Influential Minds In Western Philosophy Thesis

PAGES
3
WORDS
981
Cite
Related Topics:

Our key clue in this passage is the reference to Dionysia, the festival in honor of Dionysus, God of Wine and Pleasure. Instead of philosophical study, this festival is held in the Spring for 6 days of plays, tragedies, feats, and wine. Dionysus, as the inspirer of madness and ecstasy, is hardly a recommendation for a true philosopher/king' instead, the preoccupation focuses on the sensualist who, in their own type of wisdom, has but two positions -- on and charming, or off and degrading (Dalby, 2005).

Knowledge, on the other hand, is necessary for any action to become more than that action alone. Ignorance turns away from knowledge; opinion is express of knowledge based on cultural truths or undocumented hearsay. Opinion, though, attempts to conceal fact being mere stories or boast, rather than considered introspective thought. The dream state is falsehood, inspired by emotion and the idea of greed and lust, it is easy to pursue, easy to repeat, and easy to proselytize -- it just happens not to be true. Corruption, too, plays a role in this journey, which in a sense, is rather an Ancient version of Maslow's Law of Hierarchical Needs, a more modern version of moving from the basic needs of survival to the more complicated, but just as important, needs of the soul.

For Plato, the defined philosopher is really someone who loves wisdom. A lover of true knowledge and the journey towards that knowledge...

...

Certainly, this is an ideal, but nonetheless, this ship of State so needs a bow, mast, and steering -- for "a true pilot must of necessity pay attention to the seasons, the heavens, the starts, the winds, and everything proper to the craft if he is ready to rule a ship" (VII, 488d).
The idea of elevating a philosopher to kingship, while not anathema or even challenging for a contemporary audience, must have seemed quite fantastic for Plato's audience, who had one despot or another ruling by "divine" or "familial" right rather than particular qualifications for the role. Within the 20th century, it is interest to not that such political figures as Josef Stalin, Leon Trotsky, and even Hitler found the Republic to be a superb example of a "resource guide" for leadership, unfortunately forgetting that one of the strongest principles from Plato requires morality and accountability: an individual capable of ruling a just society must have a passion for truth, have achieve wisdom of the Good, and genuinely and adequately philosophize (V, 473d).

REFERENCES

Baird, F. And W. Kaufmann. (2008). From Plato to Derrida. Prentice Hall.

Dalby, a. (2005). The Story of Bacchus. British Museum Press.

Plato, a. Bloom, trans. (1991). The Republic. Basic Books.

Sources Used in Documents:

REFERENCES

Baird, F. And W. Kaufmann. (2008). From Plato to Derrida. Prentice Hall.

Dalby, a. (2005). The Story of Bacchus. British Museum Press.

Plato, a. Bloom, trans. (1991). The Republic. Basic Books.


Cite this Document:

"Influential Minds In Western Philosophy" (2009, October 25) Retrieved April 18, 2024, from
https://www.paperdue.com/essay/influential-minds-in-western-philosophy-18261

"Influential Minds In Western Philosophy" 25 October 2009. Web.18 April. 2024. <
https://www.paperdue.com/essay/influential-minds-in-western-philosophy-18261>

"Influential Minds In Western Philosophy", 25 October 2009, Accessed.18 April. 2024,
https://www.paperdue.com/essay/influential-minds-in-western-philosophy-18261

Related Documents

He believes that fear of punishment for injustice is all that maintains our praise of justice. Gyges was willing to discard all sense of justice and nobility once the opportunity to act freely presented itself. 5. Socrates' use of the city as metaphor in his discussion of justice is the long way of describing the usefulness of justice and its application in human life. His description of a good city

Christy Turlington explains to Elle magazine... "Advertising is so manipulative," she says. "There's not one picture in magazines today that's not airbrushed."… "It's funny," Turlington continues. "When women see pictures of models in fashion magazines and say, 'I can never look like that,' what they don't realize is that no one can look that good without the help of a computer." (Hilary 13) That's right, the beautiful Turlington, a woman

A philosopher makes "logoi," discusses, and cross examines about virtue, is short of wisdom, and is aware of it. However, in as much as one is a philosopher, one desires wisdom and searches for it. In historical Greek, this notion is virtually a tautology, prompting Socrates to hold that the wise no longer philosophize. Socrates believes that philosophy is gathering knowledge; however, going by valid evidence, philosophy is the

Moral Philosophy Ethical Theories on Animals. The treatment of animals has historically evolved along with human beings' changing views of them. A number of theories trace this changing treatment to the Judeo-Christian-Islamic times when people exercised absolute dominion over animals (Sanders 2004). It was their religious belief that God gave man absolute dominion over animals and to do to them as he pleased or estimated. French philosopher Rene Descartes and other

Islamic Philosophy
PAGES 8 WORDS 2042

Islamic Philosophy Abul-Waleed Muhammad Ibn Rushd: His Work and Philosophy Abul-Waleed Muhammad Ibn Rushd (1126-1198 C.E), also known as Averroes, is regarded by many as one of the foremost Islamic philosophers and a pivotal figure in the history of Andalusian philosophy. He is also deemed an important figure in the history of Western philosophy. An important contribution to Islamic culture and philosophy was his defense of Greek philosophy in the Islamic world

Introduction Historically, Biblical theology and philosophy had so many things in common and thus complemented each other. Philosophers and theologians even considered themselves mortal enemies in certain cases. Most Christianity doctrines have critical implications or pre-suppositions on philosophy. The discussion begins with the relationship between philosophy and Christianity. It then defined Biblical Theology based on three Christian doctrines that influence philosophy. They include the trinity, the atonement and the incarnation. The