philosophy questions

A detailed Summary of philosophy questions

In looking at the development of Plato's conception of knowledge through the mouthpiece of Socrates, one can see that philosophy is about questioning the limits of knowledge. The ever popular and reoccurring question that philosophers want to know is what is everything? The beliefs and ideas of Socrates were shared by all philosophers of their time.

Ignorance was a major Socratic theme. Socrates was very concerned with definitions. He was always questioning what something was, or even how something worked for that matter. However, much of his ideals and beliefs were merely speculations and could not be proven. Socrates can be viewed as looking for objective knowledge.

In the Euthyphro, Socrates is under indictment for corrupting the young and not believing in the gods in whom the city believes in. Euthyphro is prosecuting his own father for the murder of a laborer who is himself a murderer. In the Euthyphro, Socrates is in search of the definition of piety. Socrates asks Euthyphro to help him understand the difference between pious and impious. Euthyphro says that what is dear to the gods is pious and what is not is impious. Socrates then gives the example of an action or a man that pi

In conclusion, there is no universal knowledge as seen through the development of Plato's conception of knowledge through Socrates. From trying to understand the meaning of virtue to what is pious and impious, Plato shows through Socratic ignorance that things are and are not what they seem. Indeed, some things are pretty much black and white, and not gray in between.

The conclusion from the Euthyphro is that Socrates learns that something can be pious and impious. Nothing is actually concluded from this dialogue because it goes in a complete circle and ends up exactly where it started with the examination of the question of what is piety?

In Plato's Meno dialogue, the main question that Meno is asking is can virtue be taught? (Or for that matter, can anything be taught?) In this dialogue, we see the relationship between whole knowledge and partial knowledge of a subject develop. A major idea in the Meno dialogue is that of the if-then situation. This was also a common theme and answer in the Euthyphro as well. In this situation, an idea is proposed and then a scenario or result goes along with it. For example, Socrates asks Meno, if a woman is strong, that the strength will be the same and have the same form. Basically, he is trying to say that as far as strength is concerned, that is strength no different whether a man or a woman. This idea of the if-then situation can also be looked at as logic or second hand knowledge.

However, in the Meno too, there is no conclusive evidence that the question of what is virutous was answered. Socrates concludes with the idea that virtue appears to be present in those who possess it as a gift from the gods. This basically is saying that some people may possess virtue while others may not. But again the op

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Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)

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