathematical style, mathematical fictionalism, and ethical style/fictionalism? There seem to be at least three ...
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What arguments does Plato's Lysis put forth from 216 to 223?
I don't understand this part. He seems to go back and forth on whether they support one another and whether they are actually successful. Some serious clarification is needed.
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What did Aristotle and Plato think of each other?
Since Plato was a teacher of Aristotle and was living until Aristotle was 36 years old I was wondering of what kind of opinion Aristotle had of Plato's personality and work and vice versa
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Do you know of a book on Greek philosophy with a Corinthian helmet on the cover?
I read it years ago, and it seems I have lost it. The biggest thing I can remember is that it had a Corinthian helmet on the front cover. Also that it was translated by multiple authors and it had ...
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Where might I find the Socratic dialogue on the mythical story of private property/homesteading?
I read a great story awhile back about a group of philosophers who approached Socrates with a question regarding the rights of private property and if a man could rightly own land on a world that ...
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Plato's Phaedo : Why does the soul stay separate from the body?
In Plato's Phaedo, Socrates established that death is the separation of soul and body. But he did not give any clue for this separation. What are the factors that lead to this separation? Physical ...
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What is the connection between Schopenhauer’s “steam valve” and Plato’s “cave”?
Schopenhauer speaks of the media as a “steam valve”,
”freedom of the press is to the machinery of the state what the safety valve is to the steam engine: every discontent is by means of it ...
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Are there modern commentaries on Plato's Gorgias?
I would like some advice on editions of Plato's work.
In particular, which commented edition of Plato's Gorgias is considered more authoritative, or at least most often referred to students by ...
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Are numbers universal in Set Theory and nominalist in Category Theory?
The number 3, when considered as a universal, abstracts the property of 3'ness from all groups of 3 objects. One supposes that this universal, by conceptual neccessity of what is understood by the ...
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Is the Form of the Good equivalent to the Form of the Intelligible Animal?
I'm reading the IEP entry on Plato's "organicism", which is the portrayal of the world as a universal animal. The article says that this entity participates in a Form of the Intelligible ...
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Where does Plato discuss "having" and "possessing"?
I'm looking for textual references in Plato's dialogues where he discusses the difference between having and possessing with respect to actuality and potentiality. I would be grateful if anybody could ...
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How can universal truths lead to particular truths?
Disclaimer: I have not read philosophy outside of limited Greek works
So, Plato theorized that there was a world of "universals" and "particulars", the world of general principles (...
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In the Doctrine of Virtue, does Kant accidentally encode a solution to the redemption problem from his theory of radical evil?
The set-up. Having identified original sin as an inversion of our maxims vs. their intended order of priority, Kant goes on to note that the nature of radical evil makes it empirically impossible to ...
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Plato's Ion - Can a god inspire a wrong thing?
Let's suppose that Socrates does not mock Ion in the dialogue. Socrates states that in every topic which Homer talks about, the master of that topic have the authority to judge whether Homer is right ...
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Did Aristotle accuse Plato of distorting Socrates?
It is always said that Plato sometimes put his words in the Socrates's mouth. Aristotle is the contemporary and critic of Plato. If Plato misattributed some Platonian notions to Socrates, Aristotle ...
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What is Plotinus' theory (of graduationism) that inspired Augustine about?
I want to know what Plotinus' gradualism is exactly about. I've heard in a lecture about Augustine being inspired by that theory, but can't seem to find anything about this. Is this gradualism just ...
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Eternal uncreated things besides God
There is a big debate in the Philosophy of Rellgion as to whether or not there are things that are uncreated eternal things besides God, like abstract objects.
Some say that claiming there are ...
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Is there a paradox in between Plato and Aristotle's theories regarding moral decision-making?
I was responding to a classmate's forum discussion post in a class of mine, and I want to know if I created a paradox or not regarding Plato and Aristotle's theories of moral decision-making. This is ...
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"Either a Platonist or an Aristotelian"
In his introduction to "The Pocket Greek Reader," W.H. Auden said: one is born either a Platonist or an Aristotelian. (He immediately qualifies that remark with nods to Hippocrates and ...
user49216
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Overlap between Timaeus and original sin in Christianity
I just finished reading Timaeus by Plato (Desmond Lee translation). Overall, my impression is this text is based much more in mythology and religion than other dialogues by Plato that I've read. It ...
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Interpretations and objections to Plato's "cyclical argument" in Phaedo
Trying to make sense of Plato's "cyclical argument" for birth and rebirth in Phaedo 72d, and after reading this post,
my question is whether the following interpretation of the argument is known in ...
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How does Plato's theory of forms relate to his epistemology and philosophy of language?
In dialogues like Cratylus and Theatatus, it seems to me that Plato paints a very skeptical picture of our capacity to know or articulate knowledge. In Cratylus he doubts the possibility of language ...
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Plato's method for reaching the truth?
I wonder about Plato and, in particular, about his method of reaching the truth. One can suppose that the method is based on the practice of his dualistic philosophy, which would aim to free the soul ...
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When did the idea of free will begin? Same for determinism
Hey so I'm doing this free will v determinism thing for class and I've tried but I can't seem to find when the separate beliefs came about. I know Socrates and Aristotle had something to do with them ...
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Plato or Aristotle on trading lives
I am sure I remember either Plato or Aristotle saying that most people, if a god approached them with an offer to trade their life for someone else's, would run away. But I have been wrong before ...
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Does Plato think there is a anti-social/non-pragmatic danger in the study of mathematics?
In the Theaetetus we see Socrates interacting with an up-and-coming mathematician Theaetetus with his mentor Theodorus. It's noteworthy that Plato places his dialogue about the nature of knowledge in ...
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Anyone know movies with references to Plato?
I’m interested in Plato and would like to know if there are any movies with references to some of his theories/ideas,
Thanks
Ben
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According to Adorno, does the "truth content" of art refer?
Adorno and the Political, By Espen Hammer
In this negation, by truth content, is it a form of referentiality?
Which may be to ask whether truth content is linguistic, in this action of negation.
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How did Antiquity deal with the disappearance of the Transcendent?
In Western Philosophy, Existentialism heeding Nietzches call was the first philosophy that dealt with the loss of the transcendent in a formal way.
Whereas prior to him, it anchored, or rather was ...
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Doubt about the third man argument
The third man argument says that for every form that resides over some group of things, there will have to be another form that can account for that group and the form. Necessitating an infinitude of ...
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Does Russell's objection to Meinongianism apply whenever we take the meta-version of an existence-predicate distinction?
The point of departure:
A third problem, one of Russell’s objections to Meinongianism (see [Russell 1905a, 1907]), turns on the fact that existence is, on Meinongianism, a property and hence figures ...
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Preferred Translation of Plato's *Laws*?
I have been delving deeper into Greek philosophy lately, and I must say, I am quite fond of C.D.C Reeve's translations. His interpretations of various philosophical texts have always resonated with me....
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Plato's forms - sparse realism and scope of forms
Was Plato a sparse realist about universals? (because "Carve nature at its joints")
And did he think everyday human made objects and social kinds had forms? eg tables
Thanks
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Is it ok, that translation of “Apology of Socrates” has a lot of grammatical mistakes?
This is a technical and pretty specifically question: I bought a book, that contains Apology of Socrates, and some dialogues (Kriton, Meneksen, Ion, etc) in Russian language ISBN 978-197-4015-03-0, ...
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Why is knowledge knowledge of explanations?
I am reading Aristotle. He seems to me to believe that knowledge is knowledge of explanations (causes - aitiai). But what ground is there for this belief? I cannot formulate a reason for this. I would ...
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Did Plato have a utilitarian view of religion?
I seem to remember while reading, from what I believe was the Republic, that Plato saw what could be interpreted a utilitarian role for Religion in society.
Am I misremembering? Not asking what he ...
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Is infinity an imperfect and unsubstantial epiphenomenon of the finite?
To my mind the concepts of the finite and the infinite are equally mysterious.
But recently I was surprised to encounter the view that infinity may be something different from what I have ...
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What does Vlastov’s 1954 paper really mean
I’m Attempting to find out the counter arguments to the Third man argument.
And while researching came across Vlastov’s 1954 Paper ‘The third man argument in Parmenides’ (The Philosophical Review 63, ...
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What’s is Essentialism
Is this statement wrong?:
Essentialism is the belief that (a) the Platonic world of forms exist, that (b) everything in this world is an imperfect embodiment of these forms, and (c) you can specify ...
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Understanding the concept of universality
I have the requirement to understand what is meant by Platonist Universality. I am also interested in learning the difference (if there is any difference) between Aristotelian Universality and ...
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According to Plato, can there be forms for a certain class of particulars?
In the beginning of Parmenides, Plato seems to think that most, or possibly all, particulars do not have corresponding forms; but he is not very explicit about why. My question is, does it not make ...
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The Rhizome, Language and Theatatus
The very first chapter of Deleuzes Thousand Plateaus contains the following as an example of a Rhizome:
Principles of connection and heterogeneity: any point of a Rhizome can be connected to any ...
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Is Plato's ideal world comparable to heaven?
Plato thought there was an ideal world where ideas live. Independently of people. These ideas throw a shadow on the material world we live in. By examining this material world we can get knowledge of ...
