Plato info
5. Plato says Socrates chose death over escape because of man's relationship with the state. Describe that relationship. What political theory of the Enlightenment did Plato anticipate? Plato believed that Socrates chose death over escape because of the fact that man enters into a social contract with the society that he enters. In exchange for security, and protection of rights, man must abide by the rules set forth by this society. Socrates, like all citizens had entered into this contract with the city-state of Athens, and as such, had to follow the laws set for him. It is my belief that mans relationship with the state is such of a cog in the machine, much as it is today. When a person oversteps their place in a tightly regimented society such as Athens, there must be reprecussions due to the shift in paradigm that said society will experience. Over time, society allowed for limited fringe groups much like the ones that exist in the America of today, but most of our society adheres to the position they are granted as a cog in the machine. Socrates consciously made his decision regarding his role in Athenian society, thus allowing for his right to self-determination, which was an abomination i
Morality to Plato is being as much like Socrates as possible We should live up to this moral standard of Plato's because of the fact that by maintaining this balance, we as human beings become much more mentally and physically restrained in our actions. Lavine claims that Plato is telling all who will listen that "Morality consists in knowing and maintaining the harmony and balance between the rational and irrational elements of the soul. We ought to strive for a moral life because of the fact that striving for perfection requires self-examination, thus living up to the ideas of Socrates. It is evident that Plato forsaw the philosophy of the Social Contract that would dominate the Enlightenment through persons such as: Jean-Jacques Rousseau, John Locke,and Thomas Hobbes. By forseeing this, Plato inevitably came to the conclusion that Socrates died in order to preserve the fragile state that was Athens. If one was to constantly struggle in maintaining this balance, that person would be far less likely to act on a sheer impulse from the id, because of the fact that said persons ego and superego would be much stronger, due to the rigourous maintenance of balance that would take place in order to achieve this moral standard of Plato's. By using the health triangle analysis, we shall know when we are moral when this triangle is in balance, when we have self-esteem, have acceptance by our peers, and finally, are in good physical health, we will know that we are moral. The id constantly struggles with the ego in this battle of personalities. By battling to maintain this balance, we are admitting to the fact that we are not soverign over our bodies, minds, and souls, the reason why we must do this, is so that we will become like Socrates, who was the essence of morality to Plato. In order to maintain a healthy balance here, people must know their own individual strengths and weaknesses, and this comes through following the Socratic ideal of examining our own lives. Plato's idea of Forms states that there is an ideal form out there, however, he fails to mention the idea that everyone has an ideal form for an attribute such as morality, but by climbing the ladder of knowledge, we move towards this ideal form of morality by discovering ourselves. It is evident that by knowing our own strengths and weaknesses, we are generally happier, in that we have the ability to plan ahead to confront our demons down the road, in essence we become like Socrates, in that we know that we know nothing, we know that we are in a constant state of flux, by knowing this, we know that we are in a constant state of change, which is tantamount to knowing nothing.
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