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Comparing The Philosopher King, Allegory Of The Cave

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The world of literature and the amount of imagination it offers to the reader has always fascinated me. I have read nearly hundred classic books and the one that caught my immediate attention is Plato’s “Republic”. The ideas in the book are very close to the way I idealize the world. Plato’s description of the ideal society and the constitutional detailing of his thoughts are inspiring. The three major concepts – Philosopher King, Allegory of the Cave and the Tripartite Soul, as concepts pose great influence on me. The Philosopher King is the ruler of a state, who possesses a genuine philosophical mind. His love for wisdom is the character that makes him follow morals and ethics, ensuring the people are taken care of in a proper manner. The concept of ‘being a natural’ to rule or to live has crept deep into my thoughts. This allows an individual to be liberal, ethical and suitable to live as a social animal. With a spark of philosophical craving within me and this concept by Plato, I have tried to live up to be as ‘philosophical’ in life as possible. This life style has earned me good reputation. …show more content…

I could relate a lot of instances in life where I couldn’t find the right solution to a problem. Even if the answer’s right in front of the eyes, I was unsure of using the process to derive a conclusion. After finding an answer, I couldn’t share it with others as I was worried about the authenticity of my solution. However, after realizing that man’s mind is a ‘cave’, I fought hard against being hesitant. Now, if I feel that I know something, I tend to share it with others as knowledge becomes wisdom only through

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King alludes himself to many past philosophers that creates sort of an affinity to them. He alludes to philosophers

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Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave” and Diego Velazquez’ Las Meninas are both commentaries about different ways of life. Velazquez gives insight into the daily life of the Spanish monarchy, and Plato, on the other hand, enlightens about the various stages of life on the path to higher knowledge. Though they use different mediums, Plato and Velazquez use a similar framework to illustrate the ways people live. They both use a hierarchical structure to divide their works into pieces that make the works more straightforward for the reader or viewer to comprehend.

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A saying for a king to understand is “Furthermore, since each part is ordered to the whole as imperfect to perfect, and since each single man is a part of the perfect community, law necessarily concerns itself particularly with communal happiness” (Aquinas). Kings unfortunately lost power and this caused confusion and ruckus in the part of leadership in the Middle

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Throughout the last five weeks, I have read three of Plato’s dialogues: the cave allegory, Euthyphro, and the Apology. While reading them, I was able to see Plato’s view of a philosophical life. To live philosophically is to question appearances and look at an issue/object from a new perspective. In this essay, I will explain Plato’s cave allegory, Socrates’ discussion with Euthyphro, and the oracle story in the Apology.

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The books found in "Plato: The republic" all constitute a constant question which they all try to define throughout the different books. What does it mean to be just? Who is a just person and what is justice? In this book a group of old men argues back and forth as to what they believe is the real definition of being a just person and what it means to live a just life. Additionally in book II of "Plato: The republic" two cities, "The city of pigs" and "The city of Luxury" were introduced on page 372,d.

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The issue concerning the concept of certainty hindering the advancement of mankind is pressing for a positive change. Just as darkness can be liberated through light, the blindness of certainty can be relieved through the glasses of doubt. However, it is argued that "powerful beliefs" and confidence in ones aspirations are important in accomplishing deeds others may feel are near "impossible." This certainty people may feel in themselves can often be the deciding factor of how crucial situations will play out, often times what mindset one walks into a situation dictates the outcome.

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The existence and continual study of Socrates’ philosophy regardless of differing accounts is astonishing in itself since it survived not through the specific philosopher, but through other people. Which is a testament of the impact that a man, such as Socrates, can make. When we think of Plato, who is regarded as a father of western philosophy, we are quick to think of his major work The Republic, his student Aristotle, and his writing on Socrates. (We think of his writings on Socrates as mere footnotes in philosophical thought without examining them.) “Nothing comes from nothing,” Parmenides proudly claimed, and this philosophical doctrine applies to Plato’s thought.

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“Plato 's Analogies of the Divided Line and Cave.” HCC Learning Web, Houston Community College, learning.hccs.edu/faculty/christina.hemati/phil1301/readings/plato-divided-line-sun-and-cave-analogy. 4. “The Pursuit of Truth.” Six Great Ideas, by Mortimer Jerome Adler, 1st ed., Simon & Schuster, 1997, pp.

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Introduction Plato, a famous Greek philosopher wrote the Allegory of the Cave. He tried to answer some of the profound questions which arose about the nature of reality. He tells the story of 'Allegory of the Cave' as a conversation between his mentor, Socrates (Plato’s mentor), who inspired many of Plato's philosophical theories, and one of Socrates' students, Glaucon (Plato’s older brother). He uses an allegory as a short informative story, to illustrate 'forms' and the 'cave,' in his main work, The Republic (which first appeared around 380 BC). It is one of the most perceptive attempts to explain the nature of reality.

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Plato and Hegel both emphasized that ideas and ideology were the forces behind social, cultural, and political change. Plato 's Republic Book Seven, discusses the Simile of the Cave. On the surface, The Simile of the Cave is about an individual breaking free of his chains from the cave to which he is accustomed to and being outside of the cave and being dazzled by the sunshine. Looking deeper, Plato is emphasizing the role education has on individuals. In the society Plato lives in, the population is divided into three components: commoners, soldiers, and Philosopher-Kings.

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His student Plato’s story, “The Cave,” emphasizes that humans may independently take the intellectual journey to enlightenment, reach the Realm of Perfect Forms, and discover truth for themselves. Both teacher and student insisted that Man himself had to reach truth, as it is not received from a higher

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He justifies the need for democracy, aristocracy and monarchy depending on location. The three philosophers use their judgment and prior knowledge on each other’s work to validate an ideal society, especially for the uprising continent of America. Governments are an established institution in every society. Though there are multiple types of governments, their purpose is fundamental to determining the influence on a civilization.

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Arguments On the other hand, objections against the government of philosopher-rulers can be made. However strong the foundation of the strengths of his idea of a philosopher king may be, there are also a lot of flaws and weaknesses and misconceptions that can be found in it. While in truth that his arguments with regard to them as the ones who are more suitable and capable of giving better judgments than those of the normal men, it is still not persuasive enough to capture the minds of the other philosophers that time into taking into action the idea of the philosopher king. And while his altercation may be valid enough to stand in solid ground, it is still not contemporary with the realistic perception of the world and as well as to the modern

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Plato’s Allegory of the Cave is at its core a metaphor for what Plato believed to be wrong in Greek society at the time. The fact

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Only those who are born with true philosophical understanding can rule. In the Second Treatise by John Locke, Locke addresses the state of nature, which is essentially equality and freedom. Even though people have liberty, they still need to obey natural laws. On the contrary of Plato’s just city, Locke believes that absolute authority is not a civil government. A civil society is where the majority rules.

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