Great Philosophers

Great Philosophers

Socrates most famous quote is “The unexamined life is not worth living.” To Socrates life was not simply to be lived or by blindly following primal instincts, and popular convictions. The good life is a life that questions everything through self-examination, contemplation, and open-minded wondering. He taught this could be achieved by aquiring as much knowledge as possible and to be constantly in search of new knowledge, always expanding the mind and learning. Socrates said “The only thing that I know is that I know nothing,” this quote stresses his views that one can never truly know anything but must strive to learn everything. This self examination gives life meaning, and a meaningful life purpose for existence. Socrates believed this was the only way to achieve total happiness.
A state of total virtue and perfection was perceived as the good life to Plato. His ideas were based on self interest. However, he distinguishes between perceived self-interest and actual self-interest and argues that any apparent conflict between rationality and morality is simply a conflict between one's perceived self-interest and the requirements of justice. Plato’s ideas of “The Forms” are two basic ideas. First, knowledge cannot come through the senses, and secondly, we do nevertheless manage to know things. He is saying that there is something beyond human senses that we have knowledge of. His view was that the “forms” were connected to the nature of everything in reality. His philosophy explains that it is vital to fully understand the forms in order to lead a good and happy life.
Aristotle’s idea of a good life was one full of virtue and a life lived with intellectual and moral wisdom. Aristotle believes in learning from your mistakes, habits, and finding the greatest good. In contrast to Plato’s idea of the good, Aristotle’s ethics are concerned with the good for human beings. So in order to know the good you need to understand the good for all. Aristotle stressed that...

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