Plato Essays

When it comes to the greatest thinkers of our time, Plato must be the most influential person in human history. The Greek philosopher brought out so many different ideas into the world, that modern society would be nothing without him. He wrote many texts that not only were visionary for …

It is hard to imagine a society in which everything is done for the common good. It seems odd to picture a world in which everything one does is happening for the betterment of the society. This clashes with how America functions today; Americans work and live for the betterment …

The Theory of Forms, also known as the Theory of Ideas, is perhaps the most well known aspect of Plato’s philosophy. I am not terribly well versed on the writings of Plato, but I know just enough to get by. For example, I know that there are all kinds of …

Plato’s concept of the body and the soul is a dualistic theory. He saw our existence in terms of two levels. These were the body and the soul. He believed that the body existed only in the physical world (World of Appearances) and that it is of this world meaning …

Plato’s Republic is, understandably, considered a landmark text in the field of political philosophy. While Plato’s main objective in the text was to examine and explain the nature of justice (and the just state), it also invites the reader to consider a number of other philosophical and social concerns, not …

Plato presents in his dialogue, titled Meno, the distinction between genuine knowledge and true opinion. In the text, he refers to knowledge as the form and definition of something that is changeless, where as true opinion can be altered and is not restricted in the way knowledge is by having …

If Thales was the first of all the great Greek philosophers, Plato must remain the best known of all the Greeks. The original name of this Athenian aristocrat was Aristiclis, but in his school days he received the nickname “Platon” (meaning “broad”) because of his broad shoulders. Plato was born in …

Since Socrates, what is the political significance of “reason” for the meaning of virtue for Plato and Aristotle? In other words, what role does reason and virtue play in politics, citizenship, and the formation of a good or just society? And, how does Aristotle’s view differ from Plato’s? In an …

The term polis refers to a self-governing city state, and Plato uses the term for the best form of social organisation. At the heart of Plato’s Republic is the belief that philosophers should rule. These philosophers are at the top of a hierarchal order (Roberts and Sutch. 2004: 32). Plato’s …

Learning through imitation is a form of gaining knowledge through interpretation. Since early youth, humans learn through imitation. “Imitation is natural to man from childhood, one of his advantages over the lower animals being this, that he is the most imitative creature in the world, and learns first by imitation. …