Saturday, September 24, 2016

Plato & the Allegory of the Cave

Plato's Allegory of the Cave truly fascinates me. I think his Theory of Forms is quite unique and his correlation between the material realm (Earth) & the Transcendent Realm of Forms (perfection) signifies his portrayal of the importance of the 5 senses along with an intellectual quality: knowledge. Plato is said to have believed education and knowledge can only truly be obtained by discovery and experience; people already possess it, but must uncover it themselves. This is why I believe he depicts the prisoner's ascension from the cave as a means of uncovering the truth, although the man is initially confused as to what is real. Plato also alludes to the Good which is the ultimate form, source of all things (somewhat connected to Christianity's depiction of God). In the end, Plato's ultimate argument is to try and figure out how to run government (he was not an advocate for democracy) so that the people are ruled by the very best and most fit in society.

4 comments:

Unknown said...

I enjoyed learning about Plato's Allegory of the Cave and how it tied into education and the Socratic method. As stated, a lot of education from Plato's standpoint was meant to be uncovered by the student. The Socratic method compliments this because Socrates ultimately had the students answer questions themselves by questioning them which push them in the right direction. Also, I agree that the connection with the material world is interesting because us as we live in this world assume that this is reality and for someone to come along and tell us otherwise would be hard to believe. In that way, we relate to the prisoners in the cave and our reality is the shadows which is mind-blowing considering how most would be in disbelief about this world not being reality.

Unknown said...

I also enjoyed learning about the Allegory of the Cave. Philosophy is very interesting to me. I think there are a number of ways to look at the knowledge that Plato speaks of. He says everyone possesses knowledge to some degree. Some more than others. But I think that everyone possesses an equal amount of knowledge, just of different things. For instance, I may have knowledge that is suited to be a veterinarian but not an engineer. But other people have knowledge to be an engineer and not a veterinarian.

Bailey Taylor said...

I also really enjoyed learning about the Aalegory of the Cave. It was very interesting to read about all the different details of the cave and how they played symbolized something so specific. It really gets you thinking as to what's real and what's not and what the humans role in life really is. The idea that you can't learn anything new but that you must uncover what is already inside you is very interesting to me. I do not necessarily agree without though. I think it is very possible to learn new things.

Unknown said...

I also enjoyed learning about the allegory of the cave. I had already been taught about the allegory my freshman year, but being able to learn about it a second time gave me a better understanding of the philosophy. Originally when I read it, I thought that it was merely about the idea that our reality may not be the true reality. But now, I understand that the allegory is really about government. Once a person is enlightened, they must go back and enlighten the others, even though he does not want to. This duty is a metaphor for those in government. Those best fit to lead often to not want to. And those who want to lead are power hungry.