plato

cort...@students.rowan.edu

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Dec 4, 2014, 9:32:10 PM12/4/14

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Why does Plato strive for the "being" realm when no one knows whether it actually exists or not? Why not just live for he realm you're already in?

Stephen Deak

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Dec 4, 2014, 10:00:40 PM12/4/14

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Perhaps he wanted to think outside the box he happened to be, or thought he was in. Perhaps our mind or intellect is hardwired to go beyond the state/place we reached - in a non-stop fashion, ad infinitum.

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David Speer

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Dec 7, 2014, 12:06:36 PM12/7/14

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We can't just assume that we, or someone, doesn't know whether the "realm of being" exists or not. Such questions have, of course, been the subject of whole philosophical treatises. If we can conceive it, then, I think it is more likely than not to exist. But assuming we don't know this, the reason Plato sought knowledge of it is because this realm is inherently unsatisfying. One of the main reasons for this, as Plato stressed, was that it is always subject to change and therefore cannot serve as a basis for that which can always be fulfilling and a source of happiness. Whether we live adequately in this realm is another question; and if we don't and yet strive for some higher realm, then, I have to agree that we should first focus on living rightly in this realm.

On Thursday, December 4, 2014 9:32 PM, "cort...@students.rowan.edu" <cort...@students.rowan.edu> wrote:

Why does Plato strive for the "being" realm when no one knows whether it actually exists or not? Why not just live for he realm you're already in?

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