The allegory of the cave

[Truthmatters]

Plato, "The Allegory of the Cave"


[Socrates] And now, I said, let me show in a figure how far our nature is enlightened or unenlightened: --Behold! human beings living in a underground cave, which has a mouth open towards the light and reaching all along the cave; here they have been from their childhood, and have their legs and necks chained so that they cannot move, and can only see before them, being prevented by the chains from turning round their heads. Above and behind them a fire is blazing at a distance, and between the fire and the prisoners there is a raised way; and you will see, if you look, a low wall built along the way, like the screen which marionette players have in front of them, over which they show the puppets.

[Socrates] And do you see, I said, men passing along the wall carrying all sorts of vessels, and statues and figures of animals made of wood and stone and various materials, which appear over the wall? Some of them are talking, others silent.

 

[Truthmatters]

Allegory Of The Cave - Home

 

[Truthmatters]

Allegory of the cave - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

If you need a little help understanding all the points this is real good.

Wiki is higly underrated in my oppinion

 

[editec]

How appropo.

Much of what our econ genuses think of as economic indicators have been in fact but the shadows of the reality.

You want REAL economic indicators, forget the Wall street, look at Main street.

That is the REAL economy, folks.

And Main Street hasn't looked all that good in many years.

Now if you live on Rodeo drive, your impression might be otherwise, but Beverly Hills's streets are not quite so far from the mean streets in WATTS as some of you believe them to be.

You who are still well off are much much much more dependent on civil society than most of you seem to think you are.

You depend, whether you know it or not, on the goodwill of the people for whom some of you have expressed utter comtempt.

You'd all best pray to your god MAMMON, that your "I got mine, get yours" attitude does NOT become the philosophy of those for whom you have dismissed as powerless.

Poor people have guns, too, folks.

 

[Truthmatters]

Its about having your eyes opened to reality and truth after having been narrowed by your known world ( parents, circumstances, education, society, country, culture, surroundings, party) How it makes you feel and how others react to your new insights.

Its about accepting knowledge and truth and how that road changes your life and is even painful (for some too painful).

 

[Truthmatters]

This is basically philosophy 101.

I was hoping to maybe get a little bit of a dialouge about what people thought of enlightenment removed from any religious connotation.

 

[Truthmatters]

Too much thinkin about the outside of the cave I guess?

 

[Truthmatters]

Here you go Gunny

 

[Truthmatters]

Socrates] And if there were a contest, and he had to compete in measuring the shadows with the prisoners who had never moved out of the cave, while his sight was still weak, and before his eyes had become steady (and the time which would be needed to acquire this new habit of sight might be very considerable) would he not be ridiculous? Men would say of him that up he went and down he came without his eyes; and that it was better not even to think of ascending; and if any one tried to loose another and lead him up to the light, let them only catch the offender, and they would put him to death.

 

[foggedinn]

Personally, I've always found the writings of Plato to be incredibly boring. All intellect, no passion.

I was taught a much better cave story by my teacher in the Methodist Tradition 49 years ago as a child in the church.

Speak the truth; how many angels can dance upon the head of a pin?

 

[KittenKoder]

Personally, I've always found the writings of Plato to be incredibly boring. All intellect, no passion.

I was taught a much better cave story by my teacher in the Methodist Tradition 49 years ago as a child in the church.

Speak the truth; how many angels can dance upon the head of a pin?

I prefer the more modern greats like Lovecraft and Asimov.

 

[Diuretic]

Plato's cave allegory is useful.

How many angels can dance on the head of a pin? A condemndation of scholasticism.

 

[editec]

Plato's cave allegory is useful.

How many angels can dance on the head of a pin? A condemndation of scholasticism.

editec's socratic method of condemning of scholasticism​

Q: How many angels dancing on the head of a pin does it take to screw in a lightbulb?

A: Angels don't screw in lightbulbs, they just let there be light.

Q: Why did the Angels dancing on the head of a pin cross the road?

A: Because the pin was stuck in a Goth's face

 

[Diuretic]

A contemporary condemnation - works for me

 

[N4mddissent]

Personally, I've always found the writings of Plato to be incredibly boring. All intellect, no passion.

What I've found is that it is much more common for passion to lead us to error than using our intellect.

 

[foggedinn]

Plato's cave allegory is useful.

How many angels can dance on the head of a pin? A condemndation of scholasticism.

Actually, it's an ancient riddle of Law. When I needed it, it proved to be very useful.

 

[foggedinn]

Personally, I've always found the writings of Plato to be incredibly boring. All intellect, no passion.

What I've found is that it is much more common for passion to lead us to error than using our intellect.

Passion is part of what we are, as is intellect. On a personal level, some of the errors that passion leads us into are some of the most interesting parts of our lives. Of course, some of those errors can have terrible consequences.

It's not really an either/or proposition. Thank God.

Intellect without passion is cold, sterile, and boring, Kind of like Plato.

 

[foggedinn]

Personally, I've always found the writings of Plato to be incredibly boring. All intellect, no passion.

I was taught a much better cave story by my teacher in the Methodist Tradition 49 years ago as a child in the church.

Speak the truth; how many angels can dance upon the head of a pin?

I prefer the more modern greats like Lovecraft and Asimov.

I like Dostoyevski and Mark Twain; and I can't read the book of Ruth without crying.

 

[Diuretic]

Plato's cave allegory is useful.

How many angels can dance on the head of a pin? A condemndation of scholasticism.

Actually, it's an ancient riddle of Law. When I needed it, it proved to be very useful.

And if you are inclined to elaborate I'd be interested to read about it - always happy to learn.

This is the sort of tosh I was referring to -

SEX discrimination is destined to continue in the scorching fires of Hell, according to a study approved by the Vatican which suggests that men are most likely to commit lustful sins whereas women are beholden to pride.
The men, it seems, are the ones whose souls end up being pelted with fire and brimstone, while the women's souls are more likely to be broken on a wheel.

Monsignor Wojciech Giertych, personal theologian to Pope Benedict XVI and the papal household, said there was "no sexual equality" when it came to sin. "Men and women sin in different ways," he wrote in L'Osservatore Romano, the Vatican newspaper.

Pride ranks only at No 5 for men, who are likely to have indulged in so much lust and gluttony that they are too slothful to feel angry, proud, envious or avaricious. Women are not averse to lust, but are primarily occupied with pride, envy and anger. Sloth does not set in until after gluttony and avarice.

"When you look at vices from the point of view of the difficulties they create you find that men experiment in a different way from women," Monsignor Giertych said. His own observations had confirmed the survey, an analysis of confessional data carried out by Roberto Busa, 96, a Jesuit priest celebrated for his computerised study of the works of St Thomas Aquinas.

Men and women sin differently, Vatican says | The Australian

Theology - a waste of very good intellects.

 

[Diuretic]

Personally, I've always found the writings of Plato to be incredibly boring. All intellect, no passion.

What I've found is that it is much more common for passion to lead us to error than using our intellect.

Passion is part of what we are, as is intellect. On a personal level, some of the errors that passion leads us into are some of the most interesting parts of our lives. Of course, some of those errors can have terrible consequences.

It's not really an either/or proposition. Thank God.

Intellect without passion is cold, sterile, and boring, Kind of like Plato.

I prefer Aristotle. The later Plato was, well, a bit too authoritarian.