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WORLD
SOCRATES Argued that Athenians The Socratic Method,
were wrong-headed in also known as method
their emphasis on of Elenchus, eclectic
families, careers, and method, or Socratic
politics at the expense debate, is a form of
of the welfare of their cooperative
souls; argumentative
Is sometimes dialogue between
attributed the individuals, based on
statement “I know that asking and answering
I know nothing,” to questions to stimulate
denote an awareness critical thinking and to
of his ignorance, and draw out ideas and
in general, the underlying
limitations of human presuppositions.
knowledge;
Believed misdeeds
were a consequence of
ignorance, that those
who engaged in no
virtuous behavior did
so because they didn’t
know any better.
PLATO Plato's main The theory of Forms
contributions are in or theory of Ideas is a
philosophy, philosophical theory,
mathematics and concept, or world-
science. However, it is view, attributed to
not as easy as one Plato, that the physical
might expect to world is not as real or
discover Plato's true as timeless,
philosophical views. absolute,
The reason for this is unchangeable ideas.
that Plato wrote no According to this
systematic treatise theory, ideas in this
giving his views; sense, often
rather he wrote about capitalized and
30 dialogues written in translated as "Ideas"
the form of or "Forms", are the
conversations. Not non-physical essences
only are these of all things, of which
dialogues important objects and matter in
works of philosophy, the physical world are
but they are superb merely imitations.
pieces of literature. Plato speaks of these
entities only through
Through these the characters
dialogues, Plato (primarily Socrates) of
contributed to the his dialogues who
theory of art, in sometimes suggest
particular dance, that these Forms are
music, poetry, the only objects of
architecture, and study that can provide
drama. He discussed a knowledge. The
whole range of theory itself is
philosophical topics contested from within
including ethics, Plato's dialogues, and
metaphysics where it is a general point of
topics such as controversy in
immortality, man, philosophy. Whether
mind, and Realism are the theory represents
discussed. He Plato's own views is
discussed the held in doubt by
philosophy of modern scholarship.
mathematics, political However, the theory is
philosophy, and considered a classical
religious philosophy. solution to the
In his theory of Forms, problem of universals.
Plato rejected the
changeable, deceptive
world that we are
aware of through our
senses proposing
instead his world of
ideas which were
constant and true. In
his Republic, Plato
talks of geometrical
diagrams as imperfect
imitations of the
perfect mathematical
objects which they
represent. He also
contributed to logic
and legal philosophy,
including rhetoric.
Creation Ex Nihilo:
Augustine vigorously
argued that God
created the world ex
nihilo (creation "out of
nothing" or "from
nothing"). Certain
points of the thought
of Augustine 1,500
years ago are very
consistent with the
modern "big bang"
theory within
cosmology.