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Explain, discuss, and evaluate the following sentence from Plato's Myth of the Cave: "For the prisoners, reality would consist of nothing but the shadows?"
I simply didn't understand the passage here. Was Plato talking about the ignorance of the cave and crawling into the light of wisdom?
I haven't actually read it so I probably shouldn't even be commenting but I'm going to make a guess. It sounds to me like the prisoners that they're referring to are in such circumstances that their only awareness of the outside world is not a direct sight of what is actually taking place but rather the shadows of those events and they are having to try to determine the meaning of these shadows. I'm thinking that this is a metaphor for human existence and it's being suggested that man can't clearly see or fully comprehend the reality of his own existence or the universe around him and from this vantage point he is forced to try and interpret the world around him and what it all means.
It's really pretty complicated in that it wraps several philosophical questions into one.
The jist is: You have lived your whole life chained in place staring at a wall that projects manufactured shadows. You become comfortable in your ability to interpret reality because the shadow master presents patterns and you are able to recognize them - so you believe that you can see and understand how the world works. You're pretty wise.
Then you are freed and and sent into the real world where you don't understand anything because it doesn't fit in with your previous perception of reality (which was very adept) and you get disillusioned because you see that reality is not what you thought and you really don't know how to interpret it. You're not that smart after all.
Then you've got a couple different problems. You can return to the cave and be real smart again, but is it worthwhile? Also, when you return your eyesight is not accustomed to the darkness so you are not so good at understanding "the world" anymore. Somebody else is better. And they won't believe or even understand you if you use the excuse that your eyes are just not adjusted and that this is not even the real world. They will laugh at how ridiculous you sound.
So where would you rather be? What would you do?
Your answer just might say something about how you view the world, philosophically speaking.
It's really pretty complicated in that it wraps several philosophical questions into one.
The jist is: You have lived your whole life chained in place staring at a wall that projects manufactured shadows. You become comfortable in your ability to interpret reality because the shadow master presents patterns and you are able to recognize them - so you believe that you can see and understand how the world works. You're pretty wise.
Then you are freed and and sent into the real world where you don't understand anything because it doesn't fit in with your previous perception of reality (which was very adept) and you get disillusioned because you see that reality is not what you thought and you really don't know how to interpret it. You're not that smart after all.
Then you've got a couple different problems. You can return to the cave and be real smart again, but is it worthwhile? Also, when you return your eyesight is not accustomed to the darkness so you are not so good at understanding "the world" anymore. Somebody else is better. And they won't believe or even understand you if you use the excuse that your eyes are just not adjusted and that this is not even the real world. They will laugh at how ridiculous you sound.
So where would you rather be? What would you do?
Your answer just might say something about how you view the world, philosophically speaking.
God Bless you man!!
The Lord has blessed you with great understanding!!
I agree with superstars - b.frank has got it spot on! Isn't that just like the Christian life though? You live your life in a certain way - then BAM God opens your eyes and yes, you can SEE the Light!!! Once you are out of that cave of spiritual blindness - there is no going back - well that's my thourghts on it.
You're welcome.
Here's hoping that your professor isn't familiar with The Google.
You think you could answer one more question for me?
Discuss the idea that a "tautology" gives no real information about the world. How is a "tautology" different from an expressive piece of speech, like the exclamation "Oh!"?
You think you could answer one more question for me?
Discuss the idea that a "tautology" gives no real information about the world. How is a "tautology" different from an expressive piece of speech, like the exclamation "Oh!"?
Uh...why can't you just research it yourself online?
I don't understand the second part of the question?
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