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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Seemingly invalid piece of reasoning in The Republic
In the beginning of The Republic, when discussing the nature of justice, Socrates leads Polemarchus to agree with him in this line of reasoning (the numbering is mine):
But let us consider this ...
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Does the Euthyphro dilemma apply to secular ethics?
The original statement of the dilemma is found in Plato's Euthyphro:
Just consider this question:—Is that which is holy loved by the gods because it is holy, or is it holy because it is loved ...
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What function do myths serve in the Platonic dialogues?
There is a consistent pattern throughout the corpus of Plato's dialogues: first, Socrates proposes a philosophical problem, like "what is justice?" or "is there an immortal soul?". Then he goes on to ...
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How much is known about Plato's "unwritten doctrines"?
It is often claimed in the historical literature that Plato's teachings were divided into the written documents (his famous books, like The Republic, The Laws etc) and oral teachings (what Aristotle ...
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Meaning of θυμοειδής in Plato
What is the meaning of the Greek word θυμοειδής (thumoeides or thymoeidês) in Plato? (I believe it occurs in the Phaedrus and the Republic.) What is its etymology? It apears to me to possibly come ...
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What were the government ideals for the Socrates and Aristotle?
Winston Churchill famously quipped, "The best argument against democracy is a five minute conversation with the average voter." Plato also seems to have held such a view, where he wrote in The ...
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Is there a correct or better order to read Aristotle, Plato, and Socrates?
I would like to read the text written by Aristotle, Plato, Socrates and so on. Is there any reference of the best order to read them? Is the chronological order the best or correct one? Or is there a ...
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Does Apology's Socrates contradict Crito's Socrates?
In Plato's Apology Socrates clearly indicates he would continue to philosophize even if the court ordered him not to:
if now, when, as I conceive and imagine, God orders me to fulfil the philosopher’...
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Was Plato using strawmen in his dialogues?
In Plato's Dialogues, he often would put words into the mouths of two opposing points-of-view, while inserting a third voice, often initially presented as taking a position between the two viewpoints, ...
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Observable and non-observable entities in explanation
So I've been reading through the Phaedo and have been thinking about Plato and have come up with a question, before I ask the question, I will give some background.
Plato's theory of the forms (as I ...
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What are the major differences between Nietzsche and Plato?
What are the philosophical and hermeneutic implications of the various ways of writing a philosophical text, in particular Plato's didactical and dialogical style versus Nietzsche's emphatic and "...
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What were Plato's view on slavery, in particular with respect to his proposed Utopia?
In the Dialogues(specifically The Republic), when he is discussing his Utopia, At one point, he does say that children should not be treated differently based on their parent's status in life. However,...
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Are the unexamined lives of others worth examining?
Socrates continually admonished his interlocutors to become more introspective, arguing passionately for self-examination:
The unexamined life is not worth living.
But an examined life is painful, ...
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