📚

methods in doing philosophy

date @September 19, 2021

lesson 4

status complete

PLATO'S METAPHYSICAL SYSTEM

plato - (429 ? - 347 BCE)

an athenian citizen of high status

successor of socrates

student of socrates

2 WORLDS ACCORDING TO PLATO:

1. WORLD OF FORMS AND IDEAS

in this world there is a hierachy: material objects - abstract - mathematical - good
(highest)

world of real knowledge, ageless and eternal

this world is the ultimate basis of everything perceived by our senses

simplify: parang langit. pag namatay tayo merong "other world". ito yung concept ni
plato ng heaven.

this world is perfect

methods in doing philosophy 1

 💡 everything that we see in this world (like chairs, tables, trees, animals
etc.) is nothing but a secondary copy of the idea in what he called the
world of forms and ideas. - plato

FUNDAMENTAL QUESTION IN EPISTEMOLOGY:

"how do i know that what i know is true?"
plato believed that our mind has this idea of the tree that enables us to recognize that
something is a tree when we see one. this idea of the “tree-ness” of the tree,
presumably, is based on our knowledge of this form and idea of the tree found in the
other dimension, the world of forms and ideas.
thus, everything that we see in this world is merely a secondary copy of the idea that
exist in the other world, which is the ultimate basis for knowledge.

methods in doing philosophy 2

 nothing is real in the world we are living in (world of forms and ideas). if everything
is real in this world, how do we know that these things are real?

what is the connection of this question to the worlds?

May dalawang mundo si Plato!! World of Forms and Ideas at World of Imitation!!
Soo According to Plato, datii part tayo ng World of forms and Ideas! Soul tayo!
Doon, may real knowledge tayo, ageless, eternal tayo! Similar siya sa Story ni
Adam and Eve, Sa simula may eternal Life sila, at katulad nilaa gumawa sila ng
kasalanann kaya natanggal sila sa garden of eden. Ngayonn tayo rin, na part dati
ng world of forms and ideas, may ginawa tayong kalokohan doon, kaya napunta
tayo sa world of limitation. According to Plato! We know that what we know is true
because we judge it from our past experiences. Kung baga dahil part tayo dati ng
World of forms and Ideas, tinatandaan lang uli natin yung mga alam natin datii!
Similar siya sa stock knowledge!! Sa world of forms and ideas for example, nakakita
tayo ng pinaka perfect na ballpen. Kayaa according to plato, natatandaan lang natin
yung mga alam na talaga natinn

— creds to gab HAJAHJASA THANKS GAB

before we were born, our soul was once part of the world soul. the world soul has
immediate contact with the world of forms and ideas.

world soul ▶ perfect knowledge ▶ world of forms and ideas

THE WORLD OF OPINION/IMITATION

ito yung mundo na ginagalawan natin

what we think is real

this world is just a secondary copy

ALLEGORY OF THE CAVE

allegory - a story that uses symbols to convey a message

methods in doing philosophy 3

 1. in Plato’s Allegory, he described prisoners inside a cave, where they are chained
facing a wall.

2. behind and above the prisoners are people carrying objects along a road and
beyond this road is a burning fire.

3. the prisoners could see only images or shadows cast by these objects. once the
prisoner is set free, and would be forced to turn around, he will realize that the
cause of the shadows were the people on the road with the objects they carry and
the fire.

4. but if he further forced and dragged out from the cave, he will realize that the sun is
the source of whatever is true and good for all things, thus, his soul will be
enlightened towards the intelligible world, or the world of reality.

ARTICLE:

https://www.studiobinder.com/blog/platos-allegory-of-the-cave/

VIDEO:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZLNWpd_f4wE

PLATO'S UNDERSTANDING OF REALITY:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hzyo-X7NVLw
PLATO'S THEORY OF FORMS:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TissHzEG_JY

PLATO'S ALLEGORY OF THE CAVE:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d71tYwcpHNM

world of opinion - inside the cave

world of form and ideas - outside the cave

socrates was once a prisoner

methods in doing philosophy 4

 plato was also a prisoner then socrates tapped on his shoulder and showed him the
real world.

THE DIVIDED LINE

— knowledge and opinion

1. OPINION
it produces appearances or reality as it appears to us

belief and illusion

lowest

2 concepts:
— 1. ILLUSION

"eikasia” or illusion, or imagination is considered as the lower type in Plato’s

allegory

— 2. BELIEF

“pistis”, comprises our commonsensical view about the world

how we view the world. how neo conceived the world as it was, he believed this
world was real.

2. KNOWLEDGE
reason and understanding

2 concepts:

— 3. UNDERSTANDING

“dianoia” or understanding using scientific, mathematical or abstract hypotheses

methods in doing philosophy 5

 — 4. REASON

“noesis” using the intellect, something to do with grasping of complete or perfect

knowledge of the forms and ideas, especially the idea of the “good” in the world of
forms and ideas

this is how we could attain perfect knowledge = through reason. if u want to go back
to world or forms and ideas u have to use reason or exemplify your thinking

💡 for plato, the real objective is the search for knowledge

if a jar is just drawn on paper it is just an illusion

illusion and belief are imitations. not the real world

essence of jar; example: (understanding is looking outside the cave)

reason is being on top of the jar and seeing everything; form and basis of all jars;
where all jars are based

"An unexamined life is not worth living."

methods in doing philosophy 6

 — Socrates

socrates believed that living a life where you live under the rules of others or in a
continuous routine without examining yourself or contemplating what you actually
want out of it is not worth living.

this kind of life does not provide any value to you which leads to a life that isn't worth
living.

examine yourself and exit the life you are stuck in. your life will eventually become
worthy enough with no regrets even at the death bed.

the answer to all this can be funneled to just one thought — know yourself. subject
your own thoughts and ideas to examination, rather than acting on impulse. knowing
yourself will help to strengthen your knowledge. thinking about one’s real self and
leaving all influential elements to divert and distract is the only thing required to
know about yourself and work towards what you really want.

methods in doing philosophy 7

 The Death of Socrates

this passage is meant to emphasize the importance of the contemplation or the

philosophical life in order to remember the perfect knowledge that the soul knew before
it joined the body.

we once had perfect knowledge. we must contemplate and search and examine
our lives to go back to this, having perfect knowledge, once again.

METHODS OF PHILSOPHIZING

SOCRATIC METHOD

is an example of didactic method

not a debate nor persuasion of arguments

you could show the contradiction or absurdity of your opponent’s argument by

asking a series of insightful questions in a dialogue that would lead to this absurd or
contradictory conclusion

this is the process, it has a flow. method that gives you the answers, perfect
knowledge, with the help of everyone

we give opinions to arrive at what we're finding

with the questions going on and on, it leads to perfect knowledge on the
answer

this is what socrates did

he kept asking his students until lumabas yung prior knowledge nila. para mas
lalong mahasa.

yung mga teachers daw sharpener tapos students yung knife — sir mikko, 2k21
HJASHAHJAA

methods in doing philosophy 8

 3 STEPS:

1. give definitions

2. questioning definitions - look for other characteristics

3. arriving at new definitions - get additional knowledge

"how will you know that you are real?"

METHOD OF SYSTEMATIC DOUBT

exercise of skepticism

magduda

doubting everything that can be doubted until you arrive at clean and distinct
ideas which are non-sensical to doubt

how do you know that blue, is blue?? sino ba nagsabi sayo na blue is blue? paano
alam ng sinabi mo na blue is blue? eme eme ka lang pala eh

Descartes went on to prove the existence of the self, as one of the three indubitable
premises of knowledge, in the dictum “I think, therefore, I am"

"I think, therefore I am"

if a person is conscious and able to think, then they are real

he found that he could not doubt that he himself existed, as he was the one doing
the doubting in the first place.

methods in doing philosophy 9