Spelunking Plato's Cave...

EDU 6120 Week 2

I have always appreciated the opportunity for a slow and intentional revisit to fundamental human philosophies. In the cases of Plato’s allegory of the cave, the theory of forms and Aristotle’s deduction that the science of politics is the philosophical pursuit of Good and virtue, I am amazed by how much these theories have foundationally informed my understanding of the world.

It is undoubtedly, with the hindsight of ten years since I have studied philosophy, that I can appreciate how these essential ideas have influenced my thinking about politics, education and certainly my pursuit of self-knowledge and care.

There are essential truths about human nature and humanity’s aims and aspirations that both Plato and Aristotle determined were either self-evident or could be empirically deduced. It never ceases to amaze me that both of these thinkers’ pursuits of truth have resonance with the human experience 2400 years later. Moreover, revisiting these, the most well-known pieces of their works, continues to stimulate illuminating insights for me. I feel similarly about Shakespeare. As I see Hamlet, Othello, and All’s Well That Ends Well for the fifth and sixth times, I continue to appreciate new – both shallow and deep – truths upon reconsideration. These examples are touchstones of human learning and wisdom. 

I learned that cardinal virtues (courage, wisdom, moderation) when in balance, give way to justice, self-knowledge and the capacities for viva activa – a life of action, service to others and pursuing ends beyond one’s own self-satisfaction. As I ruminated on this dedication and balance, I am surprised how much these aims have influenced my own life and trajectory. I have placed such value in the complementary Hamlet adage “to thine own self be true.” I have long-believed that some of the only progress and actual change any individual can manifest is knowing themselves for the benefit of others. This framework for personal growth and self-realization informs my vocational pull to education and is evident through the best – most mutual and caring – relationships and communities in my life.

I am curious about how moderation and a temperament regarding balance informed the personal excellence calculus of the Greek theorists who conceived and practiced it. How fastidious were those justice seekers in that balance? It would logically follow that a life too meticulously dedicated to balance would disallow the individual to ever break free from a life of precision and miss the outward-facing aim of viva activa entirely. Not holding too tightly the pursuit of balance would seem the ultimate wisdom of moderation. For moderation in excess would be asceticism, which despite being a chief pursuit of most religious mystics, has always to me seemed self-indulgent and not serving of a calling greater than one’s self.

I am also curious about what informed Socrates’ belief in the immortality and supposed metaphysical being of the human soul. Was the soul the human form? That is, was the form of the human soul, the perfectly realized version of our self once disentangled from this mortal coil? I would be interested to learn more about how Socrates concluded that a soul exists in the first place. That seems a pretty big assumption for a jumping off point.

The deep dive, or spelunking rather, into the Allegory of the Cave was remarkable this time around. I think that considering the different junctures in my life when I’ve read it, I’ve made new and important connections. The title alone “breaking the chains of ignorance” is a potent phrase and a critical way to frame the lesson Plato hoped to impart. Whether a slave in the cave or enlightened by the truth of the sun, the complacency and ruts that our minds can fall into demand re-awakening and challenging ideas to hone our critical thinking and force us to question our reality and truths we take for granted. This allegory is nowhere more readily applicable than education.

“Will he not fancy that the shadows which he formerly saw are truer than the object which are now shown to him?” This reminds me of wisdom imbued in my favorite Master Yoda quote “first you must unlearn what you have learned.” We are so quick to reject both things and ideas that don’t agree with what we “know.” That is further evident in the line “pain in his eyes which will make him turn away to seek refuge.” The pain of change and challenge is nowhere more evident that American politics today. Plato’s call is all the more cogent and germane.

It would seem that Plato’s charge is that the enlightened among us – those comfortable navigating the transition between the sun and the cave, those eager to challenge the truths and existences in each world – have the onus to be stewards of transition and enlightenment for those unable or unwilling to change or challenge themselves. This again seems to be directly applicable to teachers. It is the duty of the steward or teacher to live a life not of mere self-congratulation and satisfaction, nor one of passive pity toward those who are stuck in their original habitation. Instead, teachers should meet people as and where they are and encourage them to achieve self-determination and fulfillment so they can contribute themselves.

“So too the instrument of knowledge can only by the movement of the whole soul be turned from the world of becoming into that of being and learn by degrees to endure the sight of being and of the brightest and best of being or in other words, of the good.” This enterprise is not something we can do as mere hobby or sport. Those who believe this to be the human condition must commit the best of themselves and their vocation to it.