A summary is a convenience that comes at a cost – in order to shorten and simplify the information it condenses it, ideally, but in reality it often excludes and disregards also. The reader becomes more knowledgeable than they were, but not knowledgeable enough. Such has been my experience with philosophy-related summaries in the past,…
The Apology, otherwise known as The Apology of Socrates, is Plato’s account of Socrates’ legal defense against the charges of impiety and corrupting the youth before a jury of Athenian citizens in 399 BCE. Believed to have been written in the early 4th century BCE, The Apology was translated by Benjamin Jowett into English in…
The Apology, otherwise known as The Apology of Socrates, is Plato’s account of Socrates’ legal defense against the charges of impiety – asbeia in ancient Greek – and corrupting the youth in 399 BCE. Plato’s Apology, along with Xenophon’s Apology of Socrates to the Jury, are the only two primary sources of information about Socrates’…
Plato’s theory of Forms, essentially, says that the physical world we perceive is an imperfect manifestation of eternal Forms. These Forms are the ultimate reality, and understanding the Forms is the key to genuine knowledge and wisdom.
Socratic philosophy, as a subject of study, is a controversial one. A sentiment expressed in numerous Platonic dialogues is that Socrates favored dialogue over monologue, and by implication, conversation over the written word. Another possibility, congruent with the times, is that he was illiterate. Whatever the case may be, Socrates never produced a philosophical treatise…
The Pre-Socratic philosophers and the schools of thought they founded, unified solely by their shared commitment to observation and reason, challenged the prevailing mythological explanations of their time as they sought to uncover the mysteries of the natural world.
The four cardinal virtues are thought to be the primary virtues from which all other virtues derive. In fact, the etymological root of the word “cardinal”, the Latin “cardo”, literally means hinge. The cardinal virtues are so called because all other virtues hinge, or depend, on them. They represent both the quintessential virtues and the source of virtue itself.
Must Know Terminology to Comprehend Ancient Greek Cultural Values, Beliefs and Philosophy Understanding Ancient Greek philosophy, whilst being solely informed by translated texts and derivatives of translated texts, poses a near insurmountable challenge that is rooted in our ignorance of ancient Greek values, customs, beliefs and, more importantly, the language itself. It does not help…
Chronology of the First Philosophers, from Thales to Aristotle The origin of philosophy can be traced back to ancient Greece in the 6th century BCE, more specifically the city of Miletus, and the early Greek thinkers who sought to explore fundamental questions about the universe and human existence through observation and reason. Before the emergence…
Plato’s Symposium explores love in relation to nobleness, selflessness, virtue, order, harmony, health, beauty, wisdom and, as Plato would have it, philosophy – the love of wisdom, that is.