How Does Plato s Allegory Of The Cave Illuminate The...

Anthony Mosgaard Bernabe Belvedere Phi 2010 10/29/2017 Paper One Assignment Section A: 1.) What is the difference between a philosophical question and other types of questions? What are the characteristics of a philosophical question? Explain the difference between deductive and inductive arguments (also, construct an example of each). Describe what fallacies are, and give examples of the most prominent ones. How does Plato s Allegory of the Cave illuminate the value of philosophy? To begin, it is important to understand and analyze what philosophy is and ultimately what a philosophical question is. Philosophy is a quest after knowledge. Philosophy is the action of thought and analysis, in fact, it is a pretty unique type of†¦show more content†¦Lastly, philosophical questions are thought-provoking. If you have ever wondered about the existence of God or the afterlife then you know that such questions can get the mind racing. These kind of questions, require long and deep thought as well the use of thought experiments. Though experiments are tools of perspective, they are ideas or situations created in the mind to analyze and understand philosophical questions. They are very useful and crucial to the philosophical process. A deductive argument is an argument that is intended by the user to be valid and to guarantee the truth of the conclusion given that premises are true. An inductive argument is an argument that is intended by the user to be strong or good enough that, if the premises were to be true, then it would be unlikely that the conclusion itself is false. An example of a deductive argument would be; Socrates was a man. All men are mortal. Therefore, Socrates was mortal. An example of an inductive argument would be; Socrates was Greek. Most Greeks ate fish. Socrates at fish. In addition to understanding these questions as part of the thought process it is also important to understand what might prevent you from effectively grasping philosophical subject matter. Which would be, Fallacies. Fallacies are common but are essentially defective arguments. A few common types of