Chapter 2 :The GREEKS

Plato's    Legacy

 Plato's flawless sense of style and form lead to logical and aesthetic coherence displayed in his dialogues. 

His legacy survives in what is known as Platonism. 

Four characteristics of Platonism are:

 1. The function of Philosophy is to arrive at some single systematic synthesis of all that is known.

2. The theory of the forms signifies that generalizations have explanatory value.

3. Reality forms a single coherent system.  Reality is not divided up into isolated departments.

4. The World of Thought and the World of Fact illustrates some value. 

 The TRUE , the GOOD and the BEAUTIFUL are ONE.

 Plato's ideas have had an impact on every major social institution: religion, art, science, family, etc...

Encyclopedia entries on On Platonism and  another

We shall see some of the consequences of his ideas in several of the other modules or units of this course.

With this we conclude this chapter and will now move on into specific issues that have captivated thinkers around the world. These issues involve what are called the perennial questions that have fascinated philosophers throughout the world for over two millennia.  These are questions and issues that keep arising wherever you have humans who take time to think.  We shall go on now to examine several Issues in Philosophy.  What we will see throughout is the process of thought presented to us by Plato as Philosophy:  Dialectical Thinking.

Dialectical Thinking is critical thinking using reasoning and logical argumentation.  It is ARGUING

VIEW: How to Argue  Crash Course Philosophy #2

END OF CHAPTER 2

Proceed to the next chapter.

© Copyright Philip A. Pecorino 2000. All Rights reserved.