Philosophy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 42

Philosophy - Essay Example Searching for knowledge is just like trying to get bigger and bigger squares than the one we have started with. Actually, the basis of most of Plato’s philosophical ideas was mathematics. He was fond of mathematics because of its idealized abstractions and its separation from the merely material. According to Plato, the mathematician could well consider himself as dealing only with the purest form of thought and as having nothing to do with the imperfect everyday world. The eagerness to be enlightened and greediness to be experienced are the real cause of man’s destruction and suffering, according to Plato in the Meno. In fact, the continuous search for knowledge about the unknown is an aspect that has been characterizing human beings since their early existence on earth. In that sense, an important characteristic of human nature in general is the easiness with which man can commit a sin, despite the fact that he clearly knows the good. This is what is referred to as "Menos paradox" in Platos Meno. Plato, in this play, sends an important message about the nature of man, saying that, in many cases, man can clearly differentiate between what is good and what is evil and still can fail to do the good. Consequently, Plato had his own philosophy of ethics. His ethical theory rests on the assumption that virtue is knowledge and can be taught, which has to be understood in terms of his theory of Forms. The highest Form for Plato is the Form of the Good, and knowledge of this Form is the source of guidance in moral decision making. Accordingly, Plato argued that to know the good is to do the good. The epitome of this is that anyone who behaves immorally does so out of ignorance. This assumption is derived from Platos conviction that the moral person is the t ruly satisfied person, and because individuals always desire their own happiness, they always desire to do that which is moral. Therefore, it can be said that Plato’s