FAVORITE PHILOSOPHERS RESEARCH FORM

INSTRUCTIONS: This is a very prescribed form of research in to

specific topics as found in original written resources from mainline
philosophers. Do not turn in your paper as a formal “term paper”
but DO fill in the research topics based on your findings of original
resources written by your chosen favorite philosopher. Sixty five
percent of your time should be spent on research and critical
thinking, and thirty five percent of your time writing the paper.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this paper is to provide students the

opportunity to research original writings by mainline philosophers.
A student preparing a research paper should spend the larger
portion of their time, reading documents written by a recognized
prominent philosopher. This research paper is designed to stimulate
critical thinking on your part.
1. It is suggested you fill this in “like a form” using the given titles. Using this form method
makes it much easier to grade, and award the proper points. If you leave a section blank
you will not receive any points for that section. PLEASE DO NOT WRITE “I could
not find any information on this subject.”
2. For every point give us a quote that reveals your chosen philosopher’s thinking about that
subject. In every case give the source of your information. Quotes from a philosopher
should come from their original writings NOT from a secondary source like
www.brainyquotes.com. Please follow every quote immediately with the source of that
quote. You can do this by giving text book page number or URL from the internet.
Sourcing is an important discipline in philosophy and allows the reader to verify your
information..
3. As you take notes on each philosopher, please outline their logic ”Why they believe this
way.” Example: Give a quote from the philosopher then follow it with; Socrates,
believes this because 1. Reason, 2. Reason, 3. Reason. Please do not just copy and paste
a bunch of information I can look up myself. Display your understand of their conclusions
by your commentary. Be careful to not plagerize. I will be using a plagerism checker. Your
quote, should be less than 40 words and you should always note where the quote is from.
4. Please pick one of the major philosophers in the following list: Aristotle, Bacon,
Berkeley, Descartes, Dewey, Fichte, Hegel, Hobbes, Hume, James, Kant, Kierkeguaard,
Leibniz, Locke, Marx, Mill, Nietzsche, Pascal, Plato, Rousseau, Sartre, Saint Augustine,
Saint Aquinas, Schopenhauer, Spinoza, these will be easier to find information about.
Not every philosopher will directly address all 12 items called for in the research paper.
You should become familiar enough with their philosophy that you can find a quote that
gives insight into what they would directly say and back that up with a quote from them.
 5. It may help to pretend that you are interviewing your Favorite Philosopher and find a quote from
them that relates to the particular topic. You may not find that a particular philosopher always
addresses the topic directly, but if you look you can find something in their writings that relates
to the given topic.
At least 200 words per topic!

FAVORITE PHILOSOPHERS
RESEARCH FORM
Your Name: Whitney Hargus
Your Section: Introduction to Sociology
Your OTC Email: wh0789499@otc.edu
PHILOSOPHERS NAME: Plato

BACKGROUND INFORMATION (4 POINTS EACH, TOTAL 20 POINTS)

1. Favorite Philosopher’s birth date: 428 B.C.E.

2. Favorite Philosopher’s death date: 348 B.C.E.
3. **Name 3 other philosophers who lived at the same time as your Favorite Philosopher:
Socrates, Aristotle
4. Favorite Philosophers biographical information. Focusing on things that influenced their life: (At
least 200 words) Throughout Plato’s career, he became primarily focused on forms. The most
prevalent was beauty, justice, and virtue. Although, despite his beliefs, he was drastically
impacted by Socrates as a young man. Because of the powerful impact Socrates had on his
writings, his writings are often considered “Socratic.” In his work, he would challenge men that
possessed titles of human achievement. He tested these men to provide examples of how
their human excellence exemplified courage, virtue, and piety. These men often lost their
prestigious titles because they were unable to pass these tests. And because of the challenges
Plato presented, the resentment towards Socrates grew and eventually let to his execution.
Plato’s Academy was founded in the 380’s. Plato’s Academy became an influential center of
research that attracted many men of incredible ability. Around 380 B.C., Plato wrote The
Republic, in Athens, Greece. The Republic is primarily concerned with defining justice and the
ideas of epistemology and metaphysics are also intertwined in the novel. Plato also wrote
many other prominent works like laws on his political views, like the Meno and the Phaedo.
The Symposium was written to express his views of Forms. His idea of metaphysics involves
the study of the most general or ultimate aspects of reality. His idea of metaphysics and his
belief in the idea of Forms and our humanly understanding of them correlates with the idea of
metaphysics and our perception of reality. They two correlate to represent the two worlds he
created, the Being and the Becoming.

5.) Favorite Philosophers , philosophical category or classification: (Example: Rationalist, Empiricist,

etc. ) Plato was a rationalist because he believed we had innate knowledge of forms, mathematical
concepts, like triangles and size. He also believed that humans were aware of human morality
concepts like what is beautiful, good, bad, and virtuous.
PHILOSOPHICAL VIEW: (6 POINTS EACH, 72 TOTAL POINTS) You should address each of the 12 topics
blow, using a quote from the same recognized philosopher, followed by a your commentary reflecting
why that philosophers held that position. You do not have to answer the specific questions listed with
each topic, they are given to illustrate the type of content that relates to a particular topic.

1. BASIC WORLD SUBSTANCE: What makes up the world, how does this determine how the world
operates? Is it physical? Metaphysical? Both? “Haven’t
you noticed that opinion
without knowledge is blind” (The Philosopher’s Way; page 232).
Forms were Plato’s way of depicting between opinions with their
falsified perception genuine knowledge. Plato considered Forms
to be the quintessential models for everything that exists. He
considered Forms to essentially be the basic world substance.
Forms are what Plato ambiguously uses to distinguish between
opinions and validated and truthful knowledge. Forms represent
universal knowledge through their perfect ideals of everything
and idea that is meaningful. Plato defines his theory of Forms
into many different categories. Triangularity, equivalence, and
identity represent the mathematical and logical reasons. There
are the forms that represent human virtues of goodness,
wisdom, and courage. The sensible properties are like roundness
and redness. And then there are the abstract concepts that
include beauty, justice, virtue, and the truth. (The Philosopher’s
Way; pages 232- 233). Plato believed that in the Becoming world
and its thirst for everlasting change only represents imperfect
views of the impeccably flawless Forms. The Being World
represented understanding, knowledge, and reasoning in his
eternity. The Becoming World is his consistent change
represented opinions, mystification, imagination, and
perception. Forms are what define reality and genuine
knowledge to Plato; they represent the basic world substance for
every concept and object that exists.
2.) WHAT IS ETERNAL / FINITE: Where did things come from? How come there is something,
rather than nothing? Is something infinite? How could all things be finite? Plato believed that the
soul of a man is eternal. Plato stated and illustrated his idea of the soul in
Phaedo. He wrote, “The soul is in the very likeness of the divine, and immortal,
and intellectual, and uniform, and indissoluble, and unchangeable”
(http://www.tm.org/blog/enlightenment/plato-and-this-state-of-the-soul-is-
called-wisdom/). Plato had a vision of immortal souls striving to achieve unity
with eternity. Plato believed that even though there is a connection between
our souls and our bodies, they are both drastically opposites. Our souls are
consistently striving for wisdom and perfection, and reason is the key that drives
the soul. Reason is what establishes the equilibrium of the soul between our
physical appetite and our spirit or passion. In Phaedo, one of Plato’s dialogues,
he states that the soul is “dragged by the body into the region of the
changeable,” where it “wanders and is confused” in a world that “spins round
her, and she is like a drunkard” (The Philosopher’s Way; page 93). Despite the
consistent testing of the soul by the destruction of the body, though, reason
keeps the soul intact. In Phaedo, Plato illustrates the three aspects of the soul
guided by two powerful winged horses and a charioteer. The charioteer
represents the aspect of reason that keeps the two horses, which represented
our physical appetite and our spirit in order (The Philosopher’s Way; page 96).
Reason is a powerful tool that keeps the soul from the imperfections that could
disrupt the soul. Reason is the tool in which keeps the soul at harmony with the
unchanging and everlasting world.

2.
3. WHAT IS THE NATURE OF HUMANS: How do we get character traits? Do we have innate
characteristics? Why are humans not all alike? What traits do we all share in common? Plato
stated, “It will be business of reason to rule with wisdom and forethought
on behalf of the entire soul” (http://pzazz0.tripod.com/id8.html). This
particular quote relates back to the idea of Plato’s view of the immortal
soul and how reason is essentially the control center of the soul. The
Philosopher’s Way states that Plato introduced the idea of a three-part
soul. Plato confirmed that our behavior is depicted on the three aspects of
our soul and how we maintain the equilibrium and the balance between
all three aspects. Our reason is our essence that allows us to think deeply,
make intellectual and wise decisions, and be able to have a deep
understanding of the truths that underlie our world. The second aspect of
the soul is physical appetite. Our physical appetite entails our hunger,
sexual appetite, and thirst. The third aspect is our spirit or passion. This
aspect contains all of our basic humanly emotions, like love, sadness, and
anger. Plato believed it was crucial for all of these aspects to be
 harmonious with one another and in a state of equilibrium for us to be
truly happy. Although, Plato believed that all of our desires and decisions
were primarily based off of the desires or the entailment of each aspect of
the soul, but in order for every aspect of our lives to remain orderly, we
have to allow reason to keep the peace between all three parts of the soul
and not allow one to override another in our decision making. The three
parts of the soul is what Plato believed drove the behavior of human
nature (The Philosopher’s Way; pages 95-97).
4. WHAT IS THE NATURE OF GOD: Is there a God? Why? Why Not? How do we know? If God exist,
what is God like? How we know? Plato’s
two worlds, the Being and the Becoming,
his Theory of Forms, and his belief of an immortal soul vastly underpin the
western philosophy of religion. Plato believed we were all born with a
vague understanding of the forms, which essentially represents morality
and our perception of it. Plato’s two worlds are an impeccable comparison
of Heaven and Earth in Christianity beliefs. Plato believed the Becoming
world was essentially a mystified illusion full of falsified perceptions of
reality. Our physical Becoming world has an everlasting desire for change,
whereas, the world of Being is timeless and unchanging. These two
worlds were created to exemplify reality as change and reality as eternal.
The two worlds are both representations of Heaven and Earth. Our world
sees reality as everlasting change, whereas Heaven’s reality is everlasting
eternity. Our physical world is ever changing and thrives upon the
consistent hunger for change and our falsified and mystified perceptions.
Whereas, Heaven is considered a place of unchanging truth. Heaven is the
perfect Being world, whereas our physical Becoming world is merely just a
limitation. There are many types of Platonic Forms, but Plato did believe
we were born with vague perceptions of Forms. Some of the forms
included in Plato’s Theory involve human virtues, like justice, virtue, and
truth. He did believe in morality. Plato also believed in the idea of our
souls and bodies being divided. The body was considered destructive to
the soul, whereas the soul represented goodness, truth, and purity. Plato
confirmed, “The true lover of knowledge naturally strives for truth, and is
not content with common opinion, but soars with undimmed and
unwearied passion till he grasps the essential nature of things” (The
Philosopher’s Way; page 232). This quote by Plato exemplifies modern day
western philosophy of religion. In order to know the truths of the religion
we practice and the God we serve, we have to consistently study the
 truth. We must have a passion to discover the truth and knowledge
behind the religion and know the difference between that which is of
humanly opinion and that, which is of the truth.
5. IS THERE CHANGE OR A WORLD FORCE: Is the world changing? Or do we as an observer only
think it is changing? What is causing change? What will the world become? Plato
established, “That which is apprehended by intelligence and reason is
always in the same state, but that which is conceived by opinion with the
help of sensation and without reason is always in a process of becoming
and perishing and never really is” (The Philosopher’s Way; page 232).
Plato regarded this topic in his theory about the two worlds he
established. Our physical Becoming world, according to Plato, thrives
upon the reality of change. The Becoming world that Plato has illustrated
is consistently evolving and disappearing. Although, change is what is
considered upon reality and eternity is the Being world. This world
exemplifies truth and is unchanging and everlasting. This abiding world
contains Forms. These forms are ideal essences of a thing. They can depict
human virtues or logical relations, but they are eternal and perfect
representations of things. Plato did believe there was a world changing;
our physical world elucidates eternal change. The Becoming world is
where our thoughts are consistently changed and impacted by the effects
of bias. Our perceptions of reality are illustrated and portrayed through
the portrait that is painted by society in the Becoming World. The
Becoming World builds its foundation upon opinions that are full of bias
and mysticism. This world exemplifies false hope because it instills
opinions without validation in a person, rather than truth with the power
of knowledge in the world of Being. The Becoming world is essentially like
sinking sand with its consistent change and mystified perceptions. The
world of Being is truly a world of eternity, and Plato uses the idea of
Forms to certify its unchanging and true perception of what reality is.
reality and normal to this world. The Becoming world blossoms upon
appearance and the external. The other world that is based
6. ***FATE OR FREE WILL: Are humans free to make real choices? Typically, these two items are
mutually exclusive, if you say both, then explain how both? Plato
illustrates the soul
in a passage from Phaedrus, “The soul is likened to a chariot
drawn by two powerful winged horses- a noble horse,
representing Spirit, a wild horse, embodying Appetite. The
 charioteer is Reason, who task is to guide the chariot to the
eternal realm by controlling the two independent-minded
horses. Those charioteers who are successful in setting a true
course and ensuring the two steeds work together in
harmonious unity to achieve true wisdom…” (The Philosopher’s
Way; page 96). Plato believed that the soul had three aspects of it and
that reason is perpetually responsible for the other two. Reason maintains
equilibrium and an adequate balance between physical appetite and
spirit. I believe Plato believed that your free will or fate was essentially
determined based upon reason and its ability to keep all three parts of the
soul in line. In order to achieve unity, like Plato mentioned, Reason put be
in charge and prepared to guide the other two aspects. Plato confirmed
that in order for us to experience true and genuine happiness, we have to
have all three of the parts of the soul in balance. Our free will and our fate
are based upon the composure and stability of all three facets of the soul.
We can achieve free will and happiness if our soul is aligned. Otherwise, if
reason is the aspect out of absolute control and we allow our spirit or
physical appetite to take charge, this could also determine our fate in life.
In order to set ourselves free, we have to let our intellectual essence to
make wise decisions take over. Otherwise, we are chained and our fate
rests in the hands of either our physical appetite and spirit and when the
two become out of hand and outweigh reason.
7.
8. IS THE SOUL IMMORTAL: Do humans have a soul? Has the souls always existed? Will it forever
exist? Where is the soul? Are new souls being created? By whom? As mentioned earlier,
Plato believed the soul is eternal or infinite and immortal. He declared,
“The soul of a man is immortal and imperishable.” Plato concluded that
the soul is of a pure nature and the body is what can destroy and distort
its pureness. Although, the body is not everlasting and eternal, so disease
and illness can destroy the body. The soul, though, despite the damage of
the body, remains intact of its pure state and remains pure through its
consistent longing for wisdom”
(http://www.scandalon.co.uk/philosophy/plato_immortality_soul.htm).
Although, despite the immorality of the soul, Plato does exemplify the
importance of the soul maintaining its equilibrium with the three aspects.
It is essential that reason keeps our physical appetite and our spirit and
 passion in a counterbalance and a state of composure. Plato believed that
we could not establish true happiness if one aspect, aside from reason
was overriding another. For example, if our physical appetite was
controlling our intellect (reason) and our spirit and passion, it wouldn’t be
possible for us to reach a state of genuine happiness. Reason is the
primary conductor of the three aspects of our soul, and is responsible for
achieving a balance between all three parts of the soul.
9.
10. ***VIEW OF MIND / EPISTEMOLOGY: : How do we know? Through our senses? Through
thinking? Through revelation, etc. How does the mind work? Does the mind know anything to
begin with? Epistemology is the theory of knowing. Epistemology provides us
with the capability to have a genuine and deeper understanding of a
concept. Epistemology is a way of deciphering what we know and how we
know. Information without validation is simply just an inference.
Epistemology plays a drastic role in helping us reach a deeper
understanding of how we know information is validated. Plato concluded,
“Haven’t you ever noticed that opinion without knowledge is blind- isn’t
anyone with a true but unthinking opinion like a blind man on the right
road” (The Philosopher’s Way; page 232). Plato created the idea of two
different worlds. One world is the physical world in which we are familiar
with. This physical world is known as the Becoming. The Becoming world
is ever changing and is the world that revolves around physical
appearance. It is the world that is a falsified version of reality; it is a world
that is mystified rather than based upon science. The second world is the
world of Being that is everlasting, unchangeable, and more connected
with an accurate perception of reality. He describes the Becoming world
as almost just a mystified illusion, and the Being world has everlasting and
true. Along with the timeless world, he created the idea of Forms. Plato
believed that every human was born with a vague understanding of
forms. Plato believed that forms categorize everything that exists. Forms
can include mathematical concepts like identity, triangularity,
equivalence, and then there are more virtuous concepts of forms like
wisdom and courageousness. There are also sensible properties that
represent shape like largeness and smallness. And finally, the abstract
concepts, which represent beauty, justice, virtue, truth. (The Philosopher’s
Way; pages 231- 234). These forms are what Plato uses to determine
between genuine knowledge and opinions or inferences without
 validation. The validated knowledge, he believes, comes from the eternal
forms.
11. VIEW OF MAN’S RELATION TO EDUCATION: How should we go about educating people?
Why? How does your approach fit with you view of humans and epistemology Plato states,
“When the mind's eye rests on objects illuminated by truth and reality, it
understands and comprehends them, and functions intelligently; but
when it turns to the twilight world of change and decay, it can only form
opinions, its vision is confused and its beliefs shifting, and it seems to lack
intelligence” (http://www.spaceandmotion.com/Philosophy-Plato-
Philosopher.htm). Plato was a strong believer that the key to knowledge is
the Truth. He was so adamant about the power of truth guiding us and
allowing us to experience true knowledge. He created the two worlds to
justify this belief. The Becoming World is filled with falsified perceptions
of opinions in its ever-changing state. Although, the Being World contains
the absolute truth. Plato believed that in order for us to be truly educated
and knowledgeable, we simply must know the truth. He believed in order
for us to function and think intelligently, we must be fixed on reality and
the truth. Our opinions are apocryphal perceptions, and they are not
validated with truth. In the quote, Plato is explaining that if we are
connected with reality in the world of the Being with its timeless nature
and existence of the truth with the perfect essences of Forms, then we be
education and knowledgeable. Although, if we turn ourselves over to the
world of the Becoming, we are essentially turning ourselves over to a
world of bias and undulating ourselves in a world of everlasting change.
The most important factor to Plato when it comes to being knowledgeable
and educated is being in touch with the truth and reality.
12. EXISTENCE OF ABSOLUTE TRUTH: Does truth exist? You may say “absolute truth does not
exist, but explain how you know this is a truth? How do we find truth? What are some test for
truth? Plato declared, “The true lover of knowledge naturally strives for
truth, and is not content with common opinion, but soars with undimmed
and unwearied passion till he grasps the essential nature of things” (The
Philosopher’s Way; page 232). This quote perfectly demonstrates Plato’s
opinion of how we achieve absolute truth. Although, he truly believed
that Forms represented the idea of absolute truth. Plato challenged us to
go above and beyond our desire for mystified opinions and a world that
worships appearance. He depicted that they truth rested in the hands of
the Forms, which represented the flawless essence of all objects and
 concepts. He claimed that these properties provided us with the
distinguishing capabilities to depict between that which is of genuine and
true knowledge and that which is of an ignorant inference without any
validation. We develop opinions simply by living day to day, but if we
allow these opinions to consume our thoughts and ideas, we will never
reach the absolute truth. The absolute truth is achieved through
everlasting knowledge that is exemplified by Plato’s Forms. Plato
exaggerates on the importance of having an underlying desire and passion
to reach the truth. The reason behind Plato’s purpose for stating the
vitality of having that consistent passion is that we can allow ourselves to
become consumed by our own thoughts and opinions. These opinions
lack validation and the truth. If they consume us, we will never allow
ourselves to learn the truth. We have to be open-minded and not allow
our opinions to deplete that passion to learn and grow in the absolute
truth. Truth and knowledge is power, whereas, opinions will only guide
you to be powerful with falsified perceptions.
13. VIEW OF GOOD AND EVIL: Where does good and evil come from? How do we decide
which is which? “Laws are made to instruct the good, and in the hope that
there may be no need of them; also to control the bad, whose hardness of
heart will not be hindered from crime.”
(https://honeyandlocusts.wordpress.com/2012/12/21/pet-peeves-and-
platos-politics/). Plato is essentially saying the good don’t need laws or
rules of life to know how to live lawfully. The good will abide by the rules
and live rightfully. Plato is substantially saying that the laws advise the
good as an underpinning set of rules, but the laws were specifically
created to govern and manage the bad. Plato stated that the bad don’t
allow their crimes to stop them from committing more and more. The
good will naturally enforce society’s set of rules and live their life abiding
by the law. Plato is saying that that the substantial amount of the evil in
this world comes from the people who find every way around the law.
They don’t live their lives to please the law or allow it guide their daily
actions; it is more of a suggestion for them in their lives. They don’t let the
effects of their crimes upon others stop them from committing evil and
wrongdoing. The evil don’t believe the rules apply to them.
VIEW OF GOVERNMENT Which is the best form of government? Why? How does your view of
government fit with your view of humans? Plato declared, “The human race will
have no respite from evils until those who are really philosophers acquire
 political power or until, through some divine dispensation, those who rule
and have political authority in the cities become real philosophers” (326a-
326b- http://www.iep.utm.edu/platopol/). Plato strived believed that
there should be harmony between the government and the people, and
he concluded that there should be an absence of animosity and
democracy in the ruling of people. The commonwealth and liberty
portrayed little value in Plato’s mind in comparison to the emphasis he
put on efficiency and goodness. Plato was more concerned about the soul,
and government seemed irrelevant to him in the aspect that the people
did not get to decide for themselves. He did not approve of dictatorship.
He believed that a king should be consistent in search of wisdom and the
truth and not hungering for power, status, and wealth. . Humans are so
susceptible to lies and will truly believe almost anything that is fed to
them with a sugar coating. Plato believed that philosophers would
comprise the best government because they would consistently strive to
seek the truth and wisdom. They wouldn’t take advantage of our
ignorance, but they would display the absolute truth.

14.
SHORT PERSONAL REFLECTION (2 POINTS EACH, 8 TOTAL POINTS

 What did you LIKE / DISLIKE about this philosophy?

 What did you AGREE or DISAGREE with in this philosophy?
 What INSIGHT FOR LIFE did you gain from your research?
 Bibliography: List the sources you used for this paper

NOTE: Save your research with the title of YourLastNamefirstName PhilosophersNameFavorite.

EXAMPLE: FinleyDeanSocratesFavorite.doc

INSTRUCTIONS: Upload your paper into blackboard under the Dropbox tab.