Plato - Understanding Essay Example for Free

Plato appreciation EssayKnowledge and horizon essentially form the entire dialogue of Platos Meno. Throughout the dialogue Socrates and Meno ar on the search for whether virtue basis be taught. From Socrates and Menos search for virtue, the importance of catch noesis and eyeshot gravels evident. Socrates and Menos search for virtue results in three themes. These themes are the relationship of knowledge, opinion and the accommodative importance of teaching. perceptiveness knowledge, opinion and teachings importance encourage create the savvy of why knowledge is beneficial and pursued in life. Knowledge, according to Socrates, is recollection. Socrates shows this by saying, As the whole of character is akin, and the soul has learned everything, nonhing prevents a man, after recalling peerless thing simplya offshoot men call learningdiscovering everything else for himself, if he is brave and does not tire of the search, for searching and learning are, as a whole, r ecollection (81d). Teachers exploit a role in developing knowledge so it mintnister become recallable. Today almost every person in this world in one focusing or another is schooled and taught things by a teacher.Years continue to go by with teachers playing an usurpation in almost everyones lives because they are benefiting peoples growth in knowledge. Teachers not totally help us gain knowledge but even with things that cannot be taught, teachers can still play a role. In the Meno it is concluded that virtue is one of those things that cannot be taught. Teachers are also actually helpful in the hobby of things that cannot be taught. Different ways teachers can help in the following of knowledge of things that cannot be taught is by asking questions, or encouraging questions to be asked.What this allows is those to pursue knowledge faster and much successfully than they would in most cases alone. So regardless whether it is something that can be taught or not, teachers pla y a key role in gaining knowledge. Gaining knowledge is something that is needd by each one of us. All of us because of our homophile nature have a desire to know things. Sometimes that desire is so we can feel superior to another, sometimes it is to answer ones own questions about life itself, and sometimes it is to simply purify ones everyday life.From these desires of wanting to know things it is obvious we as humans desire knowledge. But where exactly does this desire to know come from? This desire stems from opinion. Humans are opinionated and often feel very powerfully about ones opinions. Knowledge and opinion relate and there is a key conflict essential to understanding knowledge. As Socrates pointed out knowledge is tacit to be something that is true and can be recalled upon over and over knowing it is always true. However, the ability to be recallable is where opinion differs from knowledge.Opinions can in particular be true (true opinion) and be as useful as knowledg e however, there remains one distinct difference between the two. That difference is opinions can leave ones mind. Opinions need to become tied down and become knowledge to avoid being forgotten. Socrates shows through an example of what happens if opinions are not tied down. Socrates refers to a beautiful work of Daedalus to show the importance of knowledge. Socrates explains that opinions if true are good only as long as they hang around in ones mind.As shortly as the true opinion escapes ones mind it is no longer worthful. So if Socrates can tie the beautiful work of Daedalus it becomes more valuable just as knowledge becomes more valuable than true opinion because it is tied down forever with no potential of being forgotten (98a). Understanding this difference between knowledge and opinion is essential because it gives the reason as to why knowledge is pursued. in like manner knowledge and opinions difference they also relate to one another in the pursuit of knowledge.Acquirin g knowledge begins with opinions that are gained through different experiences. Before opinions become knowledge they can be stirred up through questions. In the Meno, Socrates does a demonstration that stirs up different opinions in a slave boy. Socrates asks the boy different questions and because of the questions asked the boy actually gets the questions correct without any knowledge of the answers. This example from the text shows two things regarding knowledge. First, this example shows that opinion precedes knowledge.The slave boy had true opinions about the questions Socrates was asking because he was tell correctly, but he did not have knowledge yet. Secondly, this example shows how teachers, in this case Socrates, help the pursuit of knowledge. By asking the proper questions opinions can be stirred up and start to become knowledge. When opinions are true they can become knowledge through an account of reason or proof that the opinion is indeed the truth. Once this happens the opinion turns into knowledge and that knowledge will now remain with no scourge of being lost.Acquiring knowledge is essential in life and the pursuit of knowledge is in human nature. Throughout our entire lives knowledge is constantly pursued. Understanding knowledge and opinions relationship allows this to be reasoned. With knowledge being distinguished from true opinion by being recallable teachers play an important role. Teachers help by asking the right questions which then speeds up the knowledge gaining process. So with these three relationships it is more understood as why knowledge is beneficial and constantly pursued through life.