Journal Notes from 2023 — on Socrates, Plato, Seneca, and the relationship between knowledge, reason, and living well.
Human Virtues ♡
Socrates beliefs:
- Knowledge is a fundamental good governing the dynamic of human action
- "All wrongdoing is the result of ignorance." He believed wrongdoing always harms the person, and due to a lack of knowledge or ignorance, a human may be unaware that their wrongdoing harms themselves, preventing them from moral improvement.
This is how he explains why humans never “willingly do wrong.”
While humans can and will choose to do things they inherently know are wrong, their actual goal is seeking a “good” benefiting them. Their ignorance lies in misunderstanding what is genuinely good for them.
We calculate our benefits off the character of our self interest.
Means ≠ Ends
The means are the actions we take to obtain something, while the ends are what we ultimately hope to achieve. An individual may knowingly choose the wrong means while believing they are pursuing a good end.
“Evil” is then born from ignorance + fear.
Weak character ← lack of knowledge → ignorance → wrongdoing
Weak character ← lack of ability to let knowledge influence
This raises a distinction between lacking knowledge and failing to apply knowledge. Is weak character the result of not knowing what is right, or knowing what is right but allowing our desires, fears, or self-interest to influence our actions?
“Happiness” / good character then depends on our quality of practice to put reasoning + knowledge at the center of everything we do.
Perhaps moral improvement requires more than simply acquiring knowledge. It also requires examining our motivations, questioning what we perceive as good, and practicing what we believe to be right.
Plato was a student of Socrates. Aristotle later studied under Plato.
Things to Consider
- Can someone truly know what is right and still willingly choose what is wrong?
- Is wrongdoing caused by ignorance, or can it also result from a failure to act on what we know?
- How much of our understanding of “good” is shaped by self-interest?
- Does having knowledge make someone virtuous, or is virtue something that must be practiced?
Plato: Justice, Appearance & Truth
The Republic
“There is in every one of us... a type of desire that is terrible, wild, and lawless.”
The Republic Book VII, is centrally concerned with how people acquire knowledge about beauty, justice, and good.
“Appearance tyrannizes over truth.”
In our society, if one is just but is not seen as just, there is no profit, only pain and loss. However, if someone is unjust but seen as just, there will be profit, praise, and a “heavenly” life.
The idea is that all that matters is how you are perceived (how you appear), rather than how you actually are.
Therefore, you should take care to be just AND be seen as just.
Plato: Our Tripartite Structure
Plato theorized that the human soul contains three parts: reason, spirit (will), and appetite (desire).
He believed we have the capacity to overcome appetite/desire to make rational decisions, and that when the three sections of our soul are not in harmony, we experience mental conflict and irrationality.
The Chariot Analogy
Plato's chariot analogy depicts the belief that reason must control or overcome desire in order to get to where we want to go in life.
We should use reason to overcome our short-term desires and instincts, allowing us to make rational decisions that are not influenced by our immediate appetites.
Rationality then becomes a tool for obtaining what we desire in the long term, in the smartest way possible, through knowledge.
“The true lover of learning then must from his earliest youth, as far as in him lies, desire all truth.”
Plato's Allegory of the Cave
Belief vs. Knowledge — Examines humanity and the fear of the unknown.
How does anyone really know if they are acting from beliefs or knowledge?
What is reality vs our perception or interpretation of it?
Can humans ever obtain knowledge of true reality?
Experiences + backgrounds influence how we perceive and interpret “truth”
Seneca: Philosophy as a Way of Living
Letters from a Stoic — Lucius Annaeus Seneca
“Philosophy is no trick to catch the public; it is not devised for show... It moulds and constructs the soul. It orders our life, guides our conduct, shows us what we should do and what we should leave undone. Directs our course as we waver amid uncertainties. Countless things that happen call for advice; such advice is to be sought in philosophy.”
A Socratic Perspective
What is the character of my self-interest?
What is true reality?
How do we know the true character of others?
Life is hard. People may genuinely want to be who they say they are, even if their actions don't always reflect it.
If we all knew and judged each other by our worst mistakes, we would all be considered “bad” people.
Learn to separate people from their actions. An action can be bad without the person being bad.