Socrates’ Method and the Sophists: A Philosophical Contrast
Socrates’ Method
Socrates had a very peculiar method that aimed to make people think, leading them to expose their own thoughts. (His father was a potter and sculptor, and his mother a midwife; in both offices, something is given birth to from the inside.) Socrates believed in the knowledge that each person possesses. He did not have to teach them things, but rather help them discover the truth that is inside.
His method has three stages:
The Irony
This is the starting point. You have to bring the listener
Understanding Truth: Theories, Types, and Perspectives
The Nature of Truth
There are three ways we use the concept of truth:
- When we say that Mary arrived late to class, we indicate what happened.
- When we say that Maria is my friend, we indicate that we understand friendship.
- When we say that an argument is true, we mean that knowledge is well expressed in propositions.
The relation between truth and falsehood, illusion and deception is complex. You can lie by telling the truth and tell the truth lying.
Types of Truth
- Material Truth: Refers to the relation
Descartes’ Philosophy: Substance, Attributes, and the Path to Truth
Descartes’ Core Concepts
Attribute: The essence of each substance (e.g., the attribute of bodies is extension). Idea: Thought. Reason: The power to distinguish the true from the false. Mode: Ways to express a substance (e.g., listed as a way of a body). Nature: (1) Essence. (2) Joint natural beings. Opinion: Knowledge not recognized as formally true. Reality: The reality of things in themselves. Objective Reality: The reality of things as they are represented. Substance: Everything that exists in
Read MoreSaint Augustine and Aristotle: Philosophy of Social Order
Saint Augustine: Religion as the Foundation of Social Order
Author
Saint Augustine was a medieval philosopher who lived between the 4th and 5th centuries AD. Born in Tagaste (North Africa), he was one of the early Church Fathers.
Topic
Religion as a foundation of social order.
Main Ideas
- Human justice is based on divine law.
- In ethics, the soul must also obey God’s commandments.
- Without justice, there is no common interest, i.e., a people, and without it, there is no divine policy (society).
Relationship
Read MorePhilosophical Methods: From Socrates to Modernity
The Maieutic Method
This method involves a dialogue directed wisely, according to the rules of correct knowledge. Created by Socrates but put into practice by his disciple, Plato. Maieutics is related to birth. It argues that truth lies in our reason and that essential questions prompt analysis. Responses must arrive at a definitive answer. Truth is achieved through dialogue based on reasoned arguments.
The Physical Method
Aristotle opposes the maieutic method. He believed one must search for reason
Read MorePhilosophical and Scientific Views on Mind, Body, and Death
Philosophical and Scientific Views on Mind, Body, and Death
Darwin’s Evolutionary Theory
Darwin not only extended the theory of evolution to all living creatures but also substantially changed the way of thinking from one form into two principles: “of each species, more individuals are born than can survive,” and “among them, there is a struggle.” Any modification that occurs in the naturally-selected individual will take the concept of the survival fight from the demographer and economist Malthus,
Read More