Plato
Essay title: Plato
As a psyche in the ancient Greek cosmos, I have become aware of the logos of the cosmos. The cosmos becomes knowable to me through the virtues of truth, goodness, and beauty. Logos is Greek for measure and cosmos, a Greek word, can be translated as meaning totality. When I encounter the Greeks, they claim that there are three elements to cosmos. The first factor is anthrapoi which is Greek for human-like. The word anthrapoi resembles the English word, anthropology, which is the study of human life. The second element is polis, which is Greek for the political city. The final element is the psyche, which in Greek means the soul or the mind. The psyche enables thinking. According to the Greeks, there is no separation; there is only unification between mind and thoughts, which is the psyche part of things in the world.
One Greek philosopher, Parmenides posits that to think is the same as to be and that knowledge is certainty. Like Descartes, Parmendies believes that to know is to know with certainty. However, Descartes method of attaining knowledge is through doubt, whereas Parmendies manner is through identifying with the circumstance. One can associate Parmendies definition of knowledge as being eternal, unchanging, single, and homogeneous. Parmendies lays out the two requirements for achieving knowledge both which involve the psyche. The first requirement is that one cannot be completely certain of knowledge obtained through the senses because the things that one senses are constantly changing. Moreover, the idea that the senses are in a states of flux concurs with his notion of knowledge is unchangeable. His second necessity is that since senses give relativism then sense perception will always be changing. Parmendies also claims that the only world that truly exists is the world that occurs. Present in his theories are two realms, the Realm of Nous (Greek), which can be translated into English as reality or knowledge and the Realm of Soma which is Greek for appearances. Characteristics existent in the Realm of Reality are changeless, immutable, individual, homogeneous, and singular. On the contrary, in the Realm of Appearance are factors that are plural, heterogeneous, and changeable. When Parmendies exists and is in being, he is in the Realm of Reality, also referred to as the Realm of Knowledge. In addition, the only thing he is certain of is in his mind or psyche. Therefore, Parmendies definition is only applied in the Realm of the Mind.
Protagoras, a Greek philosopher and the father of relativism, criticizes Parmenides by altering his definition of knowledge. Protagoras alleges that because everything in the world changes, Parmenides definition of knowledge is inaccurate. He also believes that both the Realm of Reality and the Realm of Appearance should be included in identifying knowledge. His objective is to demonstrate that things that shift over time have individuality, plurality,and complexity. According to Protagoras, “knowledge is completeness.” Moreover, he posits that the Cosmos is rational and intelligible. As well, each individual has his or her own lobos and cosmos. Thus, his philosophy is summed up in the statement: “Man is the measure of all things.” Man is the measure of things that exist and things that do not exist. However, there are consequences to Protagoras theories. Since each person has a different lobos of the world, he or she has a distinct understanding of the cosmos. Protagoras is incapable of answering the question of why humans cannot know the truth of cosmos.
Socrates detects Protagoras error in his definition of knowledge. He claims that the only method to disagree is via a universal truth. Socrates asserts that to understand the entities of Truth, Goodness, and Beauty in the cosmos one must have unity with them. He wants to challenge the unknown. He attempts to give an efficient account that incorporates not only Protagoras disapproval to the Cosmos views but also his belief that “Man is the measure of all things.” Unlike Protagoras conception that each being has his or her own cosmos, Socrates puts forth that there is only one cosmos and every person inside that cosmos is inferior.
For the cosmos, good is a source of intelligible light. Without good providing light for them, people would be unable to see Forms of the world and the truth in mathematics. If there is a lack of intelligible light in the world, the psyche does not have the ability to know the elements.
As a psyche, I have already learned of the cosmos and their definition of the Greek world. Although as a psyche, which is a soul and mind, I have still not been educated of the good of the cosmos. My education of the good of the cosmos is through the sun analogy. This analogy can be better known as the Analogy between the Physical and Metaphysical.