Essay about What We Know and What We Believe

Submitted By driatrinell
Words: 1261
Pages: 6
Open Document
What We Know and What We Believe Have you ever wondered why things are the way they are. I have often asked myself this same question numerous times. It wasn’t until I took a philosophy class; I started to develop thought and try to understand the world. A philosopher that stuck out to me the most during the course was Plato. Plato was a western philosopher, who studied philosophy in 427-347 B.C. He was a good friend and admirer of the great philosopher Socrates (Melchert 119). In this paper, I will explore Plato’s theories and distinction between knowledge and belief. As humans we assume our opinion or beliefs to be true. It is merely our perception of the world that defines our beliefs. We often confuse the meaning of knowledge with opinion. The distinction between knowledge and belief are not the same. How does one determine the distinction between knowledge and belief? People often make perceptions or believe false information. Knowledge is something that is proven, real, and involves true meaning (Melchert 120). Beliefs do not truth and falsies, an opinion or belief is a perception of one’s reality. I find that Plato’s theory in Meno 98a was enough consideration of why knowledge and belief are not the same (Melchert 120). In the conversation between Socrates and Meno, Socrates explains how beliefs that seem to be true may be good but their meaning isn’t stable. A belief that has reasoning or evidence is knowledge. Knowledge is grounded and solid. Knowledge has value because there is reasoning behind its information. I believe knowledge and beliefs are similar but not the same. Knowledge consists of only forms and can only be known by intangible souls (Butler). I believe that knowledge is of the wise, a person that has studied and found reasoning behind things. When Plato’s tried to explain why knowledge was truth, he used mathematics to prove his point (Melchert 122). Plato explained how a square could be doubled in size, based of instruction. I believe humans use their instinct and logic to determine truth. Knowledge always is true, backed up by evidence, and is instruction. With Plato’s concept of mathematics the matters of knowledge proved to be true by demonstration. Mathematics expresses a solution that can be seen as correct, because of the puzzle that is solved during the problem (Melchert 122).Plato’s concept of mathematics the matters of knowledge it is true and apart of reality. In consideration, Plato’s explains how humans use their senses to determine if something is real to them. Senses are not accurate nor are they reliable to define truth (Melchert 124) Plato’s developed a term called Form; it refers to objects of knowledge. Since there was speculation that some knowledge was based of assumption, he wanted to develop a concept to separate the two meanings. Forms are supposed to manifest value of goodness. Forms are characterized by a thing that possesses the same qualities in itself. Plato expresses this information in Phaedo 74a-75a (Dorter). The first form is epistemological argument, what knowledge is and what it is about. This form concludes that objects are certainties that are different from beliefs determined by senses (Melchert 125). Knowledge is one and unchanging, it seems many make up one form, this is true. It is said by Parmenides, another western philosopher, that when things seem to appear to us large it seems as it is made of many, but it just a larger form of one. Plato’s explains farther more in his discussion with Parmenides 132a (Anton, Kustas, and Preus p.210-211). The form that things are one no matter the appearance, brings up the next form of argument, metaphysical. The metaphysical argument entails how the nature of knowledge may have similarities but they are not the same (Melchert 125).Metaphysics is actual reality of nature. I believe Plato’s metaphysical argument is similar to the distinction of how nature relates to knowledge and beliefs. The last argument of
Show More

Related Documents: Essay about What We Know and What We Believe

The Salvation Army Research Paper

Churches all around the World. Bet you didn't know that one. There are precisely 15,409 Congregations are the world today. But, I'll explain more about my Church later on. I'm a Salvationist, and I strongly agree with what we believe maybe, later on, I can change your mind, and you maybe will consider checking out a Salvation Army nearest to you. The first thing you are going to need to know is the history of the Salvation Army how we started and what we are today. So, The Salvation Army was founded…

Words 973 - Pages 4

Plato: Truth and Reality Essay

Philosophy Plato's Cave What is reality? How do we know that it is real? How are we suppose to believe everything we see and hear. Many people question or second guess themselfs each day when they think they aren't right about something because of other peoples thoughts,opioions, and just because everyone believes the opposite.What you think might be truer than you think because the world tends to believe what they want to and not the truth. In Plato’s philosophical example of life in the “Allegory…

Words 600 - Pages 3

Religion: Christianity and God Essay

Versus Life 1) What do you think is the most significant aspect of your religion? God created the world and has made us to be like Him. However, in doing so we have sinned and so therefore, God sent Jesus who was perfect and sinless, to die upon a cross for us, If we believe that we can be saved and be perfect and we can have eternal life. That is the most fundamental aspect because this is basically one of the most significant reasons Christianity is all about. 2) What do you think others…

Words 1060 - Pages 5

Phil 201 Study Guide Lesson 10 Essay

Study Guide: Lesson 10 What is Knowledge? Lesson Overview With this lesson, we begin a new unit on epistemology, which is the philosophical study of knowledge claims. In this first lesson on epistemology, we begin by examining the question “What do we mean when we say we know something?” What exactly is knowledge? We will begin with a presentation that introduces the traditional definition of knowledge. Wood then discusses some of the basic issues raised in the study of epistemology and then…

Words 884 - Pages 4

Reality In Plato's Allegory Of The Cave

Sirat 09/05/16 In Plato’s, “Allegory of the Cave”, the audience is implicitly forced to reevaluate the accuracy of their perception of reality. The author conveys the idea that everything we know is biased, based upon our past experiences, what is physically available to be seen by our eyes, and what we have been exposed to. True reality is to each as their own. He also presents an idea of enlightenment. Everyone has the capability of being enlightened if they choose, or are forced, to leave…

Words 713 - Pages 3

The Theory of Knowledge Essay

world. Empiricists believe that knowledge without personal experience is impossible. Some empiricist believe that a new born baby come into the world knowing nothing and everything that they learn is only by experience. The mind is furnished with information from experience. The concept that all knowledge is arrived from the senses, leads me to believe that empiricist think that it is unreasonable to talk about things we have not experienced. Most radical empiricists believe that religions have…

Words 574 - Pages 3

Spirituality Paper Edited

about who they are and how they will behave in the world that we live in today. In this essay I am going to talk about a few different topics that really stand out to me when I ask myself where I truly stand within my own spirituality. Who am I, What is spirituality to me, and how do I fit into the world. I would like to say that I know who I am in my spirituality but to be completely honest I don’t know if I truly do know who I am yet. I know who I want to be but I don’t think that I am completely there…

Words 1204 - Pages 5

Essay On Cosmological Argument

people believe that God exist especially for those who are nonbelievers. Telling a person that God exist because he is the most powerful being therefore he has to exist, is rubbish. On account of the fact that many skeptics will not believe in something that they have never seen by just saying the previous statement. As well as for those who believe in scientific evidence, like Evolution or The Big Bang Theory. These people either have evidence that leave them content in what they believe in, or…

Words 874 - Pages 4

Ethics: Ethics and Ethical Lens Inventory Essay

Each one of us has different definition, opinions, and ways of describing what Ethic means to us. Some may say, ethics are what our feelings tell us what’s right and what’s wrong. To have ethics at work place, ethical believes, and some of us may not know the meaning of it until we come across. Even though each individual has been raised with ethical values, morals, and believes but it’s just that we don’t know it until we face or experience it. To me being ethical means being honest to myself…

Words 433 - Pages 2

Area 51

51 By: Haley Kowalski The government’s job is to keep us safe, right? In turn they should have to tell us if something happens. What they discovered at area 51 should not be confidential. It affects us all either directly or indirectly. Some may panic if there happens to be other life forms on earth but, we need to face the facts that Americans deserve to know what’s happening behind closed doors. Some say the biggest secret about Area 51 is that it was never a secret at all. Some that have…

Words 1162 - Pages 5