The Quality of Light
The Quality of Light
Modern society has become so trivialized that true reality is not obvious to most of us. We accept the thoughts and concepts of others to be fact, and excuse ourselves from the bright and painful essence of the universe in which we were born. All my life, I have only seen shadows. Like the prisoners in the allegory, I had my “legs and neck(s) chained” (para.1) from childhood so as to only see what was laid out before me. I was unable to see the truth of the shadows, and now I make my amends. The critical concept that Plato conveys in the “Allegory of the Cave” is that because the idea of good is seen last of all, it is inherently the hardest and most important to learn.
Plato's Allegory of the Cave is a direct representation of the human condition and the circumstances we as humans encounter. Plato confines our predicament to a cave brightened only by false flames, but his meaning is much more profound than that. The meaning of the allegory is that our view of life should not be limited to a dark hole- it should be about enlightening one’s mind and sharing one’s knowledge with others. We must learn not to judge, not to selfishly retain information, only to make others aware as we become aware. Plato explains that the idea of good “…is seen only with an effort…inferred to be the universal author of all things beautiful and right, parent of light… and the immediate source of reason and truth in the intellectual” (para. 35). The emphasis on connecting the word ‘light’ and the idea of ‘good’ highlights what is one of the most important aspects of “Allegory of the Cave”.
From the beginning I have been a servant to self-imposed ignorance. I took for granted that what was told to me by my elders was invariably right, as children do. Until recently I failed to obverse the narrow intelligence flashing from my father’s eyes. Realizing that “his keen eyesight is forced into the service of evil, and he is mischievous in proportion to
Modern society has become so trivialized that true reality is not obvious to most of us. We accept the thoughts and concepts of others to be fact, and excuse ourselves from the bright and painful essence of the universe in which we were born. All my life, I have only seen shadows. Like the prisoners in the allegory, I had my “legs and neck(s) chained” (para.1) from childhood so as to only see what was laid out before me. I was unable to see the truth of the shadows, and now I make my amends. The critical concept that Plato conveys in the “Allegory of the Cave” is that because the idea of good is seen last of all, it is inherently the hardest and most important to learn.
Plato's Allegory of the Cave is a direct representation of the human condition and the circumstances we as humans encounter. Plato confines our predicament to a cave brightened only by false flames, but his meaning is much more profound than that. The meaning of the allegory is that our view of life should not be limited to a dark hole- it should be about enlightening one’s mind and sharing one’s knowledge with others. We must learn not to judge, not to selfishly retain information, only to make others aware as we become aware. Plato explains that the idea of good “…is seen only with an effort…inferred to be the universal author of all things beautiful and right, parent of light… and the immediate source of reason and truth in the intellectual” (para. 35). The emphasis on connecting the word ‘light’ and the idea of ‘good’ highlights what is one of the most important aspects of “Allegory of the Cave”.
From the beginning I have been a servant to self-imposed ignorance. I took for granted that what was told to me by my elders was invariably right, as children do. Until recently I failed to obverse the narrow intelligence flashing from my father’s eyes. Realizing that “his keen eyesight is forced into the service of evil, and he is mischievous in proportion to