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Reflections on plato the republic
An essay on Plato's education project as delineated in republic
Reflections on plato the republic
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Plato's Allegory of the Cave - It's Importance in Today's World
Our society so values education that sociologists have recognized the problem of "over-education" (Hadjicostandi). Many people are spending years pursuing degrees which they simply do not need for the jobs they perform. It is therefore prudent for students to question whether pursuing a liberal education is really as important as our society believes. What is the point of a college education? Does it have any purpose beyond its material benefits. Are these benefits worth their cost? These are important questions that need answering. In the end, we may see that there is far more to this debate than simple accounting. Perhaps what makes education worth pursuing is that it gives us the freedom to makes these kinds of decisions about what is best for us.
In many ways, this debate over education has its roots in the writings of Plato (Jowett). In Book VII of The Republic, Plato discusses such topics as enlightenment, epistemology, forms, and the duties of philosophers. The rhetorical styles which he employ are those of the dialogue and the allegory. The dialogue takes the form of a discussion between Socrates and Glaucon, while the allegory serves as a concrete illustration of the abstract ideas which Plato talks about (Jacobus, 444). Let us examine this "Allegory of the Cave" in more detail.
In it, Plato asks the reader to imagine human beings living in an underground den. [where] they have been from childhood, and have their legs and necks chained so that they cannot move, and can only see before them. Above and behind them a fire is blazing at a distance, and [there is] a low wall. [with] men passing along the wall carrying all sorts of vessels, and statues a...
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...nough to catch a glimpse of the light shinning at the mouth of the cave. When he has once seen the light, he will immediately embark upon a lifelong journey to reach it.
Works Cited
Hadjicostandi, Joanna. Module 13: Education and Medicine. Introduction to Sociology. 1 May, 2006. .
Jacobus, Lee A. A World of Ideas. 7th Edition Boston: Bedford/St. Martins. 2006.
Plato. The Apology of Socrates. The Internet Classics Archive. Retrieved 2 May, 2006. .
Plato. The Republic. Trans. Jowett, Benjamin. Cleveland, Ohio: 1946.
Plato. 2006. Wikimedia. Retrieved 1 May, 2006. .
Plato's Allegory of the Cave. 2006 Reference.com. Retrieved 1 May, 2006. .
The Matrix. Dir. The Wachowski Brothers. Perf. Keanu Reeves, Lawrence Fishburne. 20th Century Fox, 1991.
Thoreau, Henry D. A World of Ideas. 7th Edition. Ed. Lee A. Jacobus. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins. 2006.
Since high school and now through my second year of college I have had one goal for my future, that goal was to graduate college with a degree in criminal justice. Not being interested in math or science, I was discouraged by the fact of taking classes that had nothing to do with my career choice. Thus being said, many people that I talked too felt the same way as I did. Which constantly led me to question what the importance of a liberal education was. After reading an essay called The Liberal Arts Are Not Elitist by Martha Nussbaum and relating it to an essay by William Cronon called The Goals of a Liberal Education, my perspective changed. An education is more than just a degree in your field of study, but an overall basic knowledge in which will inspire people to be the absolute best they can be.
Portraying the prisoners inside the cave for a lifetime further describes his beliefs on how closed minded society is in his opinion. The “light outside the cave” explains how he feels knowledge is the source of light to everyone’s lives. Without knowledge, there is lack of light. Also, since society does not want to gain further knowledge, they will seem to stay stuck in the dark tunnel. Plato also uses personification to give reader insight on how someone may treat the earth and appreciate it. For example, Plato states “Clearly, he said, he would first see the sun and then reason about him.” The reasoning behind this is to explain how a man would reason with the sun as if it were an actual speaking person. The style of Plato’s writing gives readers an understanding on why his work is named “Allegory of the Cave”. The use of his rhetorical devices give deeper meanings to the Earth and the nature it
Jacobus, Lee A. Henry David Thoreau. "Civil Disobedience." A World Of Ideas: essential readings for college writers. Bedford/St. Martin's, 2002. 141-167
In recent years, many have debated whether or not a college education is a necessary requirement to succeed in the field of a persons’ choice and become an outstanding person in society. On one hand, some say college is very important because one must contribute to society. The essay Three Reasons College Still Matters by Andrew Delbanco shows three main reasons that students should receive their bachelor’s degree. On the other hand, many question the point of wasting millions of dollars on four years or maybe more to fight for highly competitive jobs that one might not get. Louis Menand wrote an article based on education titled Re-Imagining Liberal Education. This article challenges the main thought many americans have after receiving a secondary education. Louis Menand better illustrates the reasons why a student should rethink receiving a post secondary education better than Andrew Delbanco’s three reasons to continue a person’s education.
College is a popular topic for most, and Sanford J. Ungar and Charles Murray have a unique way of explaining both their opinions. In his essay, “The New Liberal Arts,” Sanford J. Ungar advocates that the liberal arts should be everybody’s education, regardless of the fact that most Americans are facing economic hardship. The first misconception that he begins to explain is “a liberal arts degree is a luxury that most families can no longer afford”. Career education” is what we now must focus on.”
We live the truth every day, working to keep the ideal of democratic education alive. The best reason to care for college, who goes,and what happens to them when they get there, is not what it does for society, but what it can do for individuals.like the elder guy said, you thought me how to enjoy life. What he meant is college helped him read, help him crave for works of art, heightened his alertness to color from melody. He was grateful for such an education given to him. As a person regardless of what kind of origin we have, we have the right to pursue happiness. In america today at every kind of institution education is at risk. Student are persuade and program, trained to live from task to task. To many colleges do to little to save them debilitating frenzy that makes liberal education marginal if it is offered at
Plato's "Allegory of the Cave" presents a vision of humans as slaves chained in front of a fire observing the shadows of things on the cave wall in front of them. The shadows are the only "reality" the slaves know. Plato argues that there is a basic flaw in how we humans mistake our limited perceptions as reality, truth and goodness. The allegory reveals how that flaw affects our education, our spirituality and our politics.
Matrix, The. Dir. Andy Wachowski, Larry Wachowski. Perf. Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne. Film. Warner Brothers,1999.
The Allegory of the Cave is Plato's explanation of the education of the soul toward enlightenment. He sees it as what happens when someone is educated to the level of philosopher. He contends that they must "go back into the cave" or return to the everyday world of politics, greed and power struggles. The Allegory also attacks people who rely upon or are slaves to their senses. The chains that bind the prisoners are the senses. The fun of the allegory is to try to put all the details of the cave into your interpretation. In other words, what are the models the guards carry? the fire? the struggle out of the cave? the sunlight? the shadows on the cave wall? Socrates, in Book VII of The Republic, just after the allegory told us that the cave was our world and the fire was our sun. He said the path of the prisoner was our soul's ascent to knowledge or enlightenment. He equated our world of sight with the intellect's world of opinion. Both were at the bottom of the ladder of knowledge. Our world of sight allows us to "see" things that are not real, such as parallel lines and perfect circles. He calls this higher understanding the world "abstract Reality" or the Intelligeble world. He equates this abstract reality with the knowledge that comes from reasoning and finally understanding. On the physical side, our world of sight, the stages of growth are first recognition of images (the shadows on the cave wall) then the recognition of objects (the models the guards carry) To understand abstract reality requires the understanding of mathematics and finally the forms or the Ideals of all things (the world outside the cave). But our understanding of the physical world is mirrored in our minds by our ways of thinking. First comes imagination (Socrates thought little of creativity), then our unfounded but real beliefs. Opinion gives way to knowledge through reasoning (learned though mathematics). Finally, the realization of the forms is mirrored by the level of Understanding in the Ways of Thinking. The key to the struggle for knowledge is the reasoning skills acquired through mathematics as they are applied to understanding ourselves. The shadows on the cave wall change continually and are of little worth, but the reality out side the cave never changes and that makes it important.
The author’s purpose for writing this argument is to depict the different motives and reasons why so many people are going to college. The author makes the claim that students should learn core knowledge in K-12 instead of going to college to learn this information. Murray goes on to say “Liberal education in college means taking on the hard stuff” (Murray 225). This supports Murray’s claim that too many people go to college because people who go to college should already know the basics of each subject area and be ready to begin their major of choice.
Freedom in mind, freedom in nature, and freedom in subjectivity of individual are three kinds of freedoms. However, freedom should be expressed within the limits of reason and morality. Having freedom equals having the power to think, to speak, and to act without externally imposed restrains. As a matter of fact, finding freedom in order to live free is the common idea in Plato with "The Allegory of the Cave"; Henry David Thoreau with " Where I lived and What I lived for"; and Jean Paul Sartre with " Existentialism". Generally, Plato, Thoreau, and Sartre suggested that human life should be free. They differ in what that freedom is. Plato thinks it is found in the world of intellect, Thoreau thinks freedom is found in nature, and Sartre thinks freedom is found in subjectivity of individual.
The Allegory of the Cave is that we are chained to a wall. Behind us is another wall with figures walking across it, behind that wall is a pit of fire. The firelight casts shadows upon the wall in front of those chained to the wall. Because we are chained to the wall we believe the figures are what they represent. Plato says there times when one tries to break away from the wall but others encourage him to join back the wall as he experiences what the world truly is.
The Allegory of the Cave has many applications to both Plato’s writing and life in general. It describes the education of a philosopher, as well as how others look on the philosopher after he has gained the knowledge of the Forms. It also describes what it is like to see the forms. After understanding the forms, what once were objects, real things, become merely shadows. One sees everything as it truly exists, as it’s form.
In the essay “The Allegory of the Cave,” Plato addresses how humans generally do not pursue knowledge. Most humans are satisfied with what they already know and do not want to expand their knowledge. Plato uses simple examples to help the reader understand his logic on why humans do not expand their knowledge.
These eighteen year olds who had virtually no say in what they wanted to study in high school are now ask “ what is your major?” or better yet “what do you want to do for the rest of your life?” This is a big question, and most have no idea what they want to do. So, in a state of confusion they instinctively choose to study in a field that will benefit them economically when they graduate. Is this what a higher education means, to go through college fixed on the money? Or, is there a deeper meaning to it all, if so how can it be obtained? These are the sort of questions that need to be asked when considering going to college.