Ryan T. Bautista Professor Sirridge Philosophy 2033 20 October 2008 PHIL. 2003 Midterm 1.

Parmenides was one of the first ancient thinkers that attempted to describe the Logos. He claimed that as we search for this logos we find all the multiplicity in the world to be nonexistent; we begin to see being as One. We must therefore not be fooled by the plurality presented by perception, but give our attention to Oneness that can be found through pure reason (Logos). Anaximenes described what he thought to be the cosmos as something in which everything was a derivative of air. As a mechanist, Anaximenes believed that the every component of the cosmos was some form of air, whether that air was transformed into a solid, discharged into water, or condensed into fire. A Roman Stoic, Marcus Aurelius subscribed to the idea of academic skepticism. He claimed that one should be skeptical about committing oneself to any idea, however probable. Aristotle, throughout his Nicomachean Ethics, claims that the ultimate human good is happiness, or eudaimonia. Eudaimonia not only signifies a contentment or human gratification, but more importantly a type of human flourishing. The idea of epoche, withholding judgment in all things, is a term most commonly equated with Cicero. By suspending our judgment on things we no longer allow the world to control us; we no longer rely solely on our passions to guide us.

3. In Platos Allegory of the Cave he first posits the image of people held in bondage, completely immobile even since childhood, sitting effortlessly across from a wall. These people represent humans void of freedom, humans completely unaware of what eludes them, humans, as Plato would have it, greatly like ourselves. Next he puts forth the idea of certain puppets behind them, which, due to some fire from behind, casts shadows on the wall for the people to see. The puppets here represent the true objects of knowledge unattainable to most people, while the shadows act as material objects of perception that most people take to be real. Then he introduces something new to the present scenario. He suggests that the people stand up and turn around to view the puppets. Having never before set eyes on such things, their turning around, their complete change in direction and perspective, would show that the puppets were far beyond their immediate knowledge.

Consequently, Plato asks what would result if the prisoners were to gaze back at the never before seen the fire? They would be blinded and could not ingest such a miraculous sight. The fire in this instance is being used as a symbol for the brightness of truth. Finally he says they would eventually acclimate, but if they went back to the cave and tried to get people to follow them out, they would resist saying that their eyes could no longer see the shadows in the darkness as well, and therefore had been harmed rather than helped. This resistance found in the stragglers left in the cave represents a feeling common to ourselves, a feeling aroused in us as we refuse to heed the intelligence of philosopher kings.