“Philosophy involves seeing the absolute oddity of what is familiar and trying to formulate really probing questions about it.” - Iris Murdoch “They say about me that I am the strangest person, always making people confused.” - Socrates “All men desire to know.” - Aristotle

 Socrates  “Know thyself”  Intellectual search for truth—used the Socratic method to question the beliefs of people and understand how people thought.  Executed by the Athenians in 399 BCE  Why must Socrates die following the Peloponnesian War?  Imagine Socrates would have lived earlier in history. How would his crimes have been viewed following the Persian War?

Socrates: Does falsehood exist in mankind? Euthydemus: It does assuredly. Socrates: Under which head {justice or injustice} shall we place it? Euthydemus: Under injustice, certainly. Socrates: Well then…if a father, when his son requires medicine, and refuses to take it, should deceive him and give him the medicine as ordinary food, and, by adopting such deception, should restore him to health, under which head must we place such an act of deceit? Euthydemus: It appears to me that we mush place it under {justice}. I retract what I said before.

 Plato  Pupil of Socrates  Famous works: “The Allegory of the Cave” & The Republic (the ideal gov’t)  Too much freedom resulted in social disorder (liked the gov’t of Sparta—states is above the individual )  Excluded the senses as a source of truth  What the senses can perceive was only “appearance”  “Reality” was constructed from ideas or ideal “forms” which could be understood through logic and reason.  Continuing discussion: perception vs. reality  Aristotle  Logic  Knowledge is gained through the senses  Politics —ideal government, based on observations, more concrete than Plato. A hybrid of monarchy, democracy, and aristocracy seemed best.

 Based on your viewing of the video and it’s description of the cave, draw what you think the cave looks like.  Plot:  Prisoners chained since childhood in the cave.  Can’t move head or feet.  Heads fixed on the cave wall.  Five casting shadows from puppeteers.  Escapes into the light, changes perspective.  Waking up to the truth.  Questioning the reality in which we live.  Prisoner would be persecuted by others

Matrix- Living Room Matrix- White Room