I feel that a big part of the purpose of books VI and VII are to explain the role of education in the world. Often my boyfriend and I have disagreements about one of his friends. My boyfriend says that this particular friend is the most intelligent smart individual that he knows. He tells me often that this guy is smarter then myself. This gentleman is pretty smart but he lives with his uncle and works at QT and does nothing except spend his money on drugs. The dude can have one hell of a discussion and knows a lot of information but is absolutely useless at the same time. I tell my boyfriend that if the dude was so smart that he would do something constructive with himself.
From what I grasped from the reading Plato expresses that the purpose of being educated/smart/intelligent/out of the cave is not only to have knowledge but to put that knowledge and intelligence to good use and to help others that are still in "the cave". I always help the people in the cave. Maybe if my boyfriend would read Plato he would know that I was smarter and closer to true enlightenment.
I wonder how Plato knows of these forms....Who does he think he is???
I wander if he knows that he is in deed egotistical......(In art history we learned that in Greek culture they had know concept of ego, if they acted an egocentric way they were not looked down upon for it)
Plato consistently talks about how a philosopher would make a good leader. I think that Mr. Plato may indeed have some ulterior motives. I wander if Plato believes that he is the good man that revisits the cave, or that he is the ideal leader.
From what I grasped from the reading Plato expresses that the purpose of being educated/smart/intelligent/out of the cave is not only to have knowledge but to put that knowledge and intelligence to good use and to help others that are still in "the cave". I always help the people in the cave. Maybe if my boyfriend would read Plato he would know that I was smarter and closer to true enlightenment.
I wonder how Plato knows of these forms....Who does he think he is???
I wander if he knows that he is in deed egotistical......(In art history we learned that in Greek culture they had know concept of ego, if they acted an egocentric way they were not looked down upon for it)
Plato consistently talks about how a philosopher would make a good leader. I think that Mr. Plato may indeed have some ulterior motives. I wander if Plato believes that he is the good man that revisits the cave, or that he is the ideal leader.
Emily, here you're getting at some of the key ideas Plato tries to illustrate with the line metaphor. You use the words "educated" and "smart", or "knowledge" and "intelligence" more or less interchangeably, as many people do in common speech/writing. Plato, however, wanted to distinguish between these things -- Is knowledge the same thing as wisdom? It sounds like your boyfriend's friend is probably both knowledgeable and intelligent, but not necessarily wise. This is why words matter so much in philosophy!
ReplyDeleteYes I need to figure out which words mean what in plato. I am a synonym junky but calming down on that and understanding the intricate differences in words will help in my understanding in this philosophy. Ill look at this selection again and see if I can catch up on the language.
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