Perspectives Quiz- Meno, Republic, Apology, Crito

Main question of Plato's Meno

Can virtue be taught?

Socratic method

Questioning someone's beliefs until contradictions reveal their knowledge is incomplete.

Elenchus

Socrates' method of examination and refutation through questioning to expose inconsistencies.

Meno's paradox / Paradox of inquiry

How can you search for something if you don't know what it is, or recognize it if you find it?

Anamnesis

The theory of recollection; learning is remembering knowledge the eternal soul already possesses.

True opinion vs. Knowledge

True opinion is a correct belief without full understanding; knowledge is securely grounded and justified.

Aporia

A state of puzzlement, uncertainty, or intellectual impasse.

Cephalus's definition of justice

Telling the truth and paying debts.

Polemarchus's definition of justice

Helping friends and harming enemies.

Thrasymachus's definition of justice

The advantage of the stronger.

Ring of Gyges

A thought experiment showing that people would act unjustly if given invisibility and no fear of punishment.

Principle of specialization

Each person should perform the single job they are naturally best suited for.

Three classes of Plato's ideal city

Rulers, auxiliaries, and producers.

Myth of the Metals

A founding myth assigning souls of gold, silver, or bronze/iron to justify social roles and encourage unity.

Four virtues of the ideal city

Wisdom, courage, moderation, and justice.

Three parts of the human soul

Reason, spirit, and appetite.

Plato's definition of justice in the soul

Reason rules, spirit supports reason, and appetite obeys (harmony).

Philosopher-king

A ruler who possesses genuine knowledge of the eternal Forms and governs for the whole city's good.

The Forms

Eternal, unchanging, perfect realities that exist beyond the physical world (e.g., Beauty, Justice).

Knowledge vs. Opinion (Republic)

Knowledge concerns the unchanging Forms; opinion concerns the changing physical world.

Sun Analogy

The sun is to the visible world as the Form of the Good is to the intelligible world of Forms.

Divided Line

Four levels of understanding moving from imagination and belief to thought and philosophical understanding.

Allegory of the Cave

A metaphor where escaping a dark cave represents education and moving from ignorance to the Forms.

Dialectic

The highest form of philosophical reasoning that moves beyond assumptions to reach first principles.

Degeneration of governments

Aristocracy -> Timocracy -> Oligarchy -> Democracy -> Tyranny.

Timocracy

A government and person ruled by honor, spirit, and military achievement.

Oligarchy

A government and person ruled by wealth and necessary appetites.

Democracy (Plato's view)

A government and person characterized by excessive freedom and equality, ruled by unnecessary appetites.

Tyranny

The most enslaved system and person, dominated by lawless appetites and constant fear.

Three animals of the soul

The human (reason), the lion (spirit), and the many-headed beast (appetite).

Why Plato banishes poetry

Poetry imitates appearances, stirs irrational emotions, and corrupts the soul.

Myth of Er

A tale of the afterlife where souls are judged and choose their next lives based on wisdom.

Apologia

A defense speech, such as the one Socrates gives at his trial.

Socratic wisdom

Recognizing and knowing that you do not know.

The Gadfly Analogy

Socrates compares himself to a gadfly stinging the sluggish horse of Athens to wake it up.

The unexamined life

A life without self-reflection and care for the soul is not properly lived.

Charges against Socrates

Not believing in Athenian gods, introducing new gods, and corrupting the youth.

Setting of Plato's Crito

Socrates is in prison awaiting execution, and Crito visits him to urge him to escape.

The Laws of Athens

Personified laws that argue Socrates has a social contract and a duty to obey them.

Why Socrates refuses to escape

Escaping would break his social contract, harm the laws, and commit an unjust act in return for injustice.