Cave Essay

894 Words4 Pages
Project: Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave” Please write an Essay of 750 -1000 words. You may choose your topic from one of the following lists of options: A, B or C. (Choose one topic from one of the categories, A, B or C) A. Critical Essay Instructions: choose and write a critical essay on one topic from the list below. Your essay should include a thesis, and you should elaborate and support this thesis through a critical reading of Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave.” Topics 1. Can we read the allegory as a “defense” of Socrates and philosophy? You can do this by comparing the Apology and the “Allegory of the Cave.” Select one or two arguments from the Apology and show how we can interpret the “Allegory of the Cave” from the perspective of the Apology. For example: Socrates defends himself against the charges of “corrupting the youth” and “impiety.” How can we understand his defense when reading the “Allegory of the Cave?” Is the philosopher (and philosophy) a “corrupting” influence? Is the philosopher an outsider who challenges the “norms” or “traditions” of the “city,” and how does the allegory show this? What is the relationship of philosophy and the “city?” State your thesis and elaborate. 2. The “Allegory of the Cave” presents the metaphysical distinction of “appearances/reality.” Do you think Socrates (Plato) makes a strong case for this distinction or do you think this distinction is not valid or convincing? Your thesis/position should address the “hypothesis” of “a world” behind “this world” (i.e. the everyday visible, temporal world) as well as the conditions of truth/fiction (or illusion or “lie) that this hypothesis endorses or supports. 3. If the “Allegory” is about the education of the philosopher, how can we understand the transformation that takes place when the prisoner is liberated?
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