A brief overview of the lives and contributions of Socrates, Plato and Aristotle.
Socrates was a great philosopher in ancient Greek Philosophy. His ideologies went against the beliefs and philosophical traditions.
He largely contributed to ethical related issues since he strongly believed in good mannerism. His views opposed greediness and misuse of power by those in authority and this serves as a lesson to those entrusted in learning government affairs.
He valued truth above everything else, human life and advocated for responsibility in the education sector. This is a positive attribute especially to those entrusted to guide and empower young generation with education since he was a role model to philosophers and loved wisdom.
He felt that if people acted morally while fulfilling their daily obligations, they would be happy regardless of their achievement or failure. He was against westernization and was sentenced to death since he was deemed as a threat by the government due to his strong belief in philosophies he advocated for.
His enormous contributions in experimental mode of learning promotes exposure of what is known and what is not and thus a trained teacher should not only facilitate learning; but rather carefully assess student’s capacity and should thus contribute to their own discovery. His point of view that “An unexamined life is not worth living” has a great impact on our society today since it offers a great teaching on how knowledge should be nurtured across board to offer practical skills and expertise that match the needs of our generation.
His view on humanity promotes a culture of mutual respect for one another regardless of the status quo to ensure that people’s rights and freedom of expression are respected and granted without being intimidated.
Plato
His real name was Aristocles and his nickname came from friends with regards to his broad shoulders. Socrates shaped many of his philosophies and was of the view that bad things should not happen to good people and he is recognized for training Aristotle.
His major contribution on experimental learning is associated with his advocacy pertaining what experimental educators should focus on with regards to holistic education. He was vocal on the two branches of education, one philosophical which meant intellectual pursuits and the other physical which meant reasonable learning. His belief that learning can, and should be enjoyable was unique since Greeks didn’t associate school with leisure.
His beliefs that moral values are universal and not absolute meant that one’s behavior is based on traits and therefore can’t be changed. This means that if westernization continues to degrade our moral values then things could go wrong at some point in life and thus should be keen enough to make wise decisions.
His viewpoint contributes to how our generation should be handled by our teachers and the society in general. Education should not confine one to a classroom torture rather it should incorporate co-curricular activities to promote psychological wellbeing of students.
More about morals and virtues, that good citizenship incorporates tendency to vote on individual basis rather than the general way based on mere campaigns so that one makes ideal and reasonable judgment independently is also learnt.
Aristotle
He was Plato’s best student and made progress to become a very well-paid tutor of Alexander the Great, and became probably the highest paid philosopher in history. He enjoyed teaching his students while walking and thought that happiness was the purpose of living.
He was nicknamed “the mind’ by Plato since he thought him as being attentive on materialistic things rather than aiming to become a sincere lover of wisdom, and they admired one another and this explores importance of friendship among scholars.
His belief in logical reasoning promotes cultivation of critical and creative thinking for evaluation of things to ensure that the best is done. This ensures that public interest is prioritized and thus people perform duties in a way that is not selfish driven for personal gains.
His prowess didn’t extend to physical exercises since he was described as being pot-bellied, thin-legged, and restless, in his early 50s since he preferred delivering lectures while taking a walk. His lifestyle has taught me on how performance is likely to be affected by fatigue and importance of incorporating physical exercises to manage stress and avoid obesity.
He was a great writer and is credited with one of the largest libraries in the Greek history since he has written over 400 works. Thus those interested in knowledge have a variety of resourceful information from this great philosopher; this is a milestone that challenges those who inspire to be great philosophers of our time. His best idea from “The Golden Mean” which means avoid extremes is inspiring and helps us improve our morals, values and teach us these fundamental ethical issues that are necessary for humanity wellbeing.