Socrates Allegory Of The Cave
This persisted for centuries until Greek philosopher Empedocles of the fifth-century BCE proposed that light was of finite speed (Sarton, p. 248). Aristotle stated in Sense and Sensibilia that,
“Empedocles…says that the light from the Sun arrives first in the intervening space before it comes to the eye, or reaches the Earth…hence there must be a corresponding interval of time…so we should assume a time when the sun’s rays was not as yet seen, but was still travelling in the middle spaces.”
Over the centuries, numerous, increasingly sophisticated and precise attempts at measuring the speed of light have followed Empedocles’ proposition, eventually establishing the “c” we are familiar with today (Nix, Elizabeth). From this realistic perspective, …show more content…
Our newer knowledge is built upon previous foundations, and has improved tremendously in terms of exactitude.
On the other hand, it can be argued that, from a grander perspective, disproving old knowledge does not mean that our new-found knowledge is of higher quality, since we may never have an accurate grasp on reality beyond what our senses suggest. Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave” tells us that, what we believe we are seeing are but our interpretations of ‘shadows’ cast by other things. This can be compared to the fact that before the sixth-century BCE, almost everyone people believed in the Flat-Earth Theory. They had established this knowledge primarily through reason and sense-perception; their eyes viewed the horizon and ocean as flat. Furthermore, ancient ships were not technologically-advanced enough to sail around the globe. Both these factors provided them evidence to apply reason to, from which they establish that the Earth was flat. However, as humanity progressed into the modern-era, we have effectively disproven the Flat-Earth Theory of the past. This can be compared to when the prisoners in Plato’s cave are freed, and discover a new world. Unlike Plato’s cave though, where the prisoners discovered true-reality
“Empedocles…says that the light from the Sun arrives first in the intervening space before it comes to the eye, or reaches the Earth…hence there must be a corresponding interval of time…so we should assume a time when the sun’s rays was not as yet seen, but was still travelling in the middle spaces.”
Over the centuries, numerous, increasingly sophisticated and precise attempts at measuring the speed of light have followed Empedocles’ proposition, eventually establishing the “c” we are familiar with today (Nix, Elizabeth). From this realistic perspective, …show more content…
Our newer knowledge is built upon previous foundations, and has improved tremendously in terms of exactitude.
On the other hand, it can be argued that, from a grander perspective, disproving old knowledge does not mean that our new-found knowledge is of higher quality, since we may never have an accurate grasp on reality beyond what our senses suggest. Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave” tells us that, what we believe we are seeing are but our interpretations of ‘shadows’ cast by other things. This can be compared to the fact that before the sixth-century BCE, almost everyone people believed in the Flat-Earth Theory. They had established this knowledge primarily through reason and sense-perception; their eyes viewed the horizon and ocean as flat. Furthermore, ancient ships were not technologically-advanced enough to sail around the globe. Both these factors provided them evidence to apply reason to, from which they establish that the Earth was flat. However, as humanity progressed into the modern-era, we have effectively disproven the Flat-Earth Theory of the past. This can be compared to when the prisoners in Plato’s cave are freed, and discover a new world. Unlike Plato’s cave though, where the prisoners discovered true-reality