In Athens of Ancient Greece, approximately 600 BCE, marked the birth of Philosophy (literally. ‘love of wisdom) as it influenced Western thought and still has today
The Greeks in search for knowledge came up with answers that are both cognitive and scientific in nature
Greek philosophers in Miletus chose to seek natural explanations to events and phenomena around him instead of seeking for supernatural explanations from the Gods as what was passed down through the generation.
Socrates was the mentor of Plato and Plato was the mentor of Aristotle.
Athens was the center of Western thought. Athenians settle arguments by discussion and debate. People skilled in doing this were called Sophists, the first teacher of the West.
Socrates wanted to discover the essential nature of knowledge, justice, beauty, and goodness
Socratic/dialect method. This method involves the search for the correct/proper definition of a thing. In this method. Socrates did not lecture, he instead would ask questions and engage the person in a discussion. The goal is to bring the person closer to the final understanding.
Socrates‘ influence was reflected in his famous statement which he fully lived by, “the unexamined life is not worth living.”
The true self, Socrates said, is not the body but the soul. Virtue is inner goodness, and real beauty is that of the soul
The aim of the Socratic Method is to make people think, seek and ask again and again.
What is important is for them to realize that they do not know everything, that there are things that they are ignorant of, to accept this and to continue learning and searching for answers
Plato’s real name is Aristocles
He was nicknamed Plato because of his physical built which means ‘wide/broad.
Plato was born in Athens to one of Greece’s aristocratic families
Plato established a school known as ‘The Academy.’
Theory of Forms, Plato explained that Forms refers to what are real. They are not objects that are encountered with the senses but can only be grasped intellectually.
The Forms are ageless and therefore are eternal.
The Forms are unchanging and therefore permanent.
The Forms are unmoving and indivisible
Plato illustrated his philosophy of the search for knowledge using the ‘Allegory of the Cave.’ People in the cave see are only shadows of reality which they believe are real things and represents knowledge.
Love is the force that paves the way for all beings to ascend to higher stages of selfrealization and perfection. Plato’s love begins with a feeling or experience that there is something lacking.
For Plato, love is the way of knowing and realizing the truth. Love is a process of seeking higher stages of being.
soul as having the three components:
The Reason is rational and is the motivation for goodness and truth.
2. The Spirited is non-rational and is the will or the drive toward action.
3. The Appetites are irrational and lean towards the desire for pleasures of the body.
In knowing the truth according to Plato, the person must become the truth. This is his Theory of Being. The more person knows, the more he is and the better he is.