Works by Aristotle

Socrates’ Rejection of Machiavellian Political Immorality The people and principles around which a state should be formed has concerned political philosophers for centuries. Leaders must possess certain qualities and skills to create a solidified political entity. Certain principles provide a standard from which a state exercises its authority. For Machiavelli, the ideal leader possesses virtù and is not bound by traditional morality. Socrates, in contrast, values a leader who is just, honest,…

The pursuit of happiness is not just a fundamental right and theme found in the United States’ Declaration of Independence. It is an inward aspiration and impulse that has rooted itself as a fundamental need and craving for humanity. In Confessions by Saint Augustine, the pursuit of happiness, or simply desire, is an evident theme found within the juxtaposition of Augustine’s crimpling longings and struggle for earthly and spiritual desires. However, Augustine’s earthly and fruitless desires for…

Alcibiades’ speech in Plato’s Symposium is a digression from the previous speakers’ because he illustrates a personal instance in which eros (love) is and is not felt, whereas the previous speakers defined it. Additionally, he shows eros as not always beneficial. His unrequited love for Socrates proves that it is not always a mutual emotion and can have a detrimental impact, unlike the other speeches which portray love as a beneficial force for both lovers and society. However, it would be…

Plato argues for the soul’s immortality and attempts to provide proof and evidence to make the reader believe his statements. Plato is voiced through Socrates where the topic is brought up in his final hours before he is sentenced to death. I will work to provide examples that counter the thoughts and ideas Plato brings to…

In Plato’s dialogue Apology, Socrates stands trail to defend himself from the accusations of “corrupting the youth” and disregarding the Gods of the state. In his speech he tells the jury that an oracle at Delphi told Chaerephon a friend of Socrates that Socrates is a man of wisdom and no man is wiser than he is. To prove this cannot be true Socrates conducts cross examinations to find someone who is wiser than he is. Through these examinations Socrates mission and main points are to help people…

The Symposium is a dialog by Plato that depicts a drinking party that Socrates attended where the subject of love and what it really is was discussed. All the people who attended took turns giving speeches of what they thought about love and what its meaning really is. The first one to speak was Phaedrus who is known as the beloved and his speech details how he thinks love instills in us a feeling of being virtuous and honorable. This in turn makes us happy and good men following the path of…

Plato’s Apology tells the tale of Socrates’ defense, counterproposal, and death sentence in front of a jury of approximately 500 Athenian citizens. Plato’s Crito is named after a wealthy friend of Socrates who the philosopher invokes during his defense as an example of one of the men present in the jury who had enough exposure to his teachings, whether directly or through relatives, to have grounds to testify as a witness against Socrates if indeed his teachings were corrupting the young. An…

Plato’s Meno directs a majority of its attention towards what the meaning of what virtue truly is. Meno gives the readers many different meaning of what virtue could be, but Socrates always challenges his definitions. There are various reasons as to why Socrates contests Meno’s answers. Socrates is looking for an explanation of what virtue is that helps demonstrates what the idea of knowledge truly means, and that will show us what we do and do not know. Socrates first challenges Meno with the…

What is a philosopher? A philosopher is an individual whose soul is mostly reasoning or all reasoning and only see the good. While reading The Republic, according to Plato a philosopher is the most suitable person to rule the ideal republic. Throughout this essay, I will explore why he has this opinion, the soul, Eidos and much more. Plato’s ideal republic is eliminating the idea of having families. The children will be raised in a communal environment, where they are raised by a person who is…

disposition that we develop within ourselves, our character. A person is good when they have certain virtues are character traits. What makes a person good? They are good when they have certain virtues: honesty, generosity, bravery, courage, etc… Aristotle believed that there are cases where a person knows what the right thing to do is. Not necessarily that they will always do it. The mean is not the same for everyone, there is no mean for every act. Virtue can be defined as the “fulfillment…