Plato's Republic. Books VI-VII

Hmm, Well to be honest. I have no idea what the reading was about. I mean, I read it twice, and I answered all my questions to the quiz. I read it one last time, and I still didn't get it. I know that it's a conversation between Socrates and Glaucon. It was pretty hard to decipher the reading. I wasn't sure what the shadows meant. Is it that by being stuck in the cave the prisoners didn't know who was human or shadow. And how about the cave. Was it basically, that with knowledge we can learn to overcome certain circumstances, or escape the cave. Am I making any sense? Probably not. I can't wait to go over this in class. It'll certainly help me understand it a bit more.

Plato's Republic: Book VI & VII

Throughout the whole discussion between Glaucon and his master I was reminded of the process of osmosis. The master emphasizes the transition from one state of seeing into another which I believe is what characterizes the intellected good and bad, light and dark. The transition is the actual act that represents what is good or bad but is not good or bad itself. The relationship between image and reality is mutualistically dependent. If it were not for the shadows cast across the wall by the "reality" above then no acsention into "truth" is possible. For without shadows of representation there would be no variation between good and bad and everything would simply and neutrally exist. Without the knowledge of what exists in the shadows, the greatness of all the truths splendor could never be quantified. The transition is the same reversed. Without reality, no illusions could be cast beneath this reality and deemed "less real" which in fact simply states that reality is more real. One would have to endure the evilest of evils to truly know the greatest of good. One would have to have seen the greatest of good to truly quantify the evilest of evils. This is how one, I believe, would achieve enlightenment. And I definitely think that reality is superior.

Just so you don't forget about philosophy in these winter days ...

A bit of poetry for your second snow day, written by a philosophically inclined poet:
Walking in a Snowstorm, Wondering if It's Worth It

See you in class Monday!

1/31/11

What I truly enjoyed about the reading was Plato's writing style. The dialogue description of Plato's philosophy, though at times difficult to decipher, had a more comfortable and inviting feeling to it. I also enjoyed the analogy of the cave and how through education we make our way out of the cave. I also agreed with the idea of once the philosopher came out of the cave they go back into the cave to rule. These philosophers are reluctant to rule, which makes for a strong ruler for there intentions are more pure. The rule for the good of the people.

No class tonight

Just to make sure there's no confusion, KCAI has canceled all classes tonight, Jan. 31. Please come to class Wednesday prepared to discuss today's reading (Plato's Cave); we'll talk then about how to adjust the schedule for the coming weeks.
(And remember, reading philosophy is a great thing to do when you're trapped inside by a blizzard tomorrow!)

Republic Books VI-VII

I understand the cave allegory, but the whole thing still seemed rather vague. As an example of beings confined by circumstance (temporal, mental, etc.) it seemed right on target. Yet, the truth ideal seemed to come out of nowhere and was ill defined (ie. You can see the Truth - that I know - but am not going to say what it is, blah, blah. It just seemed like an intellectual cop-out.)

Even if the prisoners see their past circumstance in the cave how are the escapees sure that they're not simply in another, slightly larger, cave? They realized their circumstances before but could simply now be blinded by new ones. I see no reason for them to be content – or to have the smug sort of attitude implied in the writings.

The shadows, for what they are, are probably all anyone will ever "know."
I don't think that's such a bad thing.

Children's Self-Portraits Reveal Personal Narratives

Children's Self-Portraits Reveal Personal Narratives

A Common Argument Between my Boyfriend and I

      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.

HMMmmm

I just finished reading the assignment and its very intresting. I like it, but sometimes it is hard for me to understand some thing so i have to read over and over but Plato has some very intresting ideas about life. I'm starting to like philosophy more. =)

Oh, Imagination

I didn't really understand the first part of the book we had to read and had to go have Sparknotes help me to understand how it was supposed to be. I find, after gaining insight on it, that it was very interesting to see how he explained how to get to this higher form of Truth. I thought it was a little bit insulting to place imagination at the bottom level. It felt as if he was making imagination some crude notion that people should quickly get rid of in order to get to this Form of Truth. I also really enjoyed the use of the sun metaphor, even if I had to read it a few times in order to understand.

The cave was very interesting. I really enjoyed this story that he wove in order to explain the different levels of knowledge and how to obtain them. However, after reading Book VII, I felt a little annoyed that these people who had to go back into the cave, in order to help out these oh so pitiful prisoners (as I felt Plato was making them out to be), where raised so high. It felt as if they were the ultimate truth and that they alone were the only ones who could illuminate the pathway for these prisoners.

On a side note, I enjoyed watching the Claymation of the cave. It made me smile and I enjoyed it immensely.