Reference no: EM132452743

Descartes, the 17^th Century A.D scientist, mathematician and philosopher, is considered the Father of Modern Philosophy.

Plato, in 4^th Century B.C. was the first of the philosophers to present us with a philosophical system that brought together the several diverse views of the Materialists and Rationalists of the 6^th B.C. and 5^th Century B.C. into a coherent, complete system.

It is said that history repeats itself, that history is like a pendulum - back and forth and back again. Others say that history comes full round to its beginning, over and over again. With this model of human history in mind, I want you to write a reflective essay on the many parallels and similarities between Plato and Descartes .

We saw how the first philosophers were seeking to explain the workings of the natural world in terms of natural material elements and reason instead of the using the traditional divine agents and gods of religion and the poets.

Two thousand years later we witness a similar transition/rejection of religious dogmatism with the arrival of the Renaissance, or re-birth of reason and the return to empirical observation , reason and mathematical certainty in the natural sciences and philosophy.

Please describe and explain the parallels and similar attitudes that Plato in the 4^th Century B.C and Descartes in the 17^th Century A.D both faced, addressed and resolved.

Please include these 5 issues in your essay.

1. Discuss: The role/challenge/problem that religion played in Plato's and Descartes' thought and how and why they dealt with it. Also Socrates' and Galileo's issues with the religion of their times.

2. The effect that relativism, skepticism and agnosticism played in Plato's and Descartes' search for knowledge and truth and certitude.

3. The similarities with Plato's notion of immortality and Descartes' Dualism.

4. The important influence of mathematics in both Plato and Descartes regarding the nature of and quality of knowledge and certitude. Where does certitude reside for Plato? and for Descartes? How is it accessed for each thinker.

5. The parallels/similarities between Plato's Theory of Forms and Descartes' Clear and Distinct ideas as they relate to the nature and qualities of Knowledge. What is the quality of sense knowledge for Plato and Descartes?

The essay must be between 750-1000 words long. (12 pt. , single space) The title, bibliography, foot notes ,etc are not included in the word count.