College is about getting a degree, but staying in a library or a dorm all day is going to make a miserable four years. College is about allowing students to feel independent and to get involved, which results in living in a stable environment, as well as community engagement. Of course getting an education is prominent, but there are other essential components to a college lifestyle. In Graeme Wood’s essay, “Is College Doomed?”, he explains the diverse dynamics of the online school, Minerva. The founder of Minerva, Ben Nelson, explained to Wood that, students yearly, “attend university in a different place, so that after four years they’ll have the kind of international experience that other universities advertise but can rarely deliver” (Wood…
Plato and Niccolo Machiavelli magnificent ideologies for leaders of the world. First Plato’s dialogue Allegory of the Cave described what would happen if prisoners were chained to a wall and could only see the shadows before them. The shadows were visuals on the wall from the fire blazing behind them. Plato stated a quote about what would happen if those prisoners were to be released out of the cave? His reasoning for this was to produce what the human natures method is of gaining knowledge. Then, Niccolo Machiavelli described in The Prince why qualities are essential in succeeding as a prince. He stated that “qualities bring either blame or praise (Machiavelli). Therefore, it is significant to suppress negative qualities and let the positive…
In The Republic, the Philosopher King becomes compelled to tell his citizens medicinal lies. When the citizens do not understand something, like medicinal things, the philosopher king becomes able to tell them almost anything and they will believe everything he says, and exalt him. He is compelled to do this to ease their minds, since they would not understand anyway, he figures it is just easier to not tell them. The Philosopher King also seems to understand more than what the citizens understand. But it isn’t his nature that sets him apart from citizens like him, it is his wisdom, virtue, and knowledge that lifts him higher than everyone else, and allows his to “understand” things that the regular citizens would not. This suits him because he is so wise, he understands why the citizens do not understand what he understands, or knows.…
The two texts that include The Matrix and Plato’s Allegory of the Cave both have similar ideas in the way that they both show how everyone has a different idea on what reality is. Plato’s Allegory of the Cave shows a cave where people have been kept since birth. The people are tied up in a way which has them only able to see the shadows in front of them and nothing else either side or behind them. The reality for these people that are tied up is just the shadows of all different things that are walking along behind them including people and animals. When one of the prisoners escapes his bonds he goes out and sees the real world for what it truly is and this person goes back to try to tell the other prisoners. The other prisoners just see the escaped prisoner as a shadow with a voice that they can’t understand. The Matrix is very similar because Neo the main character starts out living in a fake reality of the real world and then gets shown what the actual reality is.…
In Plato's Allegory of the Cave there were multiple beliefs brought upon by the prisoners of this cave. The prisoners of the cave are supposed to parallel everyday people in the sense of how reality is perceived. The prisoners of the cave believed and only knew that reality of the shadows and developed their own belief structure and way of processing that information. Plato connected that to everyday people due to the fact that although we strongly believe the reality we have made for ourselves, there can be more that we have never been exposed to. For example, when one of the prisoners were unchained and brought out of the cave into the world, he was overwhelmed and wanted to tell the other prisoners. Due to the fact that other prisoners could…
Students going into college should realize what is most important in life. They should prioritize their time by putting the most important things first. “In the Defense of Liberal Arts”, Wallace explains how she took a leave of absence, because she was not sure that college was for her. She thought it was non-essential.…
In his well-known “Allegory of the Cave”, the Greek philosopher Plato used the analogy of people lost in a cave to explain his belief that only enlightened philosophers should rule, since only they could truly understand the world. When I compared Plato’s ideal government to the workings of a modern democracy, I realized how different these two are. The U.S. government relies on the rule of the people, and does not limit voting rights or the pursuit of public office to any particular class. If Plato’s belief were applied to this democratic system, in which every citizen assists in ruling, then every citizen should be a philosopher or, as the Schedler Honors College website puts it, a “citizen-scholar”. Specifically, citizen-scholars have the…
In Plato’s The Allegory of the Cave, a dialogue between two men, Socrates and Glaucon, reveals that our senses are not completely reliable. Socrates tells the story of a prisoner who has been chained for his whole life, able to see only shadows cast on a wall. The prisoner believed that the shadows were reality, but when he is released and dragged out of the cave, he finds a more important, more authentic reality. Socrates arrives to the conclusion that our senses are limited, just like the prisoner’s were, and that in order to come closer to the truth, we need to enter the world of intellect.…
What might "the chains" symbolize in today's society; here at D.A., here in NYC, here in the United States, and in the global society?…
Manning, Kathleen. "Why College? Answers For And From Student Affairs." Student Affairs Leader 37.15 (2009): 6-2. Academic Search Complete. Web. 20 Feb. 2013.…
Modern society faces the problem of the repression of individuality in favor of a collective identity. However, at the University of Chicago, students are dedicated to creating and maintaining a prosperous environment built upon diversity and individual passion. At UChicago, I would be able to explore my passion for physics alongside various other aspects of my individual identity. It is this ability and the freedom to explore my own identity and intellectual pursuits that draw me closer and closer to the unique educational and social experiences offered at UChicago.…
French tradition still remains deeply entrenched in the city so that it is often advertised as “The Paris of North America.” I would like to fully enjoy the attractions of McGill University which enables the students to experience French and contact with French culture. As McGill is the most global university in Canada, I am eager to receive multitudinous inspiration by interacting with a very diverse group of students. (83 words)…
People all over the world have a misconception about what the term ‘assisted suicide’ truly entails. Assisted suicide is suicide committed with the aid of another person, most times a caretaker, family member or physician. Assisted suicide is becoming more and more common across the world. With the House of Lords trying to pass a bill to legalize assisted suicide in the UK and the continuously rising rates in Switzerland. While there is no federal law involving assisted suicide in the U.S, the act is legal in five states. Some people like to believe that they are helping their terminally or mentally ill family member or friend when it comes to this act, but are they really? I believe that the government should set boundaries and explain in…
In "the allegory of the cave" Plato shows a discussion between Socrates Plato's teacher and Glaucon Plato's brother. The allegory describes people who lived in the cave for all their lives, their legs and neck chained on the wall. As they faced the blank wall thus they could not figure out anything apart from the shadows which projected on the wall. The study below is an analysis of some of the most essential aspects of the entire dialogue like the message intended by the author, the conflict of the main characters and the conclusion of the author.…
The allegory of the cave in Plato’s Republic is a metaphor meant to illustrate Plato’s views on knowledge but also strengthens his perception of the noble lie in society, an idea that is still very relevant today. It is designed to ask the fundamental question of: “What is the truth?” This is a clear reference Plato’s ideology that rests upon the sworn duty that Guardians make towards the state and it is hence emphasized by this analogy. The journey that one makes to be able to attain that superior state is full of hardships1(The Republic, 516, a) but it is meant to illustrate the route the Guardians take to attain the Philosopher-King status. It is what leads a man to enlightenment but also establishes a supreme duty for whoever discovers…