Philosophy Class - Socratic Dialogue

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part presented by Socrates and then interpreted by Plato, concerning human perception. In this Plato claims that knowledge that comes through and is obtained through just the senses is nothing more than an opinion and that in order to have real knowledge we as people must take those sensory details obtained and use philosophical reasoning to understand them. Plato uses Socrates’ allegory to explain how we initially obtain knowledge, how we critique and try to understand it, and how people possessing knowledge are treated.

The dialogue itself occurs between Socrates and Glaucon and it is here that Plato sets up the scene of the cave. The cave has prisoners whom are chained in a way that they cannot turn away from facing the wall in front of them. Behind them is a wall which has a huge fire behind it with puppeteers casting shadows of objects and figures up onto the wall. This all the prisoners can see and this is how they have lived all of their lives. One day one of the prisoners makes it free and is able to look at the fire, the objects, and is able to venture outside the cave.

The way that I think of this allegory is that every element of this cave has its own story to tell. Most of them representing barriers that block us from gaining more knowledge and other beacons of knowledge that poke at our curiosity as human beings until we make that leap to forget about what that something "could be" and learn what it actually is, how it works, and where it came from etc. Every person and item within this story has a particular symbolic meaning that must be taken away in order to understand how the story reflects everyday life. The Cave to me represents one of the barriers.

It is the barriers of our surroundings, the place that some of us can’t leave and some of us choose not to leave. To some of us, it’s a safe place, it’s familiar, you know this place. There isn’t much for you to worry about. Nothing unexpected is going to happen in this place, at least not frequently, that is going to catch you off guard and challenge you. Nothing to force out the curiosity and thirst for knowledge that I believe all Mankind has locked inside of them. This place can be your home, your neighborhood, your city, your state, or your country. People tend to lock themselves in these places because again its "safe". Outside of this place you really don’t have to worry anything; because that place is the only thing that you know, so why should you worry about anything outside? For me is about not rubbing myself of the knowledge I know my heart and brain thrives on receiving. We don’t just learn things to learn them we learn them because we need to as human beings.

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