Plato uses the myth of the cave to address several important concerns of philosophy, the role of the philosopher and his journey to Knowledge. The story presents a group of men living in an underground cave. They are chained to a wall such that they can only see the back wall of the cave. There is...

In 407 B.C Plato, a Greek Philosopher became a student of Socrates. He turned these great teachings of Socrates in to a career of his own. He was a son of wealthy and influential Athenian parents. When his master teacher died, Plato travelled to Egypt and Italy, where he studied with students of ...

Plato gave the name of an entity, which we, mere mortals according to him couldn't possibly grasp in our lifetimes, as FORMS. The esoteric term was to label the realm of our universe, which we hardly thought to exist. This realm is the truth and nothing but the truth. It is the true reality of ...

The concept of justice has been the subject of many philosophical inquiries. The question of why and how justice is to be attained in the life of an individual and in the management of society has yielded many answers. Plato\'s \"Republic\" and \"St. Augustine\'s City of God\" are two related views ...

Metaphysics The term metaphysics came from the writings of Aristotle that came after his writings on physics. Traditionally, metaphysics refers to the branch of philosophy that attempts to understand the nature of all reality, whether visible or invisible. It seeks a description so basic, so esse...

One of the most basic philosophical questions and a guiding force through Sophie's World is the question, who are we? As shown in Sophie's World, the concepts of philosophy have been in a constant state of change throughout history, philosopher contradicting philosopher over and over in a...

"The Soul" In book VIII of The Republic, Plato insinuates that the five types of souls are most likely to digress into lesser souls, or stay the way they already are. Plato is saying that there is very little positive mobility in the caste system of the soul. In The Confessions, St. Au...

Philosophy Essay: The Problem of Evil / Dream ProblemThe Problem of EvilSt. Augustine accepted Plato's view that there are two realms: the intelligible realm and the visible realm. I indeed also believe this to be true. Like Plato, St. Augustine believed in the existence of something infinite and et...

One of our greatest western philosophers of all time was a man known as Aristotle. Excelling in many fields, Aristotle has philosophical views that have been followed for hundreds of years. For eighteen years Aristotle was a student in Plato\'s academy, where he learned but parted with Plato\'s view...

After reading this paper and searching for more information on the philosophers referenced, I wished I had the good fortune of Thomas Aquinas and had a nighttime visit by Saints Peter and Paul to help me decipher this reading. All of the Latin references made the paper very difficult to comprehend ...

Aristotle Aristotle was a famous ancient philosopher and scientist that lived from 384 to 322 B.C. He was born in Macedonia to a physician of the royal court. He moved to Athens when he was 17, to study with Plato, another famous philosopher of his time. Aristotle is said to have loved hi...

Ontological Hierarchy and Moral Decisions Plato first posited the theory of an ontological hierarchy in his account of human beings' a priori knowledge. He believed that humans gained universal knowledge through the direct contact between perfect, other-worldly Forms and our pre-natal souls...

Individuals who possess the ability to lead the thought patterns of the masses shape culture and society and are responsible for the way philosophy is viewed and lived presently. A figure in the history of classical Greek philosophy is Aristotle. Some of his major contributions to Western philosop...

Innate Ideas Descartes vs Locke In this paper I will discuss the Descartes vs Locke debate on innate ideas, also giving insight on what an innate idea means. Each philosopher takes a very different stand on the issue and each point of view will be thoroughly examined. The main question at han...

The origins of Western philosophy lie with a set of men whose extraordinary contributions date as far back as 600 BC. Frequently, they are identified as Presocratics because these truth-seekers are predecessors of Socrates, the gifted Athenian thinker who greatly influenced the course of Wes...

The Matrix: The Problem of the External World The film The Matrix addresses the philosophical problem of the external world in a manner that few have ever even remotely considered. Many people casually question what is real, and what are we actually seeing. However, few develop in depth theories...

According to my Metaphysical Profile, I would be considered a materialist. I believe in concrete items that can be touched and seen. The chair I sit on is at the top of the list because it is solid and can be felt underneath me. Love is also something that I believe in. It can't be touched, but ...

Sophie's World Sophie's World, by Jostein Gaarder, is a fantasy novel that explores the history of philosophy. It takes place in Norway in the 1990's. Some of the themes in the book are philosophy and free will. Dreams in the book often foreshadow events that occur later. Sophie is ...

One of the big questions that makes many a philosopher pause and think for quite some time is the ontological question of "Does God Exist?" For many years philosophers have questioned the existence of God and many have also tried to prove God's existence. In the Middle Ages it was evident that ...

The Matrix Reality Bytes: A journey through perceptions of reality in 'The Matrix' and the technological world. The idea for this dissertation arose from the culmination of a number of thoughts that have interested me for some time. The question of 'reality' has always intrigu...