An introduction to Greek philosophy

REFERENCES TO USE FOR THIS WRITING 1) Mason, A. (2010). Plato. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. 2) Roochnik, D. (2004). Retrieving the ancients: An introduction to Greek philosophy. Malden, MA: Blackwell. A) Its fine to use outside sources but do work primarily from the assigned sources. B) Try to write as if your addressing a naive audience, so aim to explain the complicated or the unfamiliar. C) Please use appropriate in-text citation and references and follow paper instructions and page count for each section carefully. SECTION ONE: 1. Describe Platos Theory of Forms in your own words in at least two well-developed paragraphs. 2. Plato postulated his Theory of Forms for what Mason calls moral or evaluative predicates. Construct an argument either for or against whether there is a universal concept of fairness or justice in a well-developed essay. 3. Plato did not see forms for common things such as hair or mud. Take a position on whether you believe there are perfect forms for all common objects. Then react to the argument, There cant be the perfect form of a toothbrush; look at all the kinds there are to buy. Or the same with the automobile, we all like to drive different kinds. You can either agree or disagree with the statement but be sure to support your position. (This section will require considerable thought and development and should result in an essay of 1-page.) REFERENCE MATERIALS FOR SECTION ONE Mason Text: Chapter 1, pp. 1-13; Chapters 3 & 4, pp. 27-98 SECTION TWO: (A total of 2.5 pages well developed essay) 1. Summarize Platos argument against the Sophists. Do you think it was effective? (1-page). 2. Explain what you think the philosophy of hedonism means. How would Plato argue against hedonism? Next distinguish between common hedonism and Epicurean hedonism. (Hint: please do not depend on Internet sources here use the Lecture Notes to assist you in understanding hedonism). Finally provide a couple of examples today of both common hedonism and Epicurean hedonism. (1-Page) 3. Describe whether you have experienced video meliora proboque deteriora sequor in your own life by providing an example or two you feel comfortable sharing. (-Page) (Question #1and #2 should be an essay of about 1 PAGE EACH, Question #3 should be -PAGE.) REFERENCE MATERIALS FOR SECTION TWO Section Two Study Notes Below Roochnik Text: Chapter 3, pp. 101-115 Mason Text: Chapter 5, pp. 99-117; Chapter 7, pp. 135-160 SECTION THREE (A total of 1.5 pages well developed essay) 1. Evaluate Platos Theory of Government that separates people into three distinct classes with regard to how well this could work in the United States today. Highlight the parts of the theory that you particularly agree or disagree with. (1-PAGE ESSAY) 2. Find a news clipping from some recent American event (provide a link) and compare and contrast this event with Platos theory of the ideal society or government. (-PAGE ESSAY) REFERENCE MATERIALS FOR SECTION THREE Mason Text: Chapter 6, pp. 119-134 SECTION TWO STUDY NOTES (use for reference only-remember to use your own ideas/ward as much as possible) ____________________________ Plato and Aristotle are influential in part because they both wrote many volumes and their writings remain with us today, which makes them significantly different from Socrates and the pre-Socratics. The Mason text has a nice overview of Platos life at the beginning of the text. Platos philosophy has its roots in our friend from Unit 1, Heraclitus. However, he soon turned away from the Heraclitean notion of continuous change and sought instead to find an absolute truth. In order to begin, Plato asked where truth might be found and how one might define it: 1. Plato first established that truth would not be found in sensed objects. One would not find it in a cupboard, in the clouds, or in ones pocket, or even in a book! One would not hear it or see it. 2. Heraclitus had shown that objects of sense are in perpetual flux and cannot be defined as this or that because they are always changing. The world of senses would never be the truth. As proof, ask a physicist to define an electron. Ask where it is in an atomic nucleus or how one might get a fix on it. 3. So, if there is any truth, it would not be found in phenomena except as a shadow of the truth. 4. Thus, Plato theorized that besides the pluralities of phenomena, which are transient, mutable, imperfect, and which become and are objects of opinion, there are unities eternal, immutable, and perfect which exist and are objects of knowledge. This is a close approximation of Platos Theory of Ideas. To illustrate this idea further, lets go to the Lesson 7 PowerPoint presentation for this lesson. Thus, Plato would say that in this world of change, illusion, and decay, there is another world which is eternal, archetypal, and immutable. Plato theorizes that these ideas are known to us from another life and that we are reminded of them when we perceive by our sense their imperfect earthly conceptual counterparts (i.e., the chair). Plato postulates by way of the word anamnesis (meaning remembrance or recalling to mind) the recollection of these perfect forms, which the soul possesses innately. Plato said that when we sit in a chair looking at a tree, the chairness or treeness is represented in their true forms. To illustrate how we know this, Plato used the allegory of the cave. Watch the following video to get a sense of what Plato meant. Now Plato said the forms come on three levels. The first would be with regard to abstract principles such as justice, truth, beauty, and above all what Plato called the agathon or the good. Havent you at times, upon observing a real-life or fictional situation, said Thats not fair! even though you may have never experienced the situation before? Does that mean there is some deep-down or inherent concept of fairness or justice that we all share? The next level would be a skill or ability. Watch at least a few minutes of the following video about the 1984 Olympic Gold Medalist in Diving, Greg Louganis (conveniently of Greek descent). Now I know almost nothing about diving. My best dive is a cannonball, and if I try to dive head first, it usually ends up as a belly flop. But I remember watching those Olympics with millions of others and just gasping when he did those dives. How do people who know little or nothing about diving recognize the perfect dive? You can substitute many other things for dive here. Finally, the third level is common objects. Plato was challenged here and didnt discuss this level much. He said he was afraid of tumbling into a bottomless pit of nonsense and felt there couldnt be perfect forms for such ordinary things like mud or hair. Today would potters disagree with that, mud wrestlers, Clairol? So, since Plato left this one hanging, what do you think? Before you give your answer, think about the grocery store. When you shop for apples, do you just pick any from the bin? Or, do you pick through them and select only certain ones? For some, maybe really pick through and examine each apple. What are your criteria for the acceptable apple, or even the perfect apple? For Plato, reality is the opposite of what most of us think. (Editorial Comment: This may be true with regard to Reality TV also!) What is real is transcendent, the ultimate form. Plato would say the psuke or soul is what is real. He gets many of his religious ideas from Pythagoras. Guthrie states that, the doctrine of ideas stands or falls together with the belief in immortality or at least the preexistence of the soul (Guthrie, p. 95). Plato believes in reincarnation or transmigration of the soul. When we are ready for rebirth, we drink something called the water of Lethe and forget our past life and then assume a new body, beginning a new life with only a hint of what we knew. There is a similar principle in Platos allegory of the cave. References Guthrie, W.K.C. (1950). The Greek philosophers: From Thales to Aristotle. New York: Harper Torchbooks.

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