The basis of morality -- or virtue -- for the philosopher is happiness. Reason dictates that the greatest joy (or the highest good) is in living according to the dictates of virtue. Hence, if an individual wishes to be ultimately happy, regardless of external circumstances or emotion, will engage in moral actions. As such, both wisdom and virtue work together to attain happiness. Indeed, wisdom is therefore virtue, as it encourages the pursuit of happiness by means of moral action.
It is then the culmination of this wisdom as virtue that enables Socrates to meet his trial and death with a demeanor of calm and poise. Socrates' soul is ordered by means of his philosophy of reason and morality; his reason rules his emotions and his passions. Hence he is able to be kind and charitable to his accusers in the Apology, despite their harsh treatment of him. Socrates cannot be harmed by the disordered unhappiness of others, because he has attained the "highest good," which is inner happiness that is unphased by tragedy, harm, or even the prospect of certain death.
The Phaedo is a post-mortem account of Socrates' death by Phaedo, who is said to have shared the philosopher's last hours. Phaedo reports Socrates as saying, "O my judges, and show that he who has lived as a true philosopher has reason to be of good cheer when he is about to die, and that after death he may hope to receive the greatest good in the other world." The philosopher is calm when contemplating death, because for him it is the ultimate...
Meno & Phaedo Eternal Souls One of the most important components of Plato's dialogue known as Meno was the elucidation of the concept of the theory of recollection. This theory is so eminent within this work partly due to the fact that Socrates would refer to this notion, and to others that were engendered due to thought and study on related to this subject, in subsequent dialogues, the likes of which include
An excellent example of a key component in the sexual identity of a woman is the compulsion to get married which most women (particularly during Woolf's day) are bound to experience. Orlando feels this sentiment as well, which the following quotation demonstrates. Everyone is mated except myself,' she mused, as she trailed disconsolately across the courtyard… I, 'am single, am mateless, am alone.' Such thoughts had never entered her head
Mena and Phaedo There are in-text citations from the two Plato sources I used. You cannot get me the text for additional in-text citations. Unless you get me some quotes, the assignment is finished. In a number of Plato's works, there is an inherent relationship between the concept of true virtue and wisdom. This fact is demonstrated most eminently within the Socratic dialogues, particularly within the dialogues known as Meno and Phaedo.
The main idea that one can understand from this story is that happiness can be concluded referring to an individual only when his life has been completed. This is because at that point, one will have the necessary facts to be able to arrive to such a conclusion. This means that happiness is a final objective in itself, a quest by individuals who try to be happy all the way
It has been characterized as a movement that rivals consequentialism and deontology as it focused on the central role of concepts like character and virtue in moral philosophy. Then later versions developed fuller accounts of virtue ethics theories. Most of these are inspired by Aristotle, although some others are from Plato, Aquinas, and similar philosophers. More modern philosophers such as Elisabeth Anscombe, Bernard Williams and Alistair MacIntyre have all raised
Seeking to strip his conception of knowledge to the bare minimum by removing all notions which can subject to reasonable doubt, Descartes differentiates between assumptions and true knowledge because, in his estimation, any perception based solely on sensory input is inevitably flawed, as the human sensory system is known to be fallible (Collingwood). By rejecting the role of assumptions in forming knowledge, Descartes devises perhaps the most well recognized
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