TedTest

From the Ted Talk by Wisecrack: Plato's best (and worst) ideas

Unscramble the Blue Letters

Few individuals have influenced the world and many of today's thinkers like Plato. One 20th century philosopher even went so far as to describe all of Western philosophy as a series of fottooens to Plato. He created the first Western university and was teacher to Ancient Greece's greatest mnids, including alitsrtoe. But even one of the founders of philosophy wasn't perfect. Along with his great ideas, palto had a few that haven't exactly sootd the test of time. So here are brief rundowns of a few of his best and wosrt idaes. Plato argued that beyond our imperfect world was a perfect unchanging world of Forms. Forms are the ideal versions of the things and concepts we see around us. They serve as a sort of instruction manual to our own world. ftnloaig around the wrold of Forms is the ideal tree, and the ideal YouTube channel, and even the ieadl justice, or ideal love. Our own reality is comprised of imperfect coepis of ideal Forms. Plato argued that philosophers should strive to contemplate and understand these perfect Forms so that they may better navigate our misleading reality. While it may seem silly, the disconnect between the world as it aeppars and the greater tutrh behind it is one of philosophy's most vexing problems. It's been the subject of thousands of pages by theologians, philosophers, and screenwriters alike. It resias questions like should we trust our senses to come to the truth or our own reason? For Plato, the answer is reason. It alone provides us with at least the potential to contemplate the Forms. But rseoan didn't always pan out for Plato himself. When he sought to situate humankind amongst the anlimas, he leupmd us in with birds. "Featherless bipeds" was his oiffcail designation. doegines the Cynic, annoyed by this definition, stormed into Plato's class with a plucked chicken, announcing, "Behold. Plato's man." But back to a few good ideas. Plato is one of the earliest political theorists on record, and with Aristotle, is seen as one of the founders of political science. He rnoseaed that being a ruler was no different than any other craft, whether a potter or doctor, and that only those who had mastered the craft were fit to lead. Ruling was the craft of contemplating the frmos. In his Republic, Plato imagined a utopia where justice is the ultimate goal. Plato's ideal city seeks a huroniaoms balance between its individual parts and should be lead by a philosopher king. millenina before his time, Plato also reasoned that woemn were equally able to rule in this meodl city. Unfortunately, Plato was inconsistent with women, elsewhere likening them to children. He also beevield that a woman's womb was a live animal that could wander around in her body and cause illness. This bad idea, also espoused by other contemporaries of Plato, was sadly iinafneutll for hundreds of years in European medicine. Furthermore, he tughhot that soitcey should be dieidvd into three groups: producers, the military, and the rulers, and that a great noble lie should convince everyone to follow this structure. The noble lie he proposed was that we're all born with gold, silver, or a mtirxue of brass and iron in our souls, which determine our roles in life. Some thinkers have gone on to credit the idea of the noble lie as a prototype for 20th century propaganda, and the philosopher king as inspiration for the dictators that used them. Should a few bad ideas tarnish Plato's status as one of the greatest philosophers in history? No! Plato gave the leareds and thinkers who came after him a pacle to start. Through the cinueerts, we've had the chcane to test those ideas through writing and experience, and have accepted some while rejecting others. We are continuing to refine, amend, and edit his ideas which have become foundations of the mrdeon world.

Open Cloze

Few individuals have influenced the world and many of today's thinkers like Plato. One 20th century philosopher even went so far as to describe all of Western philosophy as a series of _________ to Plato. He created the first Western university and was teacher to Ancient Greece's greatest _____, including _________. But even one of the founders of philosophy wasn't perfect. Along with his great ideas, _____ had a few that haven't exactly _____ the test of time. So here are brief rundowns of a few of his best and _____ _____. Plato argued that beyond our imperfect world was a perfect unchanging world of Forms. Forms are the ideal versions of the things and concepts we see around us. They serve as a sort of instruction manual to our own world. ________ around the _____ of Forms is the ideal tree, and the ideal YouTube channel, and even the _____ justice, or ideal love. Our own reality is comprised of imperfect ______ of ideal Forms. Plato argued that philosophers should strive to contemplate and understand these perfect Forms so that they may better navigate our misleading reality. While it may seem silly, the disconnect between the world as it _______ and the greater _____ behind it is one of philosophy's most vexing problems. It's been the subject of thousands of pages by theologians, philosophers, and screenwriters alike. It ______ questions like should we trust our senses to come to the truth or our own reason? For Plato, the answer is reason. It alone provides us with at least the potential to contemplate the Forms. But ______ didn't always pan out for Plato himself. When he sought to situate humankind amongst the _______, he ______ us in with birds. "Featherless bipeds" was his ________ designation. ________ the Cynic, annoyed by this definition, stormed into Plato's class with a plucked chicken, announcing, "Behold. Plato's man." But back to a few good ideas. Plato is one of the earliest political theorists on record, and with Aristotle, is seen as one of the founders of political science. He ________ that being a ruler was no different than any other craft, whether a potter or doctor, and that only those who had mastered the craft were fit to lead. Ruling was the craft of contemplating the _____. In his Republic, Plato imagined a utopia where justice is the ultimate goal. Plato's ideal city seeks a __________ balance between its individual parts and should be lead by a philosopher king. _________ before his time, Plato also reasoned that _____ were equally able to rule in this _____ city. Unfortunately, Plato was inconsistent with women, elsewhere likening them to children. He also ________ that a woman's womb was a live animal that could wander around in her body and cause illness. This bad idea, also espoused by other contemporaries of Plato, was sadly ___________ for hundreds of years in European medicine. Furthermore, he _______ that _______ should be _______ into three groups: producers, the military, and the rulers, and that a great noble lie should convince everyone to follow this structure. The noble lie he proposed was that we're all born with gold, silver, or a _______ of brass and iron in our souls, which determine our roles in life. Some thinkers have gone on to credit the idea of the noble lie as a prototype for 20th century propaganda, and the philosopher king as inspiration for the dictators that used them. Should a few bad ideas tarnish Plato's status as one of the greatest philosophers in history? No! Plato gave the _______ and thinkers who came after him a _____ to start. Through the _________, we've had the ______ to test those ideas through writing and experience, and have accepted some while rejecting others. We are continuing to refine, amend, and edit his ideas which have become foundations of the ______ world.

Solution

centuries
modern
reasoned
minds
women
ideas
plato
thought
reason
aristotle
harmonious
believed
worst
chance
model
appears
influential
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mixture
truth
world
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diogenes
leaders
raises
stood
millennia
place
ideal
footnotes
official
society
lumped
copies
forms
floating

Original Text

Few individuals have influenced the world and many of today's thinkers like Plato. One 20th century philosopher even went so far as to describe all of Western philosophy as a series of footnotes to Plato. He created the first Western university and was teacher to Ancient Greece's greatest minds, including Aristotle. But even one of the founders of philosophy wasn't perfect. Along with his great ideas, Plato had a few that haven't exactly stood the test of time. So here are brief rundowns of a few of his best and worst ideas. Plato argued that beyond our imperfect world was a perfect unchanging world of Forms. Forms are the ideal versions of the things and concepts we see around us. They serve as a sort of instruction manual to our own world. Floating around the world of Forms is the ideal tree, and the ideal YouTube channel, and even the ideal justice, or ideal love. Our own reality is comprised of imperfect copies of ideal Forms. Plato argued that philosophers should strive to contemplate and understand these perfect Forms so that they may better navigate our misleading reality. While it may seem silly, the disconnect between the world as it appears and the greater truth behind it is one of philosophy's most vexing problems. It's been the subject of thousands of pages by theologians, philosophers, and screenwriters alike. It raises questions like should we trust our senses to come to the truth or our own reason? For Plato, the answer is reason. It alone provides us with at least the potential to contemplate the Forms. But reason didn't always pan out for Plato himself. When he sought to situate humankind amongst the animals, he lumped us in with birds. "Featherless bipeds" was his official designation. Diogenes the Cynic, annoyed by this definition, stormed into Plato's class with a plucked chicken, announcing, "Behold. Plato's man." But back to a few good ideas. Plato is one of the earliest political theorists on record, and with Aristotle, is seen as one of the founders of political science. He reasoned that being a ruler was no different than any other craft, whether a potter or doctor, and that only those who had mastered the craft were fit to lead. Ruling was the craft of contemplating the Forms. In his Republic, Plato imagined a utopia where justice is the ultimate goal. Plato's ideal city seeks a harmonious balance between its individual parts and should be lead by a philosopher king. Millennia before his time, Plato also reasoned that women were equally able to rule in this model city. Unfortunately, Plato was inconsistent with women, elsewhere likening them to children. He also believed that a woman's womb was a live animal that could wander around in her body and cause illness. This bad idea, also espoused by other contemporaries of Plato, was sadly influential for hundreds of years in European medicine. Furthermore, he thought that society should be divided into three groups: producers, the military, and the rulers, and that a great noble lie should convince everyone to follow this structure. The noble lie he proposed was that we're all born with gold, silver, or a mixture of brass and iron in our souls, which determine our roles in life. Some thinkers have gone on to credit the idea of the noble lie as a prototype for 20th century propaganda, and the philosopher king as inspiration for the dictators that used them. Should a few bad ideas tarnish Plato's status as one of the greatest philosophers in history? No! Plato gave the leaders and thinkers who came after him a place to start. Through the centuries, we've had the chance to test those ideas through writing and experience, and have accepted some while rejecting others. We are continuing to refine, amend, and edit his ideas which have become foundations of the modern world.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations

ngrams of length 2

collocation	frequency
noble lie	3
ideas plato	2
plato argued	2
philosopher king	2

Important Words

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