Plato Is One Of The Greatest And Well Known Philosophers

Plato is one of the greatest and well known philosophers of all time. Born around 428 BC, Plato grew up in Greece learning from Socrates, another well known philosopher. Later in life, Plato taught Aristotle who was also a well known philosopher. His works of writing and thoughts about life have significantly impacted the Western culture in numerous ways. In selected readings of Plato, he seems to place importance on wisdom, and how to attain wisdom. Plato argues that in order to attain pure knowledge, or wisdom, one must â€Å"escape from the body† and not fear the thought of death (Apology 66d-67a). The following paragraphs will argue that wisdom was very important to Plato and his worldview. Wisdom is the key component of Plato’s world†¦show more content†¦If you put me to death, you won’t easily find another like me.† Plato sees Socrates as one of the only servants of the god of wisdom. At this point in the trial, Socrates does not care whether he dies or not. It seems as if he is rallying on the part of the people to not kill him, so he can keep supplying wisdom to them. He states, â€Å"†¦I couldn’t care less about death — if that isn’t putting it too bluntly.† Clearly, Socrates is indifferent on whether he dies or not, because it would benefit him either way. If Socrates would not die, he believes he would still do work for the god of wisdom. On the other hand, if Socrates was put to death, he believes he could gain wisdom from the experience of dying and any sort of afterlife. This is how Plato expresses the importance of wisdom, in that it impacts the thought of death or dying (Apology 30, 36-42). The second aspect of the importance of wisdom in Plato’s worldview is found in Phaedo. Phaedo also describes the impacts of wisdom on death and dying. Socrates goes into detail about death by saying, â€Å"Is [death] anything else than the separation of the soul from the body?† Socrates further elaborates about how to gain wisdom, or pure knowledge, in saying, â€Å"If we are to ever have pure knowledge, we must escape from the body and observe things in themselves with the soul by itself†¦ if it is impossible to attain pureShow MoreRelatedWhat Good Is Good?1716 Words   |  7 Pagesgood can be used to describe an action or even a characteristic. One definition of good is â€Å"that which is morally right; righteousness†(Dictionary). My concept of good would be someone that does no wrong and lives an honest life. So my question is what really is good? If there is good does there also have to be bad and evil? Are bad and evil the same thing or do they have different meanings as well? 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