STORY SERIES PLUTO'S HORSE

STORY SERIES: SOCATES - PLATO'S HOURSE

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WARM UP GAME AND VOCAB

Multiple Choice

What is Socrates known for in history?

• a. Writing numerous books
  

• b. Having a profound influence on Western philosophy
  

• c. Inventing the Socratic method
  

• d. Being a famous mathematician

Multiple Choice

Who is credited with writing down Socrates' ideas?

• a. Socrates himself
  

• b. Plato
  

• c. Aristotle
  

• d. Pythagoras

Multiple Choice

What did Socrates believe was the highest form of human activity?

• a. Pursuit of wealth
  

• b. Pursuit of power
  

• c. Pursuit of knowledge
  

• d. Pursuit of fame

Multiple Choice

How did Socrates influence the world according to the transcript?

• a. He only influenced literature and art
  

• b. He did not impact science or psychology
  

• c. His ideas form the foundation of moral thought in the Western world
  

• d. He discouraged people from self-examination

Plato, also a famous philosopher of Greece (428 – 348 BCE), was a disciple of Socrates. He often taught his students through discussions.

One day, Plato and Socrates took a few students out of the city of Athens to the Aegean coast as an extracurricular activity. They sat around a stone by the shore and debated how many teeth a mature male horse has. Glaucon said that because the horse's mouth is so small, it clearly cannot have more than 15 teeth.

"It's absurd, any fool can see that a horse has a very long jaw, so it must have 42 teeth," Thrasymachus exclaimed.

But then another person named Aristophanes objected. According to Aristophanes, since it takes 23 minutes for a horse to chew through a bundle of dry grass, it must have 23 teeth.

The debate became more tense as no one agreed with anyone else. Plato himself thought that a horse has up to 82 teeth because he had seen a drawing of a horse in a cave. However, he did not voice his opinion.

At this point, the only one who remained silent throughout the debate was Socrates. Socrates suggested that instead of continuing this seemingly endless argument, they should go to where the horses brought them here, open their mouths, and count them. Plato's group of students then gasped in surprise at the simple, unexpected, and yet incredibly wise answer from their master's master.

Open Ended

1. Why do you think the debate about the number of horse teeth became so tense?

2. What do you think Socrates' wise answer taught the students about problem-solving?

3. How do you think Plato's experience of seeing a drawing of a horse with 82 teeth influenced his opinion on the matter?

Draw

Draw the story and explain what you have learnt from the story.