...Thinking as a Hobby vs The Allegory of the Cave Plato’s “Allegory of the cave” was one of the most important allegories of philosophical thought. The first theory of knowledge was Plato. He believed that knowledge was more than just wants in front of you or even what you see but something much greater. He believed there is a reason behind everything and that is part of how you achieve a huge part of knowledge. As for William Golding, he seems to expand on the point of a thought and how thinking is knowledge and power. This comes from his essay “Thinking as a Hobby”. Out of these essays, understand that there is a difference between the act of thinking and thinking itself. It destroys the idea of agreement for one to understand and come to the fact of enlightenment and true reality. The idea behind this all is that Plato has a descriptive idea of the cave, and Golding narrates an idea that matches enlighten or the unenlightened....
Words: 1406 - Pages: 6
...how you perceive and grasp something in a genuine way. In the psychological section, genuine knowledge divided into Noesis or understanding and Dianoia or thought. For example, in Plato's allegory of the Cave, when he is outside cave and seeing the forms then recognize the truth. For the right opinion, it is divided Pistis or belief and Eikasia or Imagination. In the allegory of the cave, the belief refers to when he see objects in the cave, and the imagination refers to when he sees the shadow on the wall inside the cave and hear an echo. Secondly, the epistemological, It is the study of the evidence. Plato thought that this was the world of the forms. We could have genuine knowledge...
Words: 745 - Pages: 3
...The dark, foreboding nature of Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave” makes the work seem a bit dramatic when compared to Kate Chopin’s The Awakening. Nonetheless, the two pieces of literature are remarkably similar; both stories feature a protagonist who takes a journey from the darkness of ignorance towards the light of truth. In the beginning of The Awakening, Edna Pontellier is a traditional wife and mother. At this stage, she is just like the prisoners in “Allegory of the Cave”, along with everyone else in her life and in her society. These prisoners have mistaken “shadows”, or society’s expectations, for the “truth”, or individual desires. Life events like meeting Robert cause Edna to rethink her desires. At this stage, she is escaping...
Words: 1178 - Pages: 5
...In “The Allegory of the Cave,” Plato presents his abstract view of human nature and truth, whereas Douglass presents his personal journal in “Learning to Read and Write.” Compare and contrast Plato and Douglass' essays and ideas. How might Douglass view Plato's allegory based on his experience? The most basic question that we can ask ourselves is: who and what am I? Moreover, the answer to this question about human nature (what a human being is) will greatly affect how we see ourselves. In Plato’s “The Allegory of the Cave”, he managed to let us visualize people living in a big cave, where these people were chained by the leg and by the neck and they couldn’t move. They can only see what is in front of them. He explains to us how the “The Allegory of the Cave” is the education of the soul toward enlightenment. According to Plato, the chains that bind the prisoners are the senses and the prisoners symbolize ignorant people, the raised wall symbolizes the limitation of our thinking. The idea of Plato’s essay describes how most people are trapped in their own world, unaware of what is happening around them. According to Plato the “The Allegory of the Cave” is the common man and it represents all people before they are fully educated. The common person sees nothing but the shadows on the wall of the cave. In Plato’s essay, the fire has a significant meaning to the common man; it is the source of light and the only reality he can see as it sheds light into the cave. Then comes...
Words: 666 - Pages: 3
...●FishBowl 2 on Plato, Coates, and Gregory Rodriguez Answer the JHW questions due today and also complete the following: What happens when a prisoner is released from the den and “compelled to look straight at the light?” What does the prisoner see when he is returns to the cave? What does he then feel about reality? What happens when a prisoner is released from the den and “compelled to look straight at the light?” What does the prisoner see when he returns to the cave? What does he then feel about reality? When the prisoner leaves the cave and looks straight into the light, he is left blind by the extreme brightness of it. However, after a while, he gets accustomed to the light, and he realizes that the world of shadows in which he had lived his whole life was a mere imitation of reality. Consequently, when he returned to the cave, he has not used to the darkness anymore and his peers...
Words: 1402 - Pages: 6
...learning the ropes of grammatical writing. I was sadly mistaken. Through the semester Josh gave the class five writing assignments. They ranged from three to five pages long. Out of all the writing assignments I received my favorite was a four page paper I had to write an allegory of myself. My least favorite was a five page paper the whole class had to write. About mid semester, when my hand only had a tingle, Josh lectured about Plato’s “A Allegory of the Cave.” Thus giving me my next challenging task he had in store. I had to compose an allegory of myself while explaining the concept of the Plato’s allegory. I had to dissect the symbolism in Plato’s allegory and prove how it coincided with my own allegory. What made this objective so interesting, yet so strenuous was the fact that my allegory had to be based upon a difficult time I have had in my life. My essay was littered with very detailed descriptors of my dreadful situation and Plato’s allegory. That is why this particular essay was my favorite. I8 was able to take a seemingly arduous task and break it down, in my own words, so that a reader would be able to comprehend “The Allegory of the Cave,” and still be able to relate to my allegory. The last essay due came just before my hand fell off. Before the class took our final exam we were obligated to write a five page paper as a whole. Josh told us we had to accomplish the task without his assistance. We, as an alliance, had to choose a topic in which to write about. We...
Words: 611 - Pages: 3
...The Allegory of the Cave is Plato's explanation of the education of the soul toward enlightenment. He sees it as what happens when someone is educated to the level of philosopher. He contends that they must "go back into the cave" or return to the everyday world of politics, greed and power struggles. The Allegory also attacks people who rely upon or are slaves to their senses. The chains that bind the prisoners are the senses. The fun of the allegory is to try to put all the details of the cave into your interpretation. In other words, what are the models the guards carry? the fire? the struggle out of the cave? the sunlight? the shadows on the cave wall? Socrates, in Book VII of The Republic, just after the allegory told us that the cave was our world and the fire was our sun. He said the path of the prisoner was our soul's ascent to knowledge or enlightenment. He equated our world of sight with the intellect's world of opinion. Both were at the bottom of the ladder of knowledge. Our world of sight allows us to "see" things that are not real, such as parallel lines and perfect circles. He calls this higher understanding the world "abstract Reality" or the Intelligeble world. He equates this abstract reality with the knowledge that comes from reasoning and finally understanding. On the physical side, our world of sight, the stages of growth are first recognition of images (the shadows on the cave wall) then the recognition of objects (the models the guards carry) To understand...
Words: 4812 - Pages: 20
...The Allegory of The Cave’ by Plato – The Meaning The Allegory of the cave by Plato should not be taken at face value. In essays and exams, whoever is marking it expects you to have a deeper understanding of the meaning of the theory. You can then use these to think about criticisms and then to form your own opinion. The Cave •In Plato’s theory, the cave represents people who believe that knowledge comes from what we see and hear in the world – empirical evidence. The cave shows that believers of empirical knowledge are trapped in a ‘cave’ of misunderstanding. The Shadows •The Shadows represent the perceptions of those who believe empirical evidence ensures knowledge. If you believe that what you see should be taken as truth, then you are merely seeing a shadow of the truth. In Plato’s opinion you are a ‘pleb’ if you believe this (their insult for those who are not Philosophers)! The Game •The Game represents how people believe that one person can be a ‘master’ when they have knowledge of the empirical world. Plato is demonstrating that this master does not actually know any truth, and suggesting that it is ridiculous to admire someone like this. The Escape •The escaped prisoner represents the Philosopher, who seeks knowledge outside of the cave and outside of the senses. •The Sun represents philosophical truth and knowledge •His intellectual journey represents a philosophers journey when finding truth and wisdom The Return •The other prisoners reaction...
Words: 266 - Pages: 2
...Candelaria Philosophy Midterm Paper What does the allegory of the cave suggest about the nature of education? The allegory of the cave is supposed to be a metaphor for the world we are living in. That finding this truth or overall good is how people will be able to gain the most knowledge. Socrates is explaining to his student, Glaucon, how he believes it’s our own ignorance of goodness and truth that will prevent a man from gaining this nature of education. What Socrates fails to mention in my own opinion is how this allegory supports a role in the nature of education. In my essay I want to go over what my interpretations are of this allegory and how it’s structured to represent our learning throughout our life. This will lead to my argument explaining how irrelevant this metaphor is simply because it is an allegory. For my second argument I will mention how I disagree with Socrates views on the nature of our education. For the last part of my argument, I want to go over what I believe is also involved with the nature of our education, not being just the “Good”. I want to briefly go over what exactly this allegory represents to me. By establishing my understanding towards what the allegory means, I can hopefully strengthen my future points that I am making. It is obvious that Plato structured this allegory to represent the divided line that separates what we know from our senses and our mind. The allegory isn’t just four stages of the divided line but also four...
Words: 1756 - Pages: 8
...Tina Bai Knowledge, Reality, Self Professor Georg Theiner 10/1/12 The Implication of Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave” In The Republic, Plato reveals the overwhelming ignorance of humanity through the allegory of the cave. Plato summarizes his viewpoint of society as a whole through this allegory, portraying the human race as imprisoned in the chains of oblivion, unaware of its own inhibited perspective. A more contemporary philosopher, Umberto Eco, also criticized the state of society in a similar fashion in Travels in Hyperrreality; describing the overwhelming trend of “horror vacui.” The allegory of the cave reveals the importance of education in the journey towards enlightenment-only through instruction can individuals recall the inherent knowledge of the Forms. The significance of the allegory is rooted in Plato’s belief that there exist inherent truths hidden under the superficial surface of society that only enlightened individuals can uncover through education. Plato’s allegory of the cave follows as thus: A cluster of prisoners, having been enclosed in a cave since birth, has never laid eyes on any kind of daylight. Furthermore, these individuals are prevented from turning their heads to look to either side by their bonds, and can consequently only envision what lies straight ahead. Lying posterior to the shackled prisoners is a fire which is subsequently anterior to a wall. A collection of statues sojourn on the top of the wall and are manipulated by a separate...
Words: 1935 - Pages: 8
...Jeanette Sampson Professor Scheck Phil 201 February 18th, 2016 Essay There are many similarities to be found between the Matrix movie and the writings of Pluto. Both deal with the way in which we all see the reality in which we live. Is it real? Is it false? How do we know that our minds and our eyes are not deceiving us? These stories give us a glimpse of something that may be true, something that we may have not even realized. They bring to life the possibility that we may be living a false reality. In the synopsis for the Matrix, a man named Neo begins to feel as though something is wrong with his life. When he meets Morpheus and accepts the red pill that he is given, he begins to see that the world he knows is nothing but an illusion. A cleverly put together scenario in which the human race lies unconscious in giant machines meant to keep them alive while the cables connected to their brains play out a simulated false reality. Pluto’s Allegory of The Cave conveys a similar message. His scenario describes men who have spent their whole lives chained at the neck and legs inside of a cave, only able to look forward, never being able to turn their heads in any other direction. Men chained to a false reality would be the common theme between these two stories. The cables connected to the giant machines in the Matrix are the modern day neck and leg chains of Plato’s The Cave. The characters in each story are taught to only see their world from one view. Of course they...
Words: 1006 - Pages: 5
...Theory of the Forms and the Sensible World This paper will discuss the relationship between the knowledge of the forms and opinion about the sensible world. After describing the sensible world, Socrates brings up a new concept about how this world should be ruled. This paper will argue that because philosophy kings have knowledge about the forms they are better rulers of the sensible world, rather than sight-lovers. This paper is divided into two phases, each showing how Socrates has used the theory of the forms. Philosopher Kings and Sight Lovers: The idea of philosophy kings first comes up in Book V of the Republic at 473d. Socrates claims that the sensible world can only exist once kings, or those who rule practice philosophy. As Socrates is saying this, he himself realizes how his statement is somewhat radical. This radical claim by Socrates leads him to distinguish the difference between philosophy kings and sight lovers using the theory of the forms. At 476b (Rep. V), Socrates says that the lovers of sights only like beautiful characteristics such as shapes and sounds. Socrates argues that these individuals don’t see the underlying beauty. Although not explicitly mentioned, at this point, Socrates is using the theory of forms to distinguish philosophers and sight lovers. For sight-lovers, beauty is on a comparative basis; say for example “A” has beautiful features once it is observed alone. Once we compare “A” with all things beautiful, it may not posses the beauty it once...
Words: 1478 - Pages: 6
...Anh Nguyen PHI 111-112 Assignment #2 Essay 1: What is your belief about ultimate reality? In this position paper, the worldview that I find the most persuasive is metaphysical naturalism. I realized that I am a naturalist that believes the nature is all that exist. Therefore, that all things supernatural (including God, spirits, souls and non-natural values) do not exist. Naturalists hold that all minds, the contents, powers, and effect of minds that are entirely constructed from or caused by natural phenomena. Following to argument from physical minds, scientists have many evidences that the human mind is a product of a functioning brain, which is entirely constructed from different interacting physical systems that evolved over time through the animal kingdom. In addition, mental and physical have a close relationship, so it means there is no mental happens that does not go with physical. Therefore, it is impossible to say that there are some souls and God exist. And, this argument is what we would expect if naturalism is true. According to argument from history of science, there is a single theme unifying the history of science, it is that naturalistic (non-supernatural) explanation work. The history of science has many examples of naturalistic explanations; however, there is no example’s supernatural explanations about naturalistic. Luckily, the naturalistic explanation is so successful that even these explanations also make scientific theists have to accept. Therefore...
Words: 1876 - Pages: 8
...HUT 305, Selected Essay Topics. A- Belief in God shapes the way people live their lives. Belief in God gives people something to hope for, someone to believe in, no matter what their situation in life might be. Monotheistic religions believe in one God, with minor theological differences. Explain the concept of God in all three monotheistic religions. Compare this concept with two different concepts taken from two different religions. B- Plato believed in the ontological dualism. He recognized the role of the senses in shaping a perception of the world but denied its accuracy. For him the ideas, shaped in the world of ideals, are the absolute truth. To further explain his theory, he adopted the allegory of the cave, where an enlightened philosopher would take the human out of their ignorance and into the "light". Explain the ontological dualism of Plato, the role he has given to the Ideal knowledge, and his of the cave allegory in order to explain his views. C- Ibn Khaldoun presented the first dedicated science to the study of societies. In this science, called "El Omran", he introduced the concept of Assabyah – a kind of social solidarity. Explain the role of Assabyah in politics and in the evolution of societies, especially when it comes to the transmission of power from one generation to another. D- Is there a “heroic code” that guides the decisions of the characters in The Iliad? Discuss the values of the Homeric hero, paying particular attention to contrasting...
Words: 384 - Pages: 2
...Knowledge is the Enlightenment, Necessary for Evolution: In Plato’s, “The Allegory of the Cave,” he is explaining in dialogue with question-and- answer form with Glaucon a student questioning the nature of human beings. The analogy of the cave and the prisoners within used to explain his belief. He discusses moral and philosophical problems; the prisoner must overcome to see the light after long periods of imprisonment. The light he refers to as a fire blazing at a distance, is the light the prisoners see while a low wall is along the way. The prisoner look over the wall to find strange images that he has never seen before is compelled immediately to look toward the light. The question then is would the prisoner suffer pain from the glare brought forth by the light, Plato then explains he will require to grow accustom to the light in order to clearly see the new images. Once the prisoner becomes accustom to the sight of the upper world, he will then see the reflection of others and of himself. Plato then explains the reaction the prisoner makes and his thoughts of himself to realize the reason about his own place. The prisoner, as Plato explains, realized that this exposure of new images in the upper world are not of what he was taught to be true in his old place in the den, and the wisdom brought forth by the den along with his fellow- prisoners; merely false notions. The truth the prisoner has seen in the upper world will then become a desire to continue to seek further the...
Words: 1191 - Pages: 5
