1. Who is Plato? What
are some of his accomplishments? What impact does his
philosophy have on
the comtempory society? Make at least one link to a site where
readers can learn
about Plato and his philosophy.
http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Mathematicians/Plato.html
Plato was a philosopher
who was claimed to have originally named Aristocles. It was said
that Plato was a nickname
(The Broad) given
for what was assumed, his broad shoulders. He was the son of Ariston
and Perictione who both came from famous wealthy families who had lived
in Athens for generations. His father died at an early age and his
mother remarried. Plato was in military service when Athens fought
Sparta. In 403BC, the restoration of democracy in Athens prompted
Plato's hopes for a political career. The failure of his politcal
life and the execution of Socrates led Plato to travel to Egypt where he
met pythagorus. At this point again, he re-entered military service
and it was claimed by writers that at this time he started to write his
philosophy.
2. In The Allegory
of the Cave, Plato seems to discuss about truth, physics, aesthetics,
literary criticism,
etc. (a) Do research and find three different interpretations of
Plato's
Cave. (b) List the
links of each different interpretation to your web site with brief
annotations. (c)After
reading , discussing, and analyzing the text, describe your
interpretation in
a 250-word essay. Explain why you draw such a conclusion.(The first draft
will be collectd and
read by me before you publish your final draft on the web)
The prisoners in the
cave is are much like people who are confined to what they are learning.
Children who live in a rural area have very little interaction with people
from other cultures. They are confined to the teachings of their
parents, family and what their environment puts on their limit of exploring
new ideas. As an example, little children who go to Catholic school
from a young age are given the information of the Catholic religion and
do not have much interaction wit people wit other religions or have a choice
of what they believe in. The prisoners in the cave are much like
these children. They cannot look left or right or explore other places
and see what is offered to them. Instead they can only look left
or right and is given one choice. I think that the fire that creates
the shadows represent what is in store for them to see and what they are
no tallowed to see. They know that something is out there but do
not know exactly what it is. As said in the story, when they are
libereated from their error, they will see the light and suffer with pains
in their eyes. The light and the pain represents a new thing that
a person may learn and they disagree with it totally. At first they
shy away from what they see or hear but eventually they conform and truly
see it for what it is worth.
3. Explain how this
allegory has changed your way of thinking?(from your reading log?)
The Allegory of the
Cave has changed my way of thinking because
it has shown me that
there are things that may look different but may also be
a good thing.
Interpreting the story has led me to see many things in a
different light.
As I have written in my essay of the interpretation of the
story I have written
that people that are isolated and learn only what they
are given and may
know will see only in one point of view.
4. If there was one
thing you have learned from the "Cave" and would like to apply it to
your life, what would
it be and why?
I have learned when
I see something different, to be open-minded about it and
try to learn about
the positive effects of it. Doing so may lead me to
better things and
I may not have to look back at the mediocre or bad things
that I have been living
with.
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