Postings Synthesis of Six Postings the First

¶ … Postings

Synthesis of six postings

The first posting, like most of the postings on the question "How do Socrates', Plato's, and Aristotle's ideas still affect us today?" stresses the Socratic Method as the primary gift of Socrates to the world. It notes the similarity in approach of Plato and Socrates, given that Plato was the primary disseminator of what we now label as Socrates' teachings. The second posting also discusses the Socratic Method and its modern applications, but creates more of a distinction between the teachings of Plato and Socrates. Plato placed a greater stress upon the distinction between what we call 'the real world' and his vision of the ideal world (the realm of the forms). The first two posts state that Plato and Socrates used mathematical concepts to illustrate their ideas, although the equally influential Aristotle was more interested in the application of mathematics to science than 'pure' philosophy. The first three posts all detail the wide range of Aristotle's interests, which went far beyond that of conventional, abstract philosophy.

The fourth post focuses more on the different views of government of the three philosophers. In the case of Socrates and Plato, both philosophers were very distrustful of democracy, and believed only people who were gifted to rule should have the ability to do so. Aristotle also envisioned a divided society, based upon classes. All of these philosophers thought they were creating societies that were ideal and equal, based upon ensuring that 'the most fit' would rule, but their definitions of fitness and equality were very different from our own concepts. The fourth post also makes a distinction between the different teaching styles of the philosophers. Socrates asked questions of the people he met and never wrote down a word. Plato tried to reconstruct the teachings of Socrates in writing and created his own dialogues to instruct people.

The fifth post provides the most detailed biographical information about the philosophers, and also refers to the use of the Socratic Method of Socrates, its influence in teaching and philosophy today, and the idealized version of Socratic teaching advocated by Plato. The posting gives greater attention to Aristotle than the other postings, talking about Aristotle's influence as the 'Father of Science' as well as the logical syllogism. The sixth post echoes many of the earlier themes of the other postings, such as the fact that we mainly know Socrates through Plato, the dates during which all of the philosophers lived, and the undemocratic nature of Socrates and Plato's conception of an ideal world that ultimately resulted in Socrates' death.