Discussion Response

200-word response to classmates’ follow up posts. Your follow up postings should further the discussion and add insight to the original posting. (state your word count)

Here is the post we will reply to:

I believe the teachings of Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle have a huge impact on our lives today. These ancient Greek philosophers developed an operating system for Western law, science, and government based on logic and reason. Socrates created the Socratic Method, an argumentative conversation that promotes critical thinking. This method of thinking is primarily used in law schools today to teach students and lawyers to challenge witnesses in courtrooms. During his trial, he said, “The unexamined life is not worth living.” Just as the Athenians did, most of us value wealth, reputation, and power. Socrates wanted us to value our true worth as individuals and to reflect on our lives to learn from them. His approach to critical thinking had a significant impact on the development of modern philosophy and education. Plato took his ideas and established the Academy. This was one of the first universities in the Western world. Its principles focused on critical thinking, research, and the pursuit of knowledge, which are the same principles modern universities use today. Plato’s famous book “The Republic” talks about a perfect society and how it should be governed. He believed that the wise and educated should be allowed to lead. Today, modern government civil service exams are used to select officials based on their intelligence, competence, and skills. His philosophy has influenced the justice and equality in our constitution. Another part of his work is the “Allegory of the Cave.” This book tells the story of prisoners chained in a cave and illustrates how perception and reality are different. The prisoners could only see shadows on the cave wall, cast by the objects behind them and by a nearby fire. They have spent their entire lives in this dark, shadowy cave, and this is all they know. One freed prisoner learned that there was more to life than the cave’s shadows and found the truth. Most scholars today interpret this as a means of teaching political, personal, and religious truths. In a similar way to this story, social media can be a version of this cave. Just like the prisoners chained to the cave, we often become trapped in this limited perspective, as the shadows can represent fake news and theories. Aristotle was a student in the Academy. Unlike Plato, he focused more on the physical aspects of the world, creating the foundation of modern science. Aside from his scientific work, he is best known as the “father of logic.” He developed the syllogism, the first formal system of reasoning. This became the foundation for the systems we see in computer science, mathematics, and legal argument today. Aristotle also taught the “Golden Mean,” an idea and a technique for finding the right balance between two things. It remains a powerful method of self-regulation in modern philosophy and ethics. This method also helps people live a well-balanced life. The foundation on which we argue in court, write code, and use scientific methods was laid by Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. Their legacy remains an important part of Western Civilization over two thousand years later