RE: Plato's Allegory of the Cave
September 18, 2012 at 4:50 pm
(This post was last modified: September 18, 2012 at 4:51 pm by Faith No More.)
Darkstar Wrote:It appears to explain everything at first, but then comes a puzzling discontinuity. If the cave (and the lack of undrestanding associated with it) are what breed the 'goddidit' notion, then why are so many people still there, even after we've discovered that Zeus doesn't cause lightning, Posiedon isn't responsible for tsunamis, and that the earth isn't flat?
It's been awhile, but I believe the answer to that is the fact that after leaving the cave and seeing the sun, the character involved chooses to return to the cave. The truth can be blinding and unsavory, so it is just easier for humans to wallow in delusion, which is one of the overall points of the story.
Edit: It's been nearly fifteen years since I studied this, so I may be way off.
Even if the open windows of science at first make us shiver after the cozy indoor warmth of traditional humanizing myths, in the end the fresh air brings vigor, and the great spaces have a splendor of their own - Bertrand Russell
