Philosophy Essay - 1433 Words

Philosophy When I was born, I did not know the difference between right and wrong. Now, I do. The word philosophy means the love of knowledge. One type of knowledge is propter quid, which ask the question why or how. In this paper, I will demonstrate how Socrates, Hume and Aristotle, three well known philosophers, would explain how I acquired this knowledge in relation to the principles of right and wrong. Socrates is the first philosopher, I will discuss. Since Socrates did not write anything down, Socrates thinking is told through his student, Plato, who wrote his teachers thoughts. Socrates is an idealist who believes that things are†¦show more content†¦This thesis allows a man to have ideas of which he later becomes conscious by recollection; thereby overcoming the sharp division between not-knowing and knowing, and justifying inquiry. (Sternfeld, 35) Socrates states in the Meno A man cannot inquire about what he knows, because he knows it, and in that case he is i n no need of inquiry, nor again can he inquire about what he does not know, since he does not know what he is to inquire. (Plato 80E) This theory of recollection may explain why we often say that we had certain knowledge before we leaned it or heard it for the first time. It is often said that we are born with concepts and it is these concepts that structure our minds, beliefs, and actions. In his dialogue entitled the Meno, Plato illustrates how Socrates is able to show that even a young uneducated slave boy knows some truths of geometry not because somebody taught him that subject but because be naturally knows the relationship of various ideas to each other. (Stumpf 260) This quote illustrates how Socrates thought that the uneducated boy knew geometry. He recollected it from his soul. In the Meno, Socrates states that the boy is recovering by oneself knowledge within oneself. (Plato 85D) Knowledge in the Meno is perceived as havingShow MoreRelatedThe Philosophy Of Philosophy And Philosophy998 Words   |  4 PagesPhilosophy is the attempt at answering or understanding the questions that the being who is philosophizing yearns to know or wishes to understand. The importance of what the philosopher wishes to know or understand is not a determinate factor in what it means to do philosophy. The act of doing philosophy is not defined by the subject of examination but by the driving passion of knowing and understanding. This means that an individual that wishes to know why a laptop is a laptop or why is it thatRead MorePhilosophy : Philosophy And Philosophy1292 Words   |  6 Pages As a student at Richland college, I have never studied philosophy before, and I have heard very bizarre claims about what philosophy is. 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