Instruction
essays 1:
Why was Socrates put to death? What specific charges are brought against him? What is the relationship between thought and language? For this essay, you should consider the relevant writings of Aristotle and De Saussure. If you would like to, you may also incorporate Augustine’s The Teacher into your answer. What is the relationship between concepts and words? Do words simply represent concepts that already exist? What is distinctive about De Saussure’s theory of language? What does it mean to say that the linguistic-sign is arbitrary? How does that fit into his broader theory? Are the theories of language articulated by Aristotle and De Saussure compatible? Consider what implications would follow from these theories of language concerning the possibility of gaining knowledge or understanding.
Essay 2
What is knowledge for Plato? To answer this question, please provide considerations of the three texts we have read so far: Meno, Euthyphro, and Republic. Essential to this essay will be some consideration of ‘form’—Socrates has brought up these term in each of the dialogues. What is ‘form’ in Plato’s works? You might offer relevant quotations from each dialogue. What theory of knowledge follows from Plato’s notion of form? To put it differently: how do we come to know, or learn, things? Discuss the theory of ‘recollection’ outlined in the Meno. Does recollection have anything to do with having a good memory and remembering lots of information? Why does Socrates assert the immortality of the soul? Consider the interlude of the dialogue: does Socrates teach the boy anything? Why or why not? And does this shed any light on the notion of form?