Philosophy

Philosophy

PART I

ANSWER 1

The Apology presented by Socrates helped Socrates to defend himself in the court against the charges of his challengers. The apology helped Socrates to protect himself against the critics presenting himself as one his defenders believe him to be a real Socrates. In the light of the epistemological question, the Apology of Socrates initiate with the claim that he did not know whether his jury has got any influence from his confronters. This first sentence of Apology became crucial to the theme that is being depicted by whole of the Socrates speech. Socrates in his apology ascertain that the beginning of philosophy is with a sincere admission of ignorance, later clarifying the point that the wisdom possessed by him has its roots in the knowledge claiming that he knows nothing. Throughout the Apology, Socrates satire the Debaters by correcting them and ask the jury to judge him under the light of truth, not merely on the basis of his debating skills. According to Socrates, the debating words and phrases used by him are not arranged, but they are the ones that express the thoughts that come to his mind. At the time of stating the Apology, he proved to be a master debater having the expressive and persuasive skills (Dunkle, 1986). This is the way he corrects the other debaters telling them what they should do, highlighting the truth in a persuasive manner. Unfortunately, the speech did not allow him discharge and he was condemned to death.

ANSWER 2

The Allegory of Cave or Cave of Ignorance is the symbol used by Plato in one of his remarkable work titled “The Republic”. The Allegory relates to the Plato's working on the Theory of Forms, that in the context of metaphysical world illustrates that ideas or forms and not the materialistic world that is being introduced to us with the help of sensation, possess the most influential kind of reality. The real knowledge relates only to the knowledge of Forms (Watt, 1997). In the cave of ignorance, Plato makes an attempt to enlighten the 'prisoners' by emphasizing the philosopher's place in the society. The allegory of cave captured the idea that a person can see even when he is blind with the help of the forms of ideas. The ignorance of cave and the world of forms are true representative of Plato's' epistemology and the metaphysical world, stating that the prisoners who have managed to be out of cave and are focused on the vision of goodness are the ones fit to rule. The materialistic world is only an image of the real world. The unseen worlds of forms are representative of the apparent world.

ANSWER 3

One of the remarkable works by British Philosopher John Stuart Mill is titled as 'On Liberty'. The concepts of the book were highly influenced by Mill's wife Harriet. The work is highlighted with the theme of the ethical system of utilitarianism by highlighting its importance in the fields of society and the ...