Thinking that they were facing the possibility of a dream and not reality, they believed that they were unconsciously living manipulated by deception. Socrates, in the “Allegory of the Cave”, is not any different from Descartes and Neo who felt attached to a mastermind that computed or manipulated what it wanted them to do and see. Socrates describes these beings attached to the walls of a cave having their legs and necks fettered from childhood unable to move their heads, but only seeing what they were set or allowed to see, shadows cast on the wall from the figures passing in front of the light behind and above them (Socrates, The
He also believes the philosopher is able, through using his intellect, to achieve true knowledge of the abstract Forms without using his senses. Plato’s theory of Forms can be seen as unconvincing to some who believe that abstract ideas e.g table, horse, beauty are actually names that have been invented to help people describe their experiences of the physical world. This is a materialistic view as it suggests that objects in this world are the real reality and our ideas can develop based on experience of things. Aristotle agrees with this and believes knowledge is gained through experience and that there is not an eternal World of Forms that is a priori to us. However, in Plato’s defence some believe that each variety of a Form shares a likeness for example each horse is slightly different yet they all share something that makes it resemble a horse.
Explain Plato's Analogy of the Cave Plato was a dualist, he believed there are two worlds, the world of the Forms and the world of Appearances. 'The Analogy of the Cave' portrays humans stuck in a 'world of appearances'. It depicts a cave in which there are prisoners who have been chained up since birth so they can only see in front of them. The prisoners have their back to a curtain, behind the curtain there is a road and further behind that and higher up in the cave is a fire. People walk alond the road carrying various objects such as models of animals on poles.
The charge that the Athenians placed on Socrates was that he “disbelieved in the gods”, or was an atheist. However, Socrates makes many arguments that directly refute this claim. He goes on to talk about how he has devoted his entire life to the Oracle of Delphi. This alone proves that he believed in the gods since the Oracle of Delphi is from the god Apollo. In the text of The Apology, Socrates outlines his actions in following this oracle.
|Socrates says, “Come then, let us examine our words. The thing and|Socrates has found a flaw in Euthyphro’s claim that whatever the gods like | |the person that are dear to the gods are holy, and the thing and |must be holy. Simply by stating that sometimes the gods disagree about what | |the person that are hateful to the gods are unholy; and the two |they like, Socrates has logically shown that this can’t be the way to judge
You can only have so much blind faith, and the idea that your entire life isn’t real, is such a radical concept that would be too hard to swallow without experiencing it for your own. Another similarity between The Allegory of the Cave and The Matrix, would be the need for a mentor. In the Allegory we have Socrates, who urges one to discover and learn freely, see things not as they are but for their possibilities. I see Morpheus as that kind of pedagogical teacher, he pushes Neo towards self understanding using the same kind of method as Socrates. Not telling the student the answers, but letting their minds ponder and
Question why! In Plato’s allegory it is stated how “ridiculous” for one to take a decisive stand on an action or issue, without first “enlightening” or fully educating himself on the matter. (Plato 517) Take advantage of the Information available, enlighten yourself, make a decision based on the knowledge acquired. Become your own liberator. Had the prisoners in Plato’s allegory asked themselves ‘why am I imprisoned’, or by another questioned, “Why have you accepted such a fate?” might they have responded “why indeed,” curiosity aroused, would not a search for truth commence?
Plato, through the spoken words of Socrates, attempts to illustrate the value of education in the form of an allegory to Glaucon. In book seven of Plato’s Republic, Socrates verbalizes a realization that the average person living within their society could both think and speak without any cognizance of the Forms. In the allegory, Plato likens people untutored in the theory of Forms to prisoners chained in a cave; with this he begins to lead Glaucon to understand the difference between genuine knowledge and opinion or belief. The allegory of the cave is supposed to explain how the people of society can appear to function well without any knowledge of Forms. Socrates invites Glaucon to imagine prisoners who have been chained since childhood
His investigations into the men that claimed wisdom brought about much hostility against him. The real issue in his trial is not “criminal meddling” or that he taught his pupils to disbelieve in the gods or to “make the weaker argument defeat the stronger,” but is really his life style or philosophical life and is that these investigations expose the fact that his accusers pretend knowledge when they are ignorant and they have their reputations to protect as being learned men. The revelations of Socrates could also bring about the loss of power and worth of the ruling class, which relied on tradition and the acceptance of the people and would affect the faith in the gods that were accepted by the state as the one true religion. Wisdom according to Socrates is that in respect to wisdom, you are worthless. He felt that wisdom of the Gods was true and relevant and that of humans was not even comparable.
What is Wisdom, Really? In The Apology of Socrates, the way the Athenians sees “human wisdom” and the type of “wisdom” Socrates talks about, proves to be two completely different things, which becomes a problem. In fact, the type of “wisdom” that Socrates possesses is not the “wisdom”, that he has a reputation for by people of Athens. The reputation that Socrates has been given by the people is that he is a “wise man” that actually knows something. Actually, when Socrates talks about “human wisdom”, what he really means is recognizing and admitting one’s ignorance about not knowing, rather than one claiming to know.