Plato, Aristotle, Sophism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Plato, Aristotle, Sophism - Essay Example Plato’s point is that the prisoners would be highly mistaken in that they would be taking terms in their own language to refer to the shadow that comes before their eyes rather than to the real things that bring the shadows. In this manner, Plato meant that the general terms of human language are not names of the physical objects or things that we can see. They are names of objects or things that we are not able to see, objects or things we can only comprehend with our mind. Plato’s aim in the republic is to explain what is important for us to attain this reflective understanding of real world. It remains the fact that our very ability to think and speak depends upon the forms. The terms of the language that people use, we get their real or true meaning by naming the forms that the things we perceive engage in. In addition, Plato tried to illustrate human nature for education and our want for education. For Aristotle, a firm understanding of what a cause is, and how many types of causes there are, is significant for successful explanation of the world around us. Aristotle identifies four kinds of things that can be applied in answer to a why-question: a. The material cause, which Aristotle stated that in every change, something gets a new determination first before undergoing any form of change, which is in potency to a new determination, then after that thing has been acted upon, it gets a new actualization. b. Formal cause, which states that every individual thing is made up not only matter, but also form. Form is the rule of determination, which accounts for the individual thing being the kind of thing it is. On the other hand, matter is the rule of potentiality, with the ability to become other than it is. c. Efficient cause, which states that, in addition to the causes that are aspects of material things, form, and matter, Aristotle, says that there must be a source for any change or motion. This according to Aristotle might be