Philosophy Essays Platonic Epistemology Socratic

school of thought Essays Platonic Epistemology SocraticPlatonic epistemology substantiateks answers to key forelands regarding the nature of reality, man, mind/ brain, knowledge, being and becoming. The nature of this paper allows hardly the broadest brush strokes across the Platonic canvas. However following a brief introduction in which I will discuss the Socratic method and its incline on Platonic philosophy.Plato like his predecessor and mentor Socrates, aimed to identify the world around him using a more(prenominal) in depth methodology, from others that had been employed previously. The more Humanistic nature of Socratic enquiry was in marked contrast to the pre Socratic Naturalist approach. In The Republic Plato sets about an examination of specific concepts presented as a serious of dialogues or in a dialectic style. Through various metaphors and dialectic prose Plato delineates theories of reality (including the world of forms and being), the doctrine of Recollection, the roles of dialectic and aporia, and the tripartite complex body part theories of man and state.Benjamin Jowett in his edition of The Republic suggests the greater aim of Platos work is the search after justice embodying the fields of reality, man and knowledge discussed On the basis of proverbial morality by Socrates and Polemarchus then caricatured by Thrasymachus reduced to an abstraction by Glaucon and Adeimantus all based on the constructs of man and state as delineated by SocratesInfluenced by his mentor Socrates and other Greek thinkers mentioned by Jowett.Platos work is still applicable today in a priori philosophies Idealists concepts such as the tripartite nature of Man and State would have remarkable relevance in modern political theories including Utilitarianism and Communisms. Andrew Levine in his book Engaging Political Philosophy postulates Rousseaus investigation in The Social Contract was the farming of Platonic ideas or forms in contrast to the world of app earances, where de facto legitimate states existsAny discussion on Platonic epistemology must inevitably weigh the influence of the Socratic school. Platos Socrates is the key to understanding the complexity of Platos thought. Socratic contrarianism and its methodology of aporia, a sort of constant quantity intellectual foundational doubting, left over(p) Socrates free to claim that he was the wisest of men and was at the same time wise in no way great or small.Platos later theories and epistemology would rebel with Socrates almost rebellious dialectical style, questioning the accepted traditional beliefs of Greek intellectual society. (The historic Socrates stood trial and was sentenced to death for preaching his philosophy publicly he refused to discontinue the practise) Platos adoption of Socratic contrarianism pervades much of his writings, especially in concepts as fundamentally abstract as his denial of knowledge through empirical watching As witnessed in the Theaetetus when the Socratic midwife prepares to assist the young Theaetetus with his labours while delivering a reply to Socrates question what is knowledge. When questioned Theaetetus equates knowledge with perception, after intense dialectical questioning, during which Socrates successfully refutes arguments that perception is (biconditional) knowledge Theaetetus last agrees, (with restrictions) that perception is non knowledge. So commences the search for an answer to the question Socrates adopts, what is knowledge? Plato rejected all empirical claims to understand the avowedly nature of knowledge Knowledge is not constituted by sense impressions, but by the inferences we make about them, by that means being and rightfulness are attainable, in the other way it is impossibleIn the Theaetetus Plato demonstrates the concept of being as fundamental and universal Socrates points to the specialization of bodily sense organs. If we ask which organs enable us to formulate opinions or judgement s that range across more than one field of sense-experience, we cannot identify such a grouping. the things you perceive by means of another for suit, that objects of hearing can not be objects of the seeing and vice versa? The possession of mathematical knowledge or the ability to formulate judgements does not reside in some empirical Sorting office, Socrates states in the Meno,Then knowledge is related to what is and knows what is and is as it is. The objects of mind are eternal those of the senses incessantly changing. Knowledge never changes opinion, which is not tied down, is subject to change.It now seems clear that what the mind knows is being, that which is eternal and unchanging, while the senses inform us concerning the intermediate flux The realm of being is comprised of ideas or forms and that of becoming by changing things.Aporia and refutative cross examination serve to purify ambiguousformulation by excluding false and mis becomeing interpretations and possibility the channel totrue ones reflects Rosemary Desjardins, in Logos in Platos Theatetus. Platos dialogues may indeed be aporetic but by subjecting both his interlocutors and readers to elenchus and meiutic method he hopes to lead from gross perceptibility to finer information.The relentless inquisitiveness of the Socratic method in conjunction with aporia lends to a degree of abstraction in the nature of Platos philosophy (referred to in Jowetts introduction to The Republic) proofd by the allegory of the cave, the doctrine of recollection, the nature of reality, the concept of the divided line, and the theory of forms.The allegory of the cave allowed Plato to postulate several ideas archetypal of Platonic philosophy. The allegory of the cave describes the limit placed on mankind, by an over reliance on sensory perception, and the subsequent systems of knowledge that relied on empirical evidence alone to deduct truths. For Plato, the resultant effect of mans self-shackling (empirical observation) is described in Book VII of The Republic. Plato views mankind as living in a underground den which has its let the cat out of the bag open towards the light and reaching all on the den here they have been from their childhood, and have their legs and neck chained so that they cannot move, and can only see before them, being prevented by the chains from turning round their headsPlato does not give a finite explanation of enlightenments form nor does he give an example of reality, what he demonstrates in the allegory of the cave is a clear method or path, that man and society must pursue to achieve deeper knowledge of reality. same the prisoners emergence from the cave, enlightenment at first will be difficult to understand, like the temporary blindness they suffer when first exposed to sunlight, its an arduous path that takes time, patience, temperance and practice, with the temptation for a return to former ignorance always present. Ignorance when lifted will delive r us into the Real world of philosophy with man finally comprehending his own place on the path to true knowledge.Plato delineates this movement with mathematics through the image of a straight line. He divides this imaginary line into devil unequal segments, the large segment represents the intelligible world, and the smaller the visible world. He further divides these segments in the same ratio as his first division. The division in the larger segment represents the world of higher and lower forms (ideas). The division in the visible world represent visible objects and the lowest segment represents their shadows and reflectances (imagination). For Plato the line represents the levels of cognition available to man and society.Socrates avowed mission was to educate the Athenian populace up until the last days of his life. He likened his mission to that of a gadfly, stinging the inactive Athenian horse into wakefulness through the application of philosophical dialectic (Socratic m ethod) Plato believed if entered into in good faith, this method would ensure a cognitive assent along the divided line. He believed until individuals and society, collectively questioned the political, ethical, and moral status quo, conciousness would remain in bondage much like the prisoners restricted mechanical life in the cave.answering his critics regarding the phenomenon of knowledge Plato states that the soul is immortal the soul, since it is immortal, and has been born many times, and seen all things both here and in the other world, has learned every thing that isPlato offers proof of the souls immortality, in the Phaedrus he postulates that its the nature of the soul to initiate its own changes, in effect to be self moving, rather than moved by an outside agency. Therefore the soul cannot be destroyed nor can it come into being. It was not, nor will be, but always is, one whole continuum.(Parmenides.) To contemporary ears the Platonic soul bears great similarities to the Christian soul unlike his Doctrine of Recollection or anamnesis Platos Socrates denies his own wisdom in the Apology he states, human wisdom is worth little or nothing he merely asserts that he is a midwife assisting in the rebirth of knowledge lying dormant in the mind Opinions proven ill-treat in the course Socratic investigation, does not demonstrate lack of knowledge, but rather, the clouding of mind on account of sensory perception. Platos Socrates asserts that dialectical investigation (with its constant questioning) would lead the inquiring mind towards clues, allowing it a recollection of what was already known through the many cycles of rebirth. Although considered a Platonic absolute the Doctrine of Recollection cannot be contested or proved. Platonic abstraction, denies legitimate validity to Empirical investigation. The a priori solution given by the slave boy in the Meno to the mathematical question posed by Socrates, hardly resolves this problem.Tying into the Doc trine of Recollection and the minds compromised judgement on account of sensory perception, Platos Theory of forms plays a greater role in the Allegory of the cave, where the impressions cast on the caves wall are believed to be real. For Plato the shadows on the wall were a reflection of empirical reality, which in turn was a reflection of a Reality whos dwelling lay in the realm of Forms (ideas). Platos theory of Forms is base on the notion that all things in the world share in common with a greater abstract (ideas) that in turn embodies all things in the empirical world. For example a small red chair, sharing plastered physical characteristics in common with a large neat chair, is not a real chair, but the perception of the abstract chair in which the white chair and all other chairs mimic.Plato translated his notion of the intangible into the Tripartite nature of man man Plato contended, was comprised of physical material (the body), and the abstract immaterial (soul and mind) . While co-dependant, the devil parts matter and form, function separately of each other.