Charity Huggins
Professor Paul Carrick
Philosophy 101
17 November 2014
Why I Think Plato Is One Of The Greats
(1) What intrigues you about this philosopher you have chosen?
With the title “Philosopher King” and being the first archetype I had ever studied in my philosophical endeavors, Aristocles (but from here on out shall be recognized as Plato) captivated me from the beginning, and he captivates me nonetheless. Being fresh with curiosity and a sponge-like disposition, I soaked up the many principles and virtues of Plato’s epistemology and metaphysical concepts, and, to this day, I remember his works as vividly as I had when I first read them many weeks ago. His concepts appeared to me, at first, as original, radical, and intriguing. Today, …show more content…
As I’ve already explained, Plato separated the universe into two realities, stating that the absolute, immaterial, metaphysical essences exist in the being (true reality), while the temporary, material changing essences existed in the becoming (sensible reality). Knowledge and truth can then only be found in the unchanging realm of being, void of relativity and opinion, as we are informed that that which is always changing and relative cannot be considered truth. So what then, if all we perceive and understand empirically is false and relative, can we understand as truth? Plato answers this with his theory of Forms. Residing in his timeless, eternal realm of being are what he describes as nonspatial entities or “somethings” that are independently existing outside of human consciousness, time and space, and empirically unperceivable (Soccio 131). This being said, Forms are most easily understood when referring to a specific thing, as a thing’s Form is, fundamentally, the essence of what said thing is. To clarify – according to what we believe Plato meant – Forms exist, but they are not physical entities, rather, they are abstract objects. As an example, when we perceive a thing, say namely a ball, we understand that the ball is round, but it is not the essence of roundness in itself, as the ball is merely participating in the essence of roundness, …show more content…
Not only has his definition of truth reframed the way that I address the concept of knowledge, but his separation of reality makes me reevaluate what I believe is and isn’t true existence. Without his significant influence in early philosophy, we are forced to wonder where philosophy may be without him. His stressing of the higher importance of wisdom and awareness have become qualities that I have begun to accept in my own philosophy. I have also accepted the concept of Forms (perhaps not as radically as to say there are two entirely separate realities – maybe an independent abstract level of awareness that human consciousness has access to –, but moreso that these are what we can consider as honest truths) and I often find myself describing that which I perceive in reference to the Forms said thing participates in. My virtues, I have realized, are similar and even inspired by those that Plato places of the highest importance (namely temperance, courage, wisdom, and, the result of the three, justice). Because of him, I understand and believe that knowledge, pure and void of human contamination, is unchanging and independent of mortal, changing individuals, and the same with truth. If it were not so, we could not honestly know either in their own honest definitions. I accredit him for many of the values and opinions I hold in my own ideology as I have described briefly earlier, and thus,
Professor Paul Carrick
Philosophy 101
17 November 2014
Why I Think Plato Is One Of The Greats
(1) What intrigues you about this philosopher you have chosen?
With the title “Philosopher King” and being the first archetype I had ever studied in my philosophical endeavors, Aristocles (but from here on out shall be recognized as Plato) captivated me from the beginning, and he captivates me nonetheless. Being fresh with curiosity and a sponge-like disposition, I soaked up the many principles and virtues of Plato’s epistemology and metaphysical concepts, and, to this day, I remember his works as vividly as I had when I first read them many weeks ago. His concepts appeared to me, at first, as original, radical, and intriguing. Today, …show more content…
As I’ve already explained, Plato separated the universe into two realities, stating that the absolute, immaterial, metaphysical essences exist in the being (true reality), while the temporary, material changing essences existed in the becoming (sensible reality). Knowledge and truth can then only be found in the unchanging realm of being, void of relativity and opinion, as we are informed that that which is always changing and relative cannot be considered truth. So what then, if all we perceive and understand empirically is false and relative, can we understand as truth? Plato answers this with his theory of Forms. Residing in his timeless, eternal realm of being are what he describes as nonspatial entities or “somethings” that are independently existing outside of human consciousness, time and space, and empirically unperceivable (Soccio 131). This being said, Forms are most easily understood when referring to a specific thing, as a thing’s Form is, fundamentally, the essence of what said thing is. To clarify – according to what we believe Plato meant – Forms exist, but they are not physical entities, rather, they are abstract objects. As an example, when we perceive a thing, say namely a ball, we understand that the ball is round, but it is not the essence of roundness in itself, as the ball is merely participating in the essence of roundness, …show more content…
Not only has his definition of truth reframed the way that I address the concept of knowledge, but his separation of reality makes me reevaluate what I believe is and isn’t true existence. Without his significant influence in early philosophy, we are forced to wonder where philosophy may be without him. His stressing of the higher importance of wisdom and awareness have become qualities that I have begun to accept in my own philosophy. I have also accepted the concept of Forms (perhaps not as radically as to say there are two entirely separate realities – maybe an independent abstract level of awareness that human consciousness has access to –, but moreso that these are what we can consider as honest truths) and I often find myself describing that which I perceive in reference to the Forms said thing participates in. My virtues, I have realized, are similar and even inspired by those that Plato places of the highest importance (namely temperance, courage, wisdom, and, the result of the three, justice). Because of him, I understand and believe that knowledge, pure and void of human contamination, is unchanging and independent of mortal, changing individuals, and the same with truth. If it were not so, we could not honestly know either in their own honest definitions. I accredit him for many of the values and opinions I hold in my own ideology as I have described briefly earlier, and thus,