The Importance Of Education And Truth In The Republic By Plato

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The Republic by Plato is a dialogue that discusses the importance of education and truth. Separated into multiple books, the excerpts analyzed were Book VII and Book X. Similar to Euthyphro, the dialogue is spoken by Plato’s teacher, Socrates. The seventh book focuses on a narrative inside a cave, with prisoners that have never stepped foot outside of the cavern. They are also bound by chains directly in front of a wall, with a flame that creates the shadows of “men passing along the wall carrying all sorts of vessels, and statues and figures of animals made of wood and stone and various materials” far behind them (pp. 1). He then explains a situation where one is freed from the chains and is able to face the flame and statues nearby. Where before he only knew the light and shadows, He is now able to see for the …show more content…

In book 7, the truth is hidden from the uneducated; when someone follows the path of the intellectual, they are able to see the world as an absolute truth. In the myth of Er, the truth is known by the judges in the afterlife, and will determine if one’s afterlife is painful or pleasant. The supernaturalistic theory is evident with the presence of the afterlife and how actions in life determine the fate of the soul. I believe in part Plato wrote the Republic to explain how education and truthfulness can lead to a better man and a better society. The name of “The Republic” further verifies the assumption. The main purpose of life and virtue is explained very well by Plato’s dialogue, where all people should “…be able to learn and may find someone who will make him able to learn and discern between good and evil, and so to choose always and everywhere the better life as he has opportunity” (pp. 27). In order to be an ethical and “good” person, one must have a sense of knowledge and the truth; with knowledge, one can be able to make decisions towards being a better

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