He held that upright life is the only life worth living. To him, justice was a matter of knowledge and hence, a truth aspect. Meanwhile, he honored and acknowledged his duty to obey the Laws of the state. From Socrates' perspective, Laws are absolute.
Across the centre of Europe the Celts move gradually west through Germany into France, northern Spain and Britain. This branch contains two sub-branches: Continental Celtic and Insular Celtic. By about 600 BCE, Celtic-speaking tribes had spread from what today are southern Germany, Austria, and Western Czech Republic in almost all directions, to France, Belgium, Spain, and the British Isles, then by 400 BCE, they also moved southward into northern Italy and southeast into the Balkans and even beyond. During the early 1st century BCE, Celtic-speaking tribes dominated a very significant portion of Europe. On 50 BCE, Julius Caesar conquered Gaul (ancient France) and Britain was also conquered about a century later by the emperor Claudius.
Regarding these ideals, it is necessary to analyze Krishna’s actions, Socrates’ daimonion’s actions, and the similarities and differences between the two. A few similarities can be gleaned from these two things, the advice and the daimonion. For example, they are both out of the body. Krishna comes to Arjuna, to contact him and to speak with him directly.
Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics, Book ll, is about his idea of how people should live a virtuous life. Throughout this book, he explains that humans learn virtue from instructions and we learn virtue from practice too. Virtue is something that is very important because it is a moral habit that results in keeping our moral values. Aristotle believed that nobody is born with virtue, everyone has to work at it daily. After reading Nicomachean ethics, Book ll, my main conclusion of it is that us as humans are better off being virtuous than simply doing what we feel like doing at any moment in time.
2. Socrates and religious beliefs Introduction In Phaedo, Socrates makes a number of claims regarding the existence and nature of the afterlife and the immortality and reincarnation of the soul. I will be contrasting and comparing Socrates beliefs with those of the Jewish faith.
The philosopher Socrates actions and beliefs, are known for opposing the Athenian societies traditional forming ideas as a citizen. An Athenian citizen has certain notions to become loyal and patriotic like to the society. He wants to replace that with a new kind of rational citizenship. His view of citizenship relies on one's own power of independent reasons ad judgement. HIs actions and beliefs is believed to what led Socrates being in trial, questioning if he is innocent or a perpetrator.
Socrates started his life as an average Athen citizen. His parents worked, making an honest living. But as Socrates grew up, he began to realize that his mind questioned things and wondered how come no one else questioned the same things or at least think about the answers to the questions that were not answered. So, as his mind kept wandering, he began to acknowledge the questions that were not answered and sought for those answers. He ended up believing and teaching things to other people, whether it went against the way the Athen government or not, he still continued his work.
In the Republic by Plato, Socrates attempts to explain the reasoning and parts of the soul. We are first presented with the Principal of Opposites which states that one in the same thing cannot undergo opposites with the respects of the same part, time and then. We are able to use this philosophy to define the rationale (reason) and irrational (appetite) parts of the soul and explain the thought behind human actions where we debate to do or not to do something. Socrates uses this division to demonstrate the thought of engaging in opposite actions within the same period of time. An example to illustrate this phenomenon could be during a hike where an individual is thirsty, but wants to conserve water for the rest of the hike.
This argument is representative of his understanding of virtue as opposed to his accusers, which believe in the accruement of “greatest amount of money and honor and reputation” (Plato, 30). Socrates then preaches that in order to be free of the “disgraceful sort of ignorance” (Plato, 30) which those who were considered wise, exhibited, one has to seek the greatest improvement of the soul through self-examination. In essence, while the people of Athens believed more in the worldly materials of the earth, Socrates rooted virtue in the spiritual realm of the soul. While coming to terms with his sentencing, Socrates introduces the analogy of the faster and the slower pursuer. Due to his understanding of virtue, he characterizes ‘unrighteousness’ as a more innate evil, which pursues the unrighteous man faster than death.
Virtue is defined in many ways. Some say that it comes from the Latin word ‘virtus’, meaning virtue or courage, which comes from the other Latin word ‘vir’, which means man, meaning that virtue is the qualities of a man, such as courage. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines virtue as, “conformity to a standard of right [and/or] a particular moral excellence” (Merriam-Webster 899). With all these definitions floating around, it is hard to determine what virtues really is and what it really means to have virtue. In Plato’s Meno, Socrates and Meno discuss the definition of virtue and whether it can be taught.
Socrates born in Athens in (469-399 B.C.) was considered the greatest philosopher and notable critic of all fifth century, Socrates also fought fearlessly for the Athens. He was the founder of Western philosophy during the time in that era and of all time. I chose this particular philosopher because of his strengths in philosophy, Socrates had many eccentric ideas of how to expand his mind to think. He challenged his thought process and strived to find ways to get others to do the same. Socrates also stood by his words of, “The unexamined life is not worth living.”
Philosophical thinking uses three acts of the mind: understanding, judgement, and reason. In order to have a sound argument all of the concepts must be applied. Socrates didn’t want to please the people by saying or doing what they wanted him to say or do. Socrates thought it was not important to seek wealth or fame; he was concerned with truth and virtue. He wanted to create an impact on humanity by relying on the truth and shining a light in people’s lives, even if they put him on trial.
How someone grows up and experiences life causes them to create their own meaning for a word. A definition is something concrete, but what a word means to someone is not always the same for everyone. Especially when looking at bold words like love, courage, or happiness, there isn’t one true definition or meaning. Not everyone’s measurement of happiness is the same and not everyone’s way of showing love is the same. An example definition of courage given in the book is, “A man of courage is one who doesn’t run away but remains at his post and fights the enemy.”
The two philosophers believed strongly in the concept of eudaimonia, which is basic human well-being and goodness (Mastin, 2008). Much of Socrates’ ethics was built around this concept, which led to his ethical code becoming basically objective. Socrates’ ethics were based on something of a knowledge/ignorance dichotomy. He believed that people act immorally but they do not act this way intentionally. Like all animals, Socrates believed that we act in and seek out what is in our best interests.
1. Briefly describe some (at least four) aspects of Greek culture prior to and at the time of Socrates and Plato. Socrates and Plato were an oral culture. During the time of Plato and Socrates, they were making literacy culture because Socrates and Plato had begun using paper and started writing a lot of things down. They had to speak on everything they experience and wants to keep around, so Plato and Socrates told a lot of stories.
