Bio/Background Plato (429–347 B.C.E.) is, by any reckoning, one of the most dazzling writers in the Western literary tradition and one of the most penetrating, wide-ranging, and influential authors in the history of philosophy. An Athenian citizen of high status, he displays in his works his absorption in the political events and intellectual movements of his time, but the questions he raises are so profound and the strategies he uses for tackling them so richly suggestive and provocative that educated readers of nearly every period have in some way been influenced by him, and in practically every age there have been philosophers who count themselves Platonists in some important respects. He was not the first thinker or writer to whom the word “philosopher” should be applied. But he was so self-conscious about how philosophy should be conceived, and what its scope and ambitions properly are, and he so transformed the intellectual currents with which he grappled, that the subject of philosophy, as it is often conceived—a rigorous and systematic examination of ethical, political, metaphysical, and epistemological issues, armed with a distinctive method—can be called his invention. Few other authors in the history of Western philosophy approximate him in depth and range: perhaps only Aristotle (who studied with him), Aquinas, and Kant would be generally agreed to be of the same rank. (from http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/plato/).
"The beginning is the most important part of the work"
ReplyDeleteThis means that all work should have a great beginning to pull the reader in and want to read more
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ReplyDeletePlato is saying that from the beginning of our lives, we are already hooked onto believing our senses and are unaware of reality. Plato gives the reader the perspective of a child being trapped in a cave, with their legs and neck chained so they can not move. The truth for them would be shadows of the images, but they would not know what the image was. They would be forced to trust their senses instead of reality. Once they are released, they would be too dazzled and confused to know what is actually around them but eventually he will see reality and wonder if he should trust what he saw before (the shadow) or trust what he sees now (reality). Plato says one must grow to realize what reality is, that it takes time to become accustomed to reality. I found something Plato says interesting, which is "better to be the poor servant of a poor master and to endure anything rather than think as they do and live after their manner." This quote is trying to say that it's better to have nothing but be knowledgeable and familiar with reality than to have power and think you know reality and everything when you truly do not. Finally, Plato believes that it is the task of the Enlightened to know reality well and be willing to help and guide others, not matter what class; rich or poor or middle, to know reality, since guidance is what is needed for them.
ReplyDeletePlato is essentially saying that in order to grow and learn, we have to leave our own comfort zones and experience the unknown. He says at birth we are too reliant on our senses and we are blind to reality. It is here that he insists that we need to question our senses in order to find reality. It is also stressed that when we experience reality, it is imperative that we share this knowledge in order to eliminate ignorance in the world. Because of this I think that humans see what we are told. This is highly evident because this can be seen in the media.
ReplyDeletePlato is saying that humans are content with the way they see things. They do not care about how someone else sees it because to them their way is the only way. It is all about how you perceive the things around you, like the prisoners in the cave trying to guess at what the shadows are. Humans perceive the world the way they are used to seeing it or only want to see it their way. He said if the released prisoner would have told the other prisoners what he had seen they would not have believed him. In the end, he says that the released prisoner has to get to the level of the other prisoners to help them better understand and show them what really is going on or what the shadows really are. The shadows are opinions and the sun is the "Truth" with a capital T.
ReplyDeleteIn my point of view, Plato is expressing his view on the original view of human life. As humans we grow up and are influenced a lot by our parents and other people who we spend a lot of time with. Just like the men chained to the cave, they only come to know one way of viewing things, in their case through shadows. Just like how as humans, we are influenced by our parents lifestyle, and we see things usually as only one way, or as a biased point of view. When one of the men breaks free from these chains he goes out and is somewhat blinded by the light, and has a hard time taking in that what he has come to know, and the difference of what he used to think. Comparable to how as teenagers begin to grow up, and we see things that we used to be biased about, become things we do not believe in. In this sense of getting older, we come to an understanding of things through our own experience and may become more open minded like the man does. This allegory is similar to our lives as humans, when we are growing up and break away from our childhood to the reality of adulthood. Another thing I thought was interesting is the fact that when we do go out to this new reality, opinions can change a lot, and we can pass on what we have came to know ,through this experience which may be why elders are always seen as the wisest. My final thought is that if we choose to seek truth throughout our lives, we may find out that we like it or may not.
ReplyDeleteYour final thought was the "ignorance is bliss" point I made in class today. It is an interesting question to think about if one does not have any freedom to know certain truths that make one uncomfortable...pre-determined to be mentally exhausted.
DeleteIn this reading Plato describes a scene where prisoners are chained at the legs and their necks where they cannot move around to see what their surroundings are in a dark cave with a fire to their side casting a shadow to the neighboring wall, they only see that is what is in front of them. From this they would trust their senses of what the image of the shadow was for they did not know the reality of it. That if one is released and gets to see the objects that project the shadows will his senses over power the reality of what he thinks the object was to now realizing its true title. Plato is trying to tell us in this parable that us humans want to believe what we want to believe and disregard the reality of its trueness. Throughout the parable he says that the prisoner than see's more of the world and must grow to accept what it is and not what he once thought it was. Concluding that us humans must learn how to grow and accept reality and learn from it and not get knocked down by our senses for that reality takes time to be accustomed. And when that times comes, the enlightened must go back to the ones who are unknowledgeable and guide to what is the true reality and adapt from their standpoints.
ReplyDeleteIn the Allegory of the Cave, the Cave symbolizes the knowledge that is gotten from what we see and hear in the world. The shadows are just perceptions of reality since the men who are chained do not actually know what the shadows represent yet they make random guesses. This shows the men who are chained as those in society who do not question anything. The man who escapes the cave represents the philosopher because he goes against the common belief and searches for true answers outside of the senses. The journey of this escaped philosopher is a journey towards finding truth and wisdom while also finding the sun as a key to both knowledge and truth.
ReplyDeletePlato portays that perception is reality when it comes to human beings opinions and beliefs.Tis means that human beings form these opinions based of off the situations they are born into, their expeiences and what they have been taught. In the allegory, the shadows symblize these perceptions that come from adverrtisements and what is being taught in todays society. The sun represent the truth and the knowledge that will make u truly happy and aware about life. The escaped prisoner represents those who seek this truth ,and therefore see past the shadows but still understand them and the people who value them and why they do so, while at the same time the escapees are enlightened.
ReplyDeleteHow can the sun represent two things? Are knowledge and truth the same thing? If yes, not sure one thing can represent both things. Food for thought.
DeleteThe Allegory of the Cave symbolizes how readily we will perseave things even without all the proper information.The cave shows our need to find the truth to the point were we would readily cause harm to ourselves in order to see the light as shown in the text.It shows our habit of accepting the knowledge that is given to us, but then shows that when given the tiniest opportunity to unveil the truth we jump on that opportunity.are humans foolish for being willing to harm themselves in return for truth?
ReplyDeleteWhat I took from the Allegory of the Cave, was that we believed what we see, until we are told otherwise. To the prisoners, the shadows were reality. The only time that changed was when one of the prisoners was released and told otherwise. However, when the prisoner returns to the cave, he is unable to see the reality that he was knew. This represents the confusions that humans have when their eyes are opened or closed. When the freed prisoner tells the other prisoners about the reality that they do not know about, they laugh at him because they think what he is saying is absurd. This shows that humans need to see in order to believe.
ReplyDeleteIn Allegory of the cave, I believe that Plato is concerned with the way people force others to live, also he feels like humans lives are looked upon as puppets. I think the way Plato thinks humans perceive the world is that they feel trapped in a cave with only one way to enter and one way to leave, i also believe he thinks people look at the world with the attitude where if you get trapped there is no way forward.
ReplyDeleteFrom the beginning of our lives, we are taught to believe our senses thus blocking out any form of reality that may be trying to make itself known to us. The Allegory of the Cave tells about a child who's legs and neck chained so they can not move. The child see shadows of the cave has what is truths however their understanding of theses truths is unclear. Almost like the child really do not understand what they are looking at. This is because of the child's use of their senses instead of looking at the reality of the situation. Eventually the child will be set free, once this happens what would happen to the way the child sense and thinks? The child would be lost and confused, should they trust what they know in the cave or reality as they now see it? Plato believes that one must learn to understand reality really is. Most importantly Plato feels that thus who truly understand reality should guide others into this way of understanding for understanding will bring a better reality.
ReplyDeleteI like your use of the word child to refer to the characters. However, I think Plato might be describing all humans, young and old, in the passage. For Plato, humans are really up against it in terms of seeking the truth.
DeletePlato's analogy is telling us that a child in that situation, having only seen the shadows but not having seen the light or what makes the shadows will believe the shadows to be reality although they aren't, because of their reliance on their senses. They will continue to believe in this false reality unless they are freed from the rock bound prison and shown what else is out there. When they see this, although it is reality, they may believe it to be an illusion for it is something foreign to the senses they have always relied on. Their job from then on out is to differentiate between reality and illusion and decide whether what they have seen they're whole life is reality, or whether their new surroundings are reality.
ReplyDeleteLets not also forget how it may be the people who gain the new found knowledge to feel as if it their duty to his once fellow blinded people to help lead them also out from trusting their senses. The only sad thing is if its really worth the trouble to try and bring them to a better state of mind or leave them be for you know they will mock what them see change in you.
DeletePlato seems to argue in the Allegory that we as humans try to grow accustom to our surroundings no matter that those factors may be. If forced into a state of full ignorance we wouldn't question it being the wrong away to perceive life. Its only when we are given a changing outlook on it can we really enjoy its splendor. Problem is we huddle in groups to protect our views of how life truly is even if it is based on assumptions after being blinded from any real truth. Plato is arguing those who have been able to see a different way of recognizing the actuality of life end up feeling sorry for those who know nothing of how we should see our world or jealous that the blinded ones can live in a deep state of unconscious thoughts so not t be burdened.
ReplyDeleteI think Plato is using this allegory to display the ignorance of the World. He states several situations in which the prisoner is blinded to reality, then is shown reality, and still tries to reason around the truth that he/she was just shown. Humans are not receptive to the world; they are only receptive to the life that have been living. They are not open to change or reality, just what suits their minds best. We as humans are blinded to Truth. Even when it is right in front of us we try to reason around the Truth, trying to find evidences to debunk the Truth only because of our ignorance.
ReplyDeletePlato uses the allegory of the cave to show incompetent people are. He says that we should all be aware of our environment no matter how it may be. But if we were still placed in the situation we should not judge it the wrong way. Sometimes we all need alittle influence to except the things that is placed in reality, but ideally we protect and still try to proove our ideas which may lead to conflict and envy.
ReplyDeleteAs a child , we only act by how we are taught . "They see their own shadows which the fire throws on the opposite wall of the cave. For how could they see anything but the shadows if they were never allowed to move their heads?" As children , we do not know right from wrong . For ex. , if I was raised to steal , I would believe stealing is a good thing to do . "To them , the truth would be literally nothing but the shadows of the images." Shadows of the image would be the only thing that existed to them . Anything else did not exist .
ReplyDeleteThe Allegory of the caves describes man and how he perceives the world. The prisoners are chained by the neck and can only see the fire ahead of them. This picture is a key point to the story because everything is answered in front of them and they don't have to ask any questions. Now if a prisoner was released to a broader world where he can see the sun or the moon and stars he would be perplexed and forced to ask questions just by him being startled. This relates to the modern world because a lot of people only work to get by which means they are searching to go above and beyond the call of duty. These are the people who are in the tunnel being led by the fire and flickering shadows. The people who search for more knowledge are the ones who have seen the broader world.
ReplyDeleteThe text is about a man that seems to be trapped. Some what a prisoner to the shadows, He hasn't experianced much on the true outside world he just sees reflections of the true images above him. Once he finally got out of the gave the world was to brght for him he could not see. The story is about perception as the prisoners down buttom couldn't see the ways of the upper world once he got to the upper world he couldn't see the ways of the prisoners down bottom.
ReplyDeleteThe the jist of the text is that in youth we blindly follow our senses. As we grow older we begin to ween ourselves off this trust on senses. Our senses are almost like a mirror. We're seeing more of a reflection than we are the real thing.
ReplyDeleteIn Plato's allegory of the cave, Plato is talking about the differences between reality and perception. There are prisoners who see things in certain ways, and then they seem them again presented as reflections. Their issue is determining which is the realest visual of what they should be seeing. Sometimes humans overthink things and make more out of it than what is really there. The way the sun works, and the lights and shadows are reality, but the way humans take it into their own lives always varies. The sense we have can be deceptive and make more out of something than it really is.
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