Philosophy of Man Guidance by Prof. Noel Ibañez

1. Domingo, Dennimar O.
2nd year - BSBA Marketing Management
Philosophy of Man / MWF 8:00-9:00 / 08132
Professor Noel Ybañez
November 29, 2013
The Allegory of the Cave
By: Plato
The creativity of Plato, along with his deep understanding of human nature,
compels him to create a scenario which shows mankind the true picture of an imaginary world.
We all may acquire and comprehend the world around us by our experience of physical objects,
but it would be a mistake to limit ourselves to the conventional thoughts indentured by our
stubbornness towards change. The allegory of the cave represents the man’s desire to be
educated and to seek out self-betterment. It dictates that a man is only as educated as his
surroundings and cannot learn without guidance and teachings.
In the dialogue between Socrates and his student, Glaucon, Socrates described the
whole situation in the cave wherein there is one person who freed to seek out the real truth
behind those shadows that they see in the wall. Based on my own understanding, the man who
are free in the chain are the Philosophers who seek the real truth and knowledge about something
that others didn’t know. Their curiosity to seek what is the real objects behind those shadows
make them free in the chains that are bound to them since they are born. This philosopher
discover the truth and back to the cave so that the other people who are chained enlightened and
educated.
The shadows that the other people seen through the walls, represent the
perceptions of those who believe empirical evidence ensures knowledge. If you believe that what
you see should be taken as truth, then you are merely seeing a shadow of the truth.
The next thing is the game that the chained people are playing represents how
people believe that one person can be a ‘master’ when they have knowledge of the empirical
world. In this context, the one who answer first become the “master” even though the person
answer what’s the shadow didn’t know what he is talking about.
The people are chained since their birth, refuses what the free man says after he
returned from the outside world. If you compare this in our reality, you will see it on people who
didn’t care what the philosophers might say because they are scared on the real truth that the
philosophers are talking about.
In our lives, we must take risk in everything that we are doing (not the bad part).
Taking a risk in a way that we, people, would benefited from that thing. If we want to learn, be
prepared for a difficult journey, and be prepared to make some mistakes. That's okay; it's all part
of the process. True knowledge must be obtained the hard way, and some people just don't want
to see the light.