Reflection papaer#13

Plato was a supporter of Socrates. He was much attached and felt profoundly and ethically influenced by him. Most of what he knew came from Socrates but, Plato was said to be a more virtually systematic thinker than Socrates had been. He established his own school of philosophy and was filled with an abundance of ideas. I believe his ideas were rather mind consuming and indeed did have a huge impact on the modern western educational system. His doctrine of forms discussed several important concepts such as knowing virtue, knowledge, justice, social life and etc. One specific concept in which that caught my attention as I read the doctrine was Plato’s Meno. The Meno was a traditional dialogue which was Socratic (having to do with the Socratic Method) in Tone. It introduced a branch of philosophy that investigates the origin, nature, methods, and limits of human knowledge. The Meno elaborated on the Greek notion of virtue, which is basically, to my understanding, a certain talent or skill a certain individual has the ability to perform. This talent or skill has some particular respect and admiration. One example in the article that was used towards this concept was the virtue of a baker. The baker’s virtue is what enables him to bake good bread. One special skill that I have is to braid hair and my moral excellence is what allows me to compete in any hair show and win with flying colors. Plato also developed idealism which is basically the theory that reality is based on absolute truths and not materialism. Idealism is one of the oldest systematic philosophies in western culture. My definition of it is when someone has the predisposition to correspond to things in an ideal form, or as they might or should be rather than as they are, with emphasis on values. Idealism fundamentally points out things straight out of the mind. I can honestly say that when I read Plato’s idealism I thought of myself. Being the ideal person that I am, I found myself agreeing with most of Plato’s theories. If there’s one thing that I dislike more than anything, with an exception of mayonnaise of course, it’s when people go around the bush (an expression meaning take time to get to the point of a situation or subject). If something needs to be said then I believe it should be said. Sometimes I tend to base the truth on my opinions which is not always in consent with the truth, but people still ask for my opinion and I never decline their request. Plato taught that the truth is in all things. He believed that we were not born with our minds as clean blank slates but with instincts and skills. We came into the world with the ability to learn and reminisce on those things in which we have learned. Overall I think that Plato’s ideas greatly influenced the future of public education.