Socrates

A detailed Summary of Socrates

Socrates believes that the everyday world is an illusion compared to the world of knowledge. People are often too distracted by money and materialistic things to appreciate truth and reality. Socrates says, "the capacity for knowledge is innate in each man's mind." This exemplifies the point that man has the ability to look into the world of truth, but when one is caught up in superficiality then truth does not receive the attention and glory that it should. This is why Socrates feels that the arts, such as poetry, should be censored; it would help decrease the digression of society's intellect. In today's world television and movies are complications that only hinder the thought processes in society.

When people are consumed in the shallow world, they see reality as mere shadows compared to truth. Many times, violent images seen in movies will remain in a person's mind. This obsession with violence and action takes away from concentration on "the good" and does not benefit society. "The bad" does not change when one is exposed to it, "the bad" changes the person. So, by limiting this exposure to violence one can focus on finding "the good."

"The good", according to Socrates is "the source not only of the intelligibility of th

Since the material world is simply an illusion of the world of knowledge, then television and movies are an illusion of this illusion. One cannot look to these for the answers, or even try to relate it to their own life. It is not real and should not be looked upon as truth. Although movies are an exaggeration of real life, it is not an exaggeration of "the good" but rather, of the emptiness and shallowness of life.

Pleasure should not be taken to the extreme, because it will then be unhealthy for the mind and the body. Socrates explains that the mind, body, and soul must all be in unison in order to be healthy, then happiness will ensue. Moderation is a key element to contentment and should be practiced in today's society. Many people search for happiness by engulfing themselves in life's highest pleasures, others look for contentment by over-working themselves to try and be the richest. However, these extremes will not produce happiness, instead, one should find tranquillity by seeking the truth, and looking inside to find reality and true beauty.

True pleasure is not measured by a person's bank account; it is measured by the unity of the entire self. In Socrates' perfect society, the rulers will be true philosophers, and will be raised in an atmosphere that breeds this type of synthesis. This society will have a limit on the arts and poetry because these are two highly influential elements that have the capability to ignite immorality. In order to avoid this, Socrates places limits on the subjects that the arts deal with. He will not allow any type of writings that show the gods to be fighting, because this places a negative connotation of the holy. He also believes that this portrays fighting and wars as being positive.

Society is changing everyday and movies are becoming more and more violent, as well as the crimes that occur today. The outlook on happiness is transforming to an extreme emphasis on money, and instant pleasure is becoming the one importance in life. Values are being demoralized and negative influences are being idolized. This is all done by the arts, because it is the one thing that is never definite or exact. Other aspects of life are definite, such as mathematical solutions and so forth. However, the arts are never definite because they come from the creative aspect of man. It is not absolute and can be interpreted in

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Approximate Word count = 1594
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: People