Philosophy 5 Essay Research Paper The Greek

Philosophy 5 Essay, Research Paper

The Greek Philosopher Plato considered a properly led human life, (the good life ) to be achieved through harmony (thus of the soul, and of the people in a state). Plato describes the soul as having three parts, which he calls reason, spirit, and appetite. The reason portion of the soul is an awareness of a goal or a value. Spirit, is the drive toward action, which is at first a neutral drive, but responds to the direction of reason. Finally, the appetite is the desire for the things of the body. Plato saw the body itself as inanimate, and therefore When it acts or moves, it must be moved by the principle of life, the soul. (63; Stumf). Temperance occurs when the emotions are ruled over by the intellect, and the bodily appetites are ruled over by the emotions and especially the intellect. An individual may be said to have harmony when the bodily appetites and emotions are not only ruled over by the intellect, but do so willingly and without force… For Plato harmony could be achieved only if the parts of the soul were doing what the nature of each required that it do. Each part of the soul has a special function (68; Stumf). Plato discusses three virtues that the three parts of the soul may attain. The virtue of temperance (this is moderation in pleasures). The virtue of courage, and the virtue of wisdom (seeing true ideals in spite of constant change.) When each part of the soul is in fact fulfilling its special function, a fourth virtue, justice is attained (69; Stumf). This harmony and virtue of justice is thus seen as the fulfillment of function (therefore a properly led human life).

If there is harmony in the individual, harmony in the community will result. The state grows out of the nature of the individual. Plato s thought closely relates his moral philosophy with his political theory As justice is the general virtue of the moral person, so also it is justice that characterize the good society. (69; Stumf). The state is a natural institution because it reflects the structure of human nature. The state exists because of a cooperation amongst the individuals. No one person possesses all the skills needed to produce the necessities of life. Plato separates people based on their strength, intelligence, and courage. Those who are not overly bright, or strong, or brave, are best suited to various productive jobs, using physical labor. Those who are bright, strong and especially courageous are suited to defensive and policing professions (guards). Those who are extraordinarily intelligent, virtuous and brave are suited to run the state itself; (Plato s ideal state is an aristocracy). A state is imbalanced if any of the lower groups do not obey one of the higher groups. A state is just if the lower groups obey the guards and rulers, and do so willingly. Most importantly, Plato believed that all should agree upon the ruler, as well as the reason why the ruler need be obeyed

The ruler, said Plato, should be the one who has been fully educated, one who has come to understand the difference between the visible world and the intelligible world, between the realm of opinion and the realm of knowledge, between appearance and reality. The philosopher-king is one whose education, in short has led him up step by step through the ascending degrees of knowledge of the Divided Line until at last he has a knowledge of the Good, the synoptic vision of the interrelation of all truths to each other. (72; Stumf)

This just nature of harmony and cooperation constituted the properly led human life according to Plato. Later, Aristotle a student of Plato s expanded on his philosophy. Aristotle placed his thought into the realm of becoming, whereas Plato s thought was fixed more upon the static realm of timeless Being (81).

Aristotle saw a properly led human life as one that achieved happiness. He argued that every action has a purpose, and that good is the aim of every action, giving two classifications of good: good as a means and good as an end. He believed that happiness is the ultimate good or ultimate purpose for what other purposes are sought for. Aristotle rejects pleasure and wealth. He believed human happiness should coincide with nature. We are different from plants and animals only because we possess reason. Aristotle believed that people (along with everything in nature) have a distinctive end to achieve. Human action should aim at its proper entelechy. After arriving at ones essence and fulfilling their inherent purpose, the individual may thus be happy

Happiness is the end that alone meets all the requirements for the ultimate end of human action. Indeed, we choose pleasure, wealth, and honor only because we think that through this instrumentality we shall be happy. Happiness, it turns out, is another word or name for good, for like good, happiness is the fulfillment of our distinctive function; or, as Aristotle says, Happiness is a working of the soul in the way of excellence or virtue. (100)

The principle of good can be discovered by observing nature and attained through mans behavior in daily life. According to Aristotle, the good person is the one who is fulfilling their function as a person ( The good man is not the one who does a good deed here or there, now and then, but the one whose whole life is good ) (Pg. 100) He goes on to describe vise as either extreme excess or defect, and virtue is th