Compare and contrast plato and decsartes Essay Example for Free

Compare and contrast plato and decsartes Essay Descartes and Plato are two of the most influential thinkers within philosophy. The allegory of the cave and systematic doubt are also two of the most famous concepts within philosophy. Plato at the time of writing the cave allegory was trying to resist the growing influence of the Sophist philosophers who prioritised semantics and rhetoric over truth. 1 Descartes by introducing radical scepticism to philosophy was challenging traditional scholastic philosophy which had dominated the philosophy for many centuries. While both pieces of writing are separated by different ages of time and space, they share many  similarities as well as fundamental differences. This essay will attempt to compare and contrast these two bodies of work by firstly explaining what is Descartes’ systematic doubt and Plato’s Allegory of the cave before finally examining the similarities and differences between them in the final paragraph of analysis. Descartes in his first meditation introduces the concept of Radical doubt which similarly places suspicion on the senses and the appearance of things. This involves stripping away all one’s beliefs and preconceived notions in order to find the foundational bedrock of  knowledge in which all sciences could then grow2. Descartes begins his first meditation by casting doubt on all his beliefs, if a belief can be even slightly doubted it must be discarded. He wants to ‘reject as absolutely false anything in which I could imagine the least amount of doubt3’ this is called radical scepticism where all beliefs must be challenged. Through this experiment Descartes conceded that the physical senses are not to be trusted as they have deceived him before, this is known as sensory deception and this revelation forces him to  doubt any beliefs about the external world and knowledge that is gathered by the five senses. His examination also reveals that dreams states can be difficult to distinguish between waking life, this has happened before where he thought he was in bed but wasn’t. Henceforth one cannot truly know if they are awake observing reality or asleep enjoying a dream, this is known as the dream hypothesis. Descartes also uncovers the evil demon hypothesis whereby all external reality observed may be just an illusion that is perpetrated by an evil demon  seeking to deceive him, also there is the problem that all previous memories about oneself could simply just be imagination and not grounded in any reality. The system of radical doubt leads Descartes into murky territory where he cannot believe in the existence of anything at 1 JULIAS, ANNAS: INTRODUCTION TO PLATO’S REPUBLIC(NEW YORK, 1998)P. 252 2 JOHN, COTTINGHAM, DESCARTES: THE PHILOSOPHY OF MIND(LONDON, 1997) P. 21 3 JOHN CORRINGHAM, DESCARTES: MEDITATIONS ON FIRST PHILOSOPHY (NEW YORK, 2013) P. 33 all. This thankfully is changed when he discovers the cogito’ I think therefore I am’, his  starting point which saves him from uncertainty, allowing him to prove that he exists. In Plato’s allegory of the cave, there are prisoners who are locked up within the depths of a cave. All day long, they are situated in front of a wall and behind them is a fire which reflects shadows on the wall. Unbeknownst to the prisoners, there are puppeteers who use the firelight to reflect shadows of their puppets upon the wall while making noises ‘the truth would be literally nothing but the shadows’4. The prisoners are unaware of this illusion and mistakenly believe these shadows are real images. One day, a prisoner is released from his chains and allowed to walk freely about the cave. Although it is confusing for him to see the puppets and fire, he is forced to accept this clearer version of reality and eventually ascents through the cave, spending a day and night under the sun and the stars. As he becomes familiar with the world above, he realises the sun is the giver of light, how it casts shadows and how his prior life in the cave was an entire illusion. This newfound enlightenment Plato remarks will prevent him from ever returning to the life in cave, nor will his old inmates  believe him if he tried to free him, instead ‘they would put him to death5’ This intellectual awakening will cause the inmate to grasp the idea of good, the eternal form which will urge him to act ‘rationally in public or private life6’. Ultimately Plato suggests the inmate should return to his old friends and seek to help them. The cave analogy is concerned with the human condition and its’ lack of enlightenment7, for Plato the prisoners represent ordinary citizens who hold false beliefs (shadows), reality is dictated to them by their senses (appearance of things) allowing them to be easily manipulated8. Ignorance is then symbolised by darkness and the intellect and reason is symbolised by the light. The journey of the inmate from darkness to light is a metaphor for education which allows one to progress from the ignorance in the depths of the cave to the intellectual plains of the enlightened one in the outside world. The outer world symbolises true knowledge, the realisation of eternal forms while the cave again illustrates the world of appearance and false beliefs, Woozley writes ‘most men without knowing it live in this shadow world’9 4 PLATO. ALLEGORY OF THE CAVE. P. 74 5 IBID. P. 75 6 IBID. P. 75. 7 ANTHONY, WOOZLEY: PLATO’S REPUBLIC: A PHILOSOPHICAL COMMENTARY(LONDON, 1989)P206 8 JULIAS, ANNAS: INTRODUCTION TO PLATO’S REPUBLIC(NEW YORK, 1998)P254 The cave analogy and Descartes systematic doubt have much in common. Both are concerned with the illusory nature of the senses and external reality, for Plato people place too much emphasis on the senses, on the appearance of things as illustrated in by the shadows on the wall, this leads them to hold false beliefs and to be easily misled, only by entering the realm of thought can people free themselves by gaining knowledge and becoming enlightened. Descartes through the systematic doubt also maintains that external reality cannot be truly known; the sensory deception and evil demon hypothesis cast doubt on the authenticity of the outside world. Indeed the evil demon hypothesis is an almost identical scenario to that of the prisoners whose sensory perception is distorted by the shadow wielding puppeteers. Only through the mind or intellect can an individual overcome the illusory nature of the senses, it allows the prisoner to access the outside world to gain enlightenment and help his fellow inmates while for Descartes the mind by way of the cogito is the one thing  that cannot be doubted which through it allows him prove the existence of the outside world in his later meditations. The cave is an analogy which illustrates how people can possess false consciousness and how through reason and knowledge one can overcome this while systematic doubt is an instruction on how to discard false beliefs, the ascent through the cave into the intellectual world is the finishing point for Plato while the cogito for Descartes is a starting point for further investigation. The two authors also differ on the type of philosophy employed in their argument. Plato insists that after the ascent , the prisoner will experience the idea of the good ‘ the lord of light in the visible world, and the immediate source of reason and truth in the intellectual’10 the good then is the highest point of knowledge and represents Plato’s philosophy of perfect types or forms known as idealism, Descartes through highlighting the sensory, dream and demon hypothesis illustrates how the external world cannot be relied upon as a basis for true knowledge, but the cogito is a starting point, the attempt to find secure beliefs that allow a foundation for further knowledge to be rested upon  is known as Foundationalism which is credited to Descartes. In conclusion, both Descartes and Plato in their attempts to challenge the prevailing doctrine of their respective times introduced two of the most influential concepts in the world of Philosophy. Descartes through his examination of systematic doubt uncovers the limitations of the physical senses in acquiring knowledge and introduces further challenges to understanding external reality with the dream, memory and evil demon hypothesis. Only 9 ANTHONY, WOOZLEY: PLATO’S REPUBLIC: A PHILOSOPHICAL COMMENTARY(LONDON, 1989)P. 223 10 PLATO. ALLEGORY OF THE CAVE. P. 77  through the mind alone can one grasp the nature of reality starting with the cogito. Likewise Plato is concerned with the appearance of things, how the senses can deceive us and humanity like the inmates in the cave can live in a state of ignorance or darkness if they don’t use the power of the mind to acquire knowledge and reason. Only through using the intellect can humanity gather true knowledge and escape the darkness in the cave. For both the intellect is the only means for gathering true knowledge, the senses are illusory. Descartes systematic doubt and cogito provide the foundational starting point for the sciences while the  cave allegory offers advocates a way of life for humanity to feign the world of ignorance and seek true knowledge so that those who acquire it will return to the cave and help their fellow man. Works Cited: Annas, Julias. An Introduction to Plato’s’ Republic. New York: Oxford University Press Cottingham, John. Descartes: Meditations on First Philosophy. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2013 Cottingham, John. Ed. Ray Monk. Descartes’ Philosophy of Mind. London: Phoenix Publishers, 1997 Plato. The Allegory of the cave. Week 5 Handout Woozley, Anthony. Plato’s Republic: A philosophical commentary. London: MacMillan Publishers, 1989.

Global Warming and Greenhouse Gases Essays -- Climate Change Environme

Global Warming and Greenhouse Gases The concentration of the atmosphere's main greenhouse gases specifically, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and water vapor, have increased significantly during the industrial age. These high concentrations are predicted to continue in the atmosphere for thousands of years to come. This increase in specially carbon dioxide, increases the infrared energy taken in by the atmosphere, and warming the earth's surface. The Global mean temperature over the past 150 years has risen between 0.3 degrees C and 0.6 degrees C. Climate changes that have been predicted are based on the continual rise in Green House Gases. These changes include changes in: increase in mean surface air temperature, increase in global mean rates of precipitation and evaporation, rising sea level, and changes in the biosphere. There are many causes to the rise in Green House Gases in the atmosphere. The rise in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is largely related to the combustion of fossil fuels and cement production (Hansen). The increase in methane is do to rice cultivation, animal husbandry, biomass burning, and landfills (Kattenberg). Nitrous oxide is on the rise because of industrial sources like adipic acid and nitric acid production (Kattenberg). Other gases not mentioned above that have a small impact on the Green House Gas proposed problem, is CFC-11 and CFC-12, these Gases are know to the public as being a big source of warming, although catalyzing decomposition of stratospheric ozone, they do not pose a great threat. Since the public was notified of these compounds in refrigerants, spray propellants, and foam blowing; the atmospheric concentrations have decreased greatly (Prather). .. ...the past 160,000 years." Nature, 345, 1990. Charlson, R. J. "Climate forcing by anthropogenic aerosols." Science 255, 1992. Douglas B. C. Global sea level rise, J. geophys. Res., 96 (C4), 6981-6992, 1991. Hansen, J. E. (1998). Climate forcings in the industrial era. Livermore: Willams Press. Kattenberg, A. (1996). Climate Change 1995: The Science of Climate Change.Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Krabill. W. "Rapid thinning of parts of the southern Greenland ice sheet." Science 283, 1999. Peixoto, J. P., and A. H. Oort (1992). Physics of Climate. New York: American Institute of Physics. Prather, M. P. "The ozone layer: The road not taken." Nature 381, 1996. Wang, W. C. "Inadequacy of affective CO2 as a proxy in simulating the greenhouse effect of other radiatively active gases." Nature 350, 1991.

Personal Challenge Essay

There's plenty Of things I'll have to do in order to get through high school and have the grades to get into college. Participating in class and asking questions will help me to bet term understand what we're learning. Also, studying for exams and quizzes will lead to better g reads, which will look good to colleges. Doing all work and getting it all turned in on time will h elf to improve my grades. A high school diploma is a must have for getting accepted into a good college. No college, no job in the future. Basically have to go to college in order to AC hive my Laos of being an athletic trainer.Finding the right college is going to take some e time and research. A college I would really like to go to is Duquesne University. Would I eke to go there because that's where my sister went. I would first want to see if this specific c allege would provide the education need to be an athletic trainer. I would also want to fin d out what the guidelines and requirements are for getting int o that school. I could research the school and see what I can find, or I could talk to the guidance counselor here at Keystone. I co old also talk to y sister about the layout of the school and where certain classes and places are.Playing basketball in college would also motivate me to stick with it. Playing basketball I could also get me a scholarship for college, so then my tuition wont be quite so much for m I've played basketball all my life and been around many athletes. I've seen ho w and why many injuries happen, and have had many injuries myself that required physic cal therapy with an athletic trainer. Being around this environment so much has really gotten me interested in being an athletic trainer. Eave always thought that it seemed like a fun career to ha eve.I'm going to have to work very hard to achieve this goal of mine. Its not goanna be easy beck cause there's a lot of things to learns, but I know I can do it. Everyone has something they would love to accomplish in their life. My goal I s to take up a career of being an athletic trainer. In order to achieve this I will have to work hard at everything do at school. I'll also have to get through both high school and cool leg with good grades. With that being said, achieving my goal of being an athletic trainer is g Anna be hard, but I can definitely do it.

Beyond The Healthy Marriage Initiative - 1240 Words

Chaney, C. (2009). Beyond the Healthy Marriage Initiative: How Extension Agents can promote healthy relationships among low-income, cohabiting African American Couples. North Carolina State University Extension. The Healthy Marriage Initiative provided funds to allow various programs to be organized to help fulfill its goals of promoting healthy marriages. The author suggested that extension agents have understanding in how they can help accomplish the coals of the Healthy Marriage Initiative in regards to low-income, African-American couples, with children. Chaney provides background and research of cohabitating and single parenthood in African American families. She further discussed the African American Healthy Marriage Initiative (a branch of the original Healthy Marriage Initiative), in which cultural competency and the responsibilities of fathers are stressed. Chaney, based on previous research, suggested that extension agents should be aware of their values and biases regarding cohabitating families and recognize the context of cohabitating relationships. Extension agents can provide specific examples to families of ways in which their families can be strengthened. They can further help families understand the effects of poor and low-quality relationships. Finally, the author suggests specific ways in which extension agents can better understand the context and climate surrounding cohabiting families, as well as the goals of these families. Fincham, F.D., Beach,Show MoreRelatedRhetorical Analysis Of Divorce920 Words   |  4 Pagesespecially those which have children. †Currently, about 46 percent of all marriages are projected to end in divorce† (953). It is slowly becoming considered more, and more normal everyday. In the article â€Å"Strengthening marriage is an appropriate social policy goal†, Paul R. 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