All posts by Leobardo

Reflection on the arts

In a general sense, art is any human activity that draws on emotions and the intellect to create works that have aesthetic characteristics. This groups together different areas -such as sculpture, painting, dance, poetry, cooking, cinema, prints, theater, comics, photography and numerical art- which have evolved throughout the history of mankind.

“Every child is an artist. The problem is how to continue being artists as they grow up,” said Pablo Picasso.

To understand it, it is enough to look at children who are capable of taking a pencil and scribbling on a sheet of paper long before they can speak: from this point of view, art is synonymous with creativity, therefore, it is important both for the development of skills and knowledge, as well as to implement learning and experience.

Art is closely related to human nature. The different forms of artistic representation correspond to the need or, rather, to the fundamental characteristic of expressing themselves that human beings possess. Art plays a mediating role and a driving force in communication, since the artist through his creation transmits not only emotions, but also messages, and makes us reflect on our existence, social problems or life in general. From this perspective, it becomes a tool that can change or educate a society.

Universal Moral Values

The universal values ​​are the set of characteristics and norms of coexistence of the human being considered as positive and valid qualities in a given time. They are usually considered innate to human nature.Universal values ​​are studied in ethics, morals and philosophy. Specifically, the axiology devotes its study to values ​​and value judgments, as well as, human rights are also based on what is considered as universal values.

The concept of universal values ​​is broad and open to interpretations. Although they are values ​​that are given importance, each person usually prioritizes some of them according to their scale of values, especially when there are situations of conflict between several universal values.Therefore, it is considered that universal values ​​define the attitudes of individuals to live harmoniously between family, friends, co-workers and other people.

 

Logic

On my opinion logic is a resource that ensures the strength of our arguments. Thus, if we start from a series of statements that we consider true, through the rules of logic we can infer valid conclusions.And reason aims to form judgments about matters that matter to us. For this, in addition to the logic, we need our wishes to indicate our interest and apply some criteria to select among these wishes those that we consider valid. This implies making decisions about the values ​​to which we adhere and taking stock when they are in conflict.

Meno Plato’s part 5

The last conversation between meno and Socrates is mainly about the question, whether if virtue can be taught or if you were born with it. After Socrates questioned meno with a lot of deep thinking questions, they came to think that virtue could be taught and if had virtue was because you were born with it.

 Then the results of our training, Meno, is found to be that virtue comes to us by a divine dispensation, whenn it does come.

Plato’s Meno 3 and 4

Part 3

On the third part of this conversation socrates and meno discuss whether if virtue is something good or evil,harmful or helpful.

If virtue is one of the things in the soul and is necessarily
beneficial to it, it must be wisdom, since all of these things of the soul are in
themselves neither beneficial nor harmful, but become beneficial or harmful
when accompanied by wisdom or foolishness. According to this account,
since virtue is beneficial, it must be a kind of wisdom.
M: I think so.
So: And the other things too that we were just now talking about,
wealth and such like, that are sometimes good and sometimes harmful, in
the way that wisdom made the goods of the soul beneficial by guiding the
rest of the soul, in the same way, doesn’t the soul make them beneficial by
using and guiding them correctly, but if incorrectly, harmful?

And at the very end of this part the talk about virtue being teachable so there must be someone that can teach it.

 I will tell you, Meno. That it is teachable if it is knowledge, I don’t
take that back or think it wasn’t well said, but rather, that it is knowledge.
See if my doubt seems reasonable to you. Tell me this, if something is
teachable, not just virtue, wouldn’t there have to be teachers and learners of
it?

 

Part 4

The fourth part starts with  the introduction of a new character. Sócrates asks Anytus(Another big philosopher like socrates)who would be able to teach Meno virtue.

So: Well said. And now you can deliberate along with me about your
guest-friend* Meno here. For he has been telling me a long time, Anytus,
that he desires the wisdom and virtue by which men manage households
and cities, and take care of their parents, and know how to receive and send
off citizens and foreigners in the manner worthy of a good man. Think
about to whom we would be right to send him, with respect to this virtue.
Or is it clear, according to our recent principle, that it is to those who
promise to be teachers of virtue and declare themselves available to any
Greek who wants to learn, and who set a fee and collect it?

Then socrates implies that he sending meno with the sophist could be a good idea because he knew that anytus had a very bad impression of them.Then anytus talks says that he strongly disagrees with that option because he thinks that the sophists were a group corrupting the community. Socrates knew that like most of the philosophers that hated the sophist have never meet one or read anything made from them.

An: By Heracles! Quiet, Sócrates! Let none of my household or
friends, whether Athenian or foreigner, be seized by the kind of madness
that would send them to be ruined by these people, since they are
obviously the ruin and corruption of those they associate with.

 

Then they return to the question “Who could teach virtue”.Anytus answers that any athenian gentleman would be able to do so,but socrates thinks different so he gives example of great men that had no so great sons and that they weren’t able to teach virtue even when they were known for having it.The whole conversation ends with Anytus pissed at socrates for making him doubt about what he thought,it also ends with the conclusion of virtue being something you are born with it.

Based on this reasoning, then, Meno, it seems to us that virtue is
present to those who have it by a share of the divine. We will have clear
knowledge of it when, before we ask in what way virtue comes to be in
man, we first try to discover what exactly virtue is in its own right.
But now it is time for me to go somewhere. As for you, on the other
hand, persuade your guest-friend* here, Anytus, of the very things you
have been convinced of, so that he might become gentler. If you persuade
him, you will also benefit the Athenians.

 

Plato’s Meno 2

The second part of the conversation between socrates and meno is about meno not knowing the difference between learning and recollecting.Socrates use a slave to help meno understand the differences between these 2 things by asking and impling questions to the slave about a math problem in which he tries to explain the solution without  knowing the right answer.

So: Now, if this side were two feet and this side two feet also, how
many feet would the whole be? Look at it like this: if this one were two feet
but this one only one foot, wouldn’t the area have to be two feet taken once?
Slave: Yes.
So: When this one is also two feet, there would be twice two?
Slave: There would.
So: An area of twice two feet?
Slave: Yes.
So: How much is twice two feet? Calculate and tell me.
Slave: Four, Socrates.
So: Couldn’t there be one different from this, doubled, but of the
same kind, with all the lines equal, as in that one?
Slave: Yes.
So: And how many feet in area?
Slave: Eight.
So: Come then, try to tell me how long each line of this one will be.
Meno 12
In that one, it’s two, but what about in that doubled one?
Slave: It’s clearly double, Socrates.

Then after some questions meno understands the different characteristics fo recollection and learning by hearing that the boy gave a wrong answer at the end.

So: You see, Meno, that I am not teaching anything, but put
everything as a question. He now believes he knows what sort of line the
eight feet area comes from. Or don’t you think so?
M: I do.
So: And does he know?
M: Not at all.
So: He believes it comes from the double?
M: Yes.

Platos Meno 1

The dialogue begins with Meno asking Socrates whether virtue can be taught, and this question then makes more questions until meno becomes insecure about what he believed.

On one of the first questions:

-Meno: I don’t; but, Socrates, you really don’t know what virtue is? Should I say this about
you to everyone back home?

-Socrates: Not only that, my friend. Tell everyone back home that I think I have never yet met
anyone who did know.

-Meno: What? Didn’t you meet Gorgias when he was here?
Sócrates: I did.

-Meno: Didn’t you think then that he knew?

P.1

Meno ask Sócrates if he knows whats virtue means and socrates doesn’t know then Meno asks if socrates knew someone that did know the meaning of virtue but socrates says that he indeed did not know someone with such knowledge.Since menos knew that Socrates knew Gorgias(Menos teacher)he was very shock about the fact that socrates did not believe that gorgias knew the meaning of virtue.This made him interested on what sócrates had to said.After that the whole conversation it’s basically socrates asking complicated questions about what meno thinked it was the meaning of virtue.Questions like:

Socrates: It must be my lucky day, Meno! Here I was, looking for just one virtue, and you
happen by with a whole swarm! But, Meno, following up on this figurative swarm of
mine, if I were to ask you what sort of being a bee is, and you said, ‘there are all sorts of
different sorts of bees,’ what would you say if I went on to ask: ‘Do you mean that there
are all sorts of different sorts of bees insofar as they are bees? Or are they no different,
insofar as they are bees, but they differ in other respects – in how beautiful they are, for
example, or how big, and so on and so forth?’ Tell me, what would you answer if I
asked you this?
P.2

 

They talk so much that they end up talking about power and desire.Socrates thought that meno wanted to know what virtue means because he wanted to have what he thought was virtue.

In conclusion the part one of the conversation between this 2 characters  is like this:At the very beginning meno really thinks that he knows what he’s talking about but as the conversation progresses and socrates keeps ask questions he slowly realizes that he doesn’t know at all about what they were talking about.