Task 1: What videos about Plato & Aristotle can you find? Please post helpful & well-produced material, like this:
Socrates, Plato, & Aristotle https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JumLZQkofgY
Plato & Aristotle https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7K59sHKCTM&list=PLviVkBEXllFS1_q7wt5AUJoBC2_Npeuf9
Plato: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDiyQub6vpw
Aristotle: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=csIW4W_DYX4
Question 1: What do you like most about Plato?
Question 2: What do you like most about Aristotle?
I like that Plato encourages people to go through formal education, but he highly emphasizes a person's early childhood education and life experiences. I think early childhood is a very important time to structure a child's learning abilities and to make sure that they are grasping certain tasks. Life experiences shape a person's behavior and this is very essential during early childhood.
ReplyDeleteAristotle, however, was very confusing. What I liked most about him was that human fulfillment consists in activity and that we should conduct this activity at our best level. I think it's always important to give something your all and to really fight for things you want because when you do reach your goals, you feel a sense of satisfaction and fulfillment.
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ReplyDeleteHere are two videos I found about Plato and Aristotle. The series is focused on human wellbeing, which reminded me of one of the goals of our course to "attempt[] to understand what a good life would be," and how to live well.
Deletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-oJs5u_GAYA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFPBf1AZOQg
I thought Plato was a bit challenging to understand. I think his metaphysical ideas were confusing. I understand that he declares that there is a sensible world and a world of forms, but for me it was difficult to fully grasp that concept. I think one thing about Plato’s teaching that I really liked is that he wanted people to think more. He encouraged people to take time and think logically about life instead of just going with the flow and conforming to popular opinions. I think that I could apply this to my life a little bit more, and I think it could better my life.
ReplyDeleteIn Aristotle’s philosophy, I really liked his ideas on friendship and the three different ways he defines them. My friendships are very important to me, but I never realized that they had such a huge impact on my life. I definitely agree with Aristotle’s definitions. I have my group of friends that I spend time with when I want to have fun. Then when he talks about friendships that are strategic acquaintances, I think about the friends that I have on my volleyball; we are all seeking a common goal. Then, I have my one true best friend who I deeply care about. This person greatly increases my quality of life.
There are a few things that I like about both Plato and Aristotle. First, Plato's one goal was to help people to reach a state of fulfillment, which had 4 goals to it. The first was to think more. I believe in this aspect because sometimes we go about our lives and don't spot to take the time to think for ourselves. That's why they call it the human race I guess, always going somewhere, but not really thinking about where life is taking us. I believe that sometimes I need to stop and think about my life and what I want to do, not what other people are telling me to do (public opinion). the second goal is to let your lover change you. This is my favorite goal because sometimes we think that we should be with someone who loves us for who we are, and that is true. However, I would rather be with someone who pushes me to be a better person, want me to learn more and be engaged, and also to grow to my full potential. Plato says that this can only be true if we find someone who has qualities that we lack and I really like this thought of his. The third goal is to decode the beautiful things in which asks why are we attracted to beautiful things. The reasoning is because they speak truths to us, Plato states. These truths speak the qualities we need but are missing in our lives. I agree with this statement because when I take the time to look at things that are beautiful to me I feel better as a person after because of the missing "qualities". The last is to reform society and the thing I like about this goal was when Plato wanted to make people to think before they vote. So to think rationally. Personality, in the past I would tend to not educate myself on who I would be voting for, I would just vote. However, as I got older I have began to do some major research before voting. These are the main qualities that I like about Plato.
ReplyDeleteIn Aristotle's philosophy, it was quite hard to understand because there was so much detail in not only his views, but virtues as well. There was so much about the importance of virtues that there was not just one book her wrote about them, but multiple. However, I relate to Aristotle's philosophy most with his understanding of friendships. The first group of friends seek only fun and their own pleasure for this fun. the second group of friends like the friend ship because they seek to advance from the friendship. And the last group, is a true friendship. This is where I enjoy his philosophy the most because I have had the chance to have only a few true friends in which I become happy for their accomplishments and then sad if they have a failure. I have the same feelings that they are experiencing, in which is one of the definitions of a true friend.
These are the main qualities that I enjoy from these two philosophies, but I think I relate to Plato most.
I appreciate that Plato was ahead of his time in thinking about how women are somewhat equal to men. He still had his beliefs that men were overall better, but he was willing to see that is women worked hard enough that they could be stronger in certain aspects than some men. He also believed in the advantages of early childhood education. He wanted to encourage children to focus on subjects that they showed most progress in. I believe children should be encouraged in early childhood education to give them a foundation for their education.
ReplyDeleteWith Aristotle I like that he discusses a topic that we can all relate to which is friendship. I was once told that a person can only have 3 best friends and I’m not sure if I fully believe that, but it does make since that not every friend will be as close to us as others. He defines 3 types of friendships, we have our group of best friends and then we have our friend that act more as acquaintances, but we still classify them as someone of meaning to us. All my friendships are very important to me because each one of my friends gives me meaning in some way, but I know I am closer with some of my friends over others, but that doesn’t devalue any other friendship.
I like how Plato found that human nature excelled past simple observations to become more concrete with experiences because it shows that every experience someone has is going to be different every time due to the senses picking up new things. It is also refreshing to see that Plato believed that no role in society was distinctive to either sex such as women having another role other than reproduction. He also believed that no one can perform every task needed for survival and therefore there should be a division of labor among a society.
ReplyDeleteAristotle believed that your character is something that you work for over your life time and is not based on one thing. He has a sense of practical wisdom, where one can not simply know and apply a general set of rules because their can be many choices for the different things that we encounter in life. Aristotle believed that true friendship is possible for only a few people. There are three types of friends according to Aristotle, one based on convenience, or benefits, one based on pleasure, and one that is based on goodness. Everyone has friends that fit into the three categories and that one that will last the longest is the friend that is based on goodness.
I really like how Plato’s focus on life is about realizing that the world we live in and see is only a small part of what life is all about. We strive for and crave a higher transcendent reality which unites it all together. We all want to escape the dark and ignorant aspects of life and walk in the light of truth instead. Plato questions the existence of it all. I also really like his fundamental point that what is good or bad for us depends on our human nature, the complex of factors in our psychological makeup. From my understanding, Plato looks at us and sees how we have control over what happens to us and every situation is different for everyone. We can be at the same place at the same time and come away with two completely different stories of what was going on. We all have our own experiences and we all perceive things differently so everything depends on what we make of it.
ReplyDeleteI found it harder to make sense of Aristotle but I did really like Aristotle’s views of theories. He says that we should not latch onto the first theory we hear. It’s a lazy way of philosophizing because we need to analyze everything and really think about it. I also like his positive attitude regarding the human condition and how we learn much from our failures. He seems to have a very positive outlook when it comes to this.