Philosophy of Plato Essay

?By studying Platos views on the head, virtues, and masterminds, cardinal can record his outlooks on the individual and pictorial purpose, or telos. Plato had a teleological worldview, so he believed e very(prenominal) social occasion in disposition had an end, or purpose. In his famous simile of the undermine, along with the Sun and kris analogies, Plato outlines the spiritual and happy journey of a human from ignorance into justness and noesis, which symbolizes a human reaching his or her purpose.This essay will evaluate Platos teleological view regarding globe by analyzing his illustration of the Cave with relation to his views of the tripartite soulfulness, virtues, and skeletal frames in addition, I will determine if Platos views of virtue and happiness be feasible or non. Plato had an interesting view on the soul and its relation to the body. He believed that the soul had terzetto parts the appetitive, spirited, and rational. In his famous work the Republic, Plato argued that the soul must be tripartite because the same thing cannot at the same time with the same part of itself act in contrary ways about(predicate) the same (Republic, IV, 1).This argument makes sense, for if the soul was fair(a) one part, it would contradict itself when it desires a thing at one time hardly does not desire it at roughly other time. Plato related the soul to virtue by comparing the tripartite soul to the ideal city-state. He emphasized that, in order for ones soul to remain good and orderly, its parts must not interfere with one another and not do the work of others (Republic IV, 5). This is what Plato calls justice, and it relates to an individual in one class not doing the business of another in another class.Accordingly, wisdom is the virtue of the rational part of the soul, relating to teachers, and courage is the virtue of the spirited part, correlating with soldiers. Finally, moderation occurs when the parts of the soul work together cooperati vely, making the soul unified and complete, similar to a unified and flourishing city-state. Plato claimed that the intrinsic purpose of humans is to reason well, and in order to fulfill this, humans must have these virtues of their soul. Plato, like many other ancient philosophers, thought of virtue as excellence.In the Republic, Plato regarded the virtues of justice, moderation, courage, and wisdom as the about important virtues, which is clear since he included them in his account of the soul. For our souls to reach their purpose, which is finally happiness, we must understand and live out these virtues in our lives. For example, according to Plato, one can master the virtue of justice by performing ones work, or function, well, without interfering with someone elses business. Also, in book IV of the Republic, Socrates attempts to convince Glaucon and Adeimantus that living the virtuous life is the best, happiest life.Plato, through Socrates, argued, virtue is the health and beauty and well-being of the soul (Republic IV, 6). Therefore, for humans to reach our end and find happiness, we must live a virtuous life. Plato had a very unique view on forms. He believed forms, as metaphysical entities, exist in a break universe from the material world and that this universe of forms is absolutely perfect. Things in the material world that relate to forms ar independent of the forms themselves. For example, a knife is sharp, but Plato believed it was separate from the form of sharpness.Plato believed virtues were forms, and notably that the form of the good is the most important thing to learn about (Republic, VI, 1). Like the virtues, the most important forms include justice, moderation, and courage, but the highest form of all is the form of the good. Plato believed that misgiving these forms, especially the form of the good, is crucial to ones purpose and happiness. Plato said, each soul follows the good and does whatever it does for its sake (Republic, VI, 2).Platos teleological view is shown here the souls ultimate purpose is to find the good (and happiness), and if it does this, it will understand everything else. This idea is further explained in the Allegory of the Cave, which I will discuss in the next paragraph. The Allegory of the Cave describes a person on an intellectual journey from ignorance to reason. Most humans are like the prisoners in the cave they are swinish and fail to learn new things because they are comfortable with what they already know, despite the lack of reason.Plato said that humans must free themselves from their front thoughts and see that these thoughts lacked reason, just like the prisoner who saw that the shadows were actually produced from objects and were not real themselves. Once outside the cave, humans can learn about virtues and forms, similar to the prisoner who sees natural objects and not human-made copies of them. Ultimately, at the end of their intellectual journey, humans will see th at every form is derived from the form of the good, which is denoted by the sunniness in the story.Platos sun analogy is essentially within the Allegory of the Cave. The sun provides light, allowing us to see things for what they truly are similarly, the form of the good allows us to understand other forms and because gives us knowledge. His line analogy is important in linking the visible and transparent realms as well as metaphysics and epistemology. The lowest part of the visible realm includes images and pictures and is linked with imagination. The next part includes the material objects themselves and compares to belief.Entering the intelligible realm, there are numbers and shapes, associated with thought. Finally, the highest area involves forms and is linked, accordingly, with knowledge and understanding. In the throne of the highest area sits the form of the good, which is tombstone to understanding everything else. Plato believed that virtuous batch would do virtuous t hings. Initially, this seems to make perfect sense a just person will do just things and an unjust person will do unjust things. Plato believed people are motivated by desire when making decisions, whether we choose the morally right or impairment option.He does not take into account, however, that a virtuous person might have to perform some immoral acts in order to produce a virtuous end. If a good man kills a murderer because he is a murderer, this is clearly an immoral act, but his intention is good and it is virtuous that he saved future victims of the murderer. The action is important in developing virtue as seen by others, but it does not necessarily improve ones virtue because entirely the individual knows if he or she is actually being virtuous or not.Therefore, I believe Platos account of virtue is ultimately inadequate. Regarding Platos view on forms and the Allegory of the Cave, is it every individuals purpose to find the good? Certainly everyone would desire to unders tand the form of the good, but Plato seems to reserve this for philosopher-kings, the wisest people destined to rule everywhere others. This is a major problem in Platos philosophy, as he said everyone desires the good, but since only a few seem to have the intellectual capability to reach it, only these few should pursue it in a just city-state.It is, therefore, the job of these philosopher-kings to teach about the good, but as shown in the Allegory of the Cave, people who are not enlightened have a very difficult time understanding it and may reject it altogether. Since Plato believed that understanding the form of the good leads to happiness, he must have believed that only those with the intellectual capability to understand it are truly able to be happy. I think this is a major hole in Platos view of happiness, because people can definitely be happy without this knowledge of the good.Platos philosophy outlines a very ordered society and soul. His strong belief that everything in nature has a purpose appears in all his philosophy. His account of the soul is relatively complex due to his tripartite view, and his view of forms is also complex and unlikely, as Aristotle and other philosophers later rejected it. As shown in the previous paragraphs, his accounts of virtue and happiness are also insufficient. Despite this, Plato was an incredibly influential and important philosopher, and he is lull effective in describing the individual and natural purpose through his philosophic beliefs.