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
- He believed wrongdoing always harms the person, and due to a lack of knowledge 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 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.
→ What we consider beneficial depends on how deeply we understand our own interests.
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.
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.
?
- Can someone truly know what is right and still willingly choose what is wrong?
- How much of our understanding of “good” is shaped by self-interest?
- Does having knowledge alone 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 object of education is to teach us to love what is beautiful."
“Appearance tyrannizes over truth.”
The Republic is centrally concerned with how people acquire knowledge about beauty, justice, and good.
In Book II, Glaucon and Adeimantus raise the question of whether it is more beneficial to be just or merely to appear just.
In our society, if one is just but is not seen as just, there may be no profit, only pain and loss. However, if someone is unjust but seen as just, there may be profit, praise, and a “heavenly” life.
The argument suggests that what matters is how you are perceived (how you appear), rather than how you actually are.
Plato challenges this idea by examining whether justice is valuable in itself, regardless of how others perceive us.
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 compares the soul to a charioteer guiding two horses with conflicting impulses. Reason must guide these forces, directing us toward what is good rather than letting immediate desires determine our course.
“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.”
Questions & Reflection
What is the character of my self-interest?
How do we know the true character of others?
If our actions reveal our character, but our character is capable of changing, how do we know when someone's actions reflect who they are vs who they are still becoming?
Maybe that is where faith comes in: believing in someone’s capacity to grow without knowing who they will become. Anyone can believe in what is certain. There is something beautiful in leaving room for possibility.