Roswell Political Theory

Thursday, September 01, 2011

Reaction to Plato


Please share your reactions to Plato. Consider his Theory of Forms, his utopia, as well as The Allegory of the Cave.

posted by Socrates3000 at 7:59 AM

20 Comments:

  • I think that Plato's way of thinking and his beliefs are extremely interesting. The idea of a chair not actually being a chair but a representation of a chair is fascinating and made me think about things in a different and more complex way. The idea of a utopia, or perfect society, seems ideal but I disagree with everyone being your parents and not getting married. The Allegory of the Cave interested me because the four people who stood with their backs to the cave never actually knew reality, they just knew the shadows. It was all pretty interesting

    By Blogger courtsport007, at 1:10 PM  

  • I like Plato's allegory of the cave and find his thoughts on that very interesting. It kind of relates to the way people are today, we only know what we are taught and a lot of us just go with what we are taught and don't question it. Like, I found our discussion on whether or not a chair is really a chair or just a manifestation of a chair. But questioning things as simple as a chair could lead to disaster, where we would question everything around us and soon believe in nothing.

    By Blogger domdotcom, at 2:33 PM  

  • I really liked Plato's first point in the reading, but after that I found Plato egocentric and extremely radical. the abolition of the family is just asking for incest and how the philosophers should be kings nothing would ever get done. The destruction of "not superior children" is cruel and harsh. I liked the allegory of the cave because sometimes people who will not listen to your way of thinking no matter what. Over all I did not like Plato as a person but the allegory of the cave was interesting.

    By Blogger Unknown, at 3:55 PM  

  • Plato's teachings rocked my world, but I disagree with some of his beliefs. His assertion that the rulers should dissolve families and select who can reproduce is not only radical, but unethical as well. Granted, the end result would be a far superior human race in terms of intellect and physique, but the cost is simply too unbearable. Ben Franklin once said that "those who would give up Essential Liberty (As a womanizer he would certainly consider the right to have a family essential) to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither." We should take care not to take Plato's teachings completely to heart. The theory of forms, although I was familiar with it already, is a puzzling concept. However, I agree with his general concept that no physical object is truly what it is called, but is rather a physical manifestation of such an idea. After all, while physical objects die or break down everyday, the idea and the concept of the object lives on forever. Plato's act of drawing a parallel between Socrates' death and the Allgory of the Cave reveals that the human mind sometimes becomes too comfortable with existing ideologies. The average man finds it much easier to compartmentalize ideas rather than deal with them separately, and thus chooses the easy way out. Like it or not, most of us are likely to reject a prophet, even if he is telling the truth because our previous experiences tell us otherwise because perception drives reality. Although Plato is an ingenious philosopher, I must restrain from wholeheartedly believing every one of his propositions.

    By Blogger John, at 5:02 PM  

  • For the most part, I thought what Plato had to say was really cool. He made me think of things in a completely different way. Take for example the chair.. its not really a chair haha. The only thing I thought was weird was the whole family thing.I like the idea of having a close family and i think it would be really hard to no have that and literally have the whole village raising me. But yup besides that i Plato is awesome!

    By Blogger suzieq:), at 5:40 PM  

  • Plato, Plato, Plato. What shall we do with you? Should we toss you in a cave and make you believe that your reality is only the shadows, question your lover to make sure there isn't any incest going on, or completely destroy our thoughts on physical manifestation of the beloved chair?
    How original are your thoughts? Are they yours or are you infringing copy rights on your mentor's spoken word? We shall never know...

    For the most part, Plato (we assume it was Plato's ideas) has the right idea in that in a perfect world humans should practice survival of the fittest, that philosophers should be kings, and that families shouldn't exist. But the reality of it, (haha ha. The chair really is only a physical manifestation of a chair) doesn't hold true to modern day scenarios. If the human race practiced survival of the fittest, or natural selection, our complex thought processes would perceive this as wrong, and immoral. Because we are social creatures that depend on others, our needs are met, and through that, we can support those who are less fortunate. And because we have this mind set of "ok, are basic needs are met, and there is enough for everyone, why kill someone off when we don't need to" the concept of breeding only the strong genes to make the super person is unnecessary. Yes it would make our society as a whole better, but we can support those who are not as fortunate.
    As for philosophers being kings, if they question what reality is, then doesn't that counter what we want a king to be? Like stated in class, we want a king that is level-headed, and has a firm grasp on reality. But if he/she questions what reality is, isn't that what having your heads stuck in the clouds?
    As for the abolition of the family, like we brought up in class, incest would be a problem in a smaller community.
    Finally the allegory of the Cave If you only know this one thing, your reality, and then someone comes in and completely changes it, should you except it? Yes and No. It would be ignorant of you to not explore this new reality, but maybe find comfort in a new variation. In the Allegory of the Cave, Plato talks about how the shadows were all that these hypothetical people knew. When that one person did escape, and came back to enlighten the others, the others shouldn't have killed the enlightened one for his beliefs. They should have instead compared one reality to the other and if they were not completely happy with the new one, find a happy medium between the two.

    By Blogger unidentified formulated onoma, at 6:07 PM  

  • I think that plato's ideas are pretty cool. I would have never thought that what we think is a chair is actually just a physical manifestation of a chair. It has opened up a whole new kind of thinking for me. Also, the allegory of the cave was pretty interesting. The 4 cavemen never saw anything of the world except for the shadows, but when the man escaped and told them about the world, they couldn't accept that, and he was killed. It was all very interesting.

    By Blogger cwatson, at 4:44 AM  

  • Plato was undoubtedly brilliant but he held very radical views for his time period. His suggestion for the equalization of women in his utopia is modern thinking and I believe this was a fantastic idea especially coming from someone so far removed from our time period. However his ideas pertaining to the family weren't quite feasible. They could have led to mass incest. His ideas on philosophy, I think, were accurate. The Theory of forms makes sense because we have an idea for something and all objects are just a physical manifestation of the idea because the idea lasts life times while the object won't. The Allegory of the cave is true as well in the fact that whatever is around you, what you perceive, is your reality and when someone tries to take you from that reality and show you a new one people will generally be opposed to new ideas and persecute those who suggest them.

    By Blogger Lauren Telschow, at 4:44 AM  

  • I think Plato created a very interesting way of thinking. His idea of forms and how the chair isn't actually a chair but a physical manifestation of a chair is something i had never heard before. But it all makes a lot of sense. The idea of a utopia or a flawless society is good in theory but otherwise it's basically impossible. No society will ever be that perfect no matter how hard we tried. I liked the Allegory of the Cave too because people really don't know whats going on outside of the cave and they are likely to push away new ideas because it's scary to them.

    By Blogger SNathans93, at 5:17 AM  

  • Platos way of thinking was very interesting. He makes you think about certain things in a way you may have never thought you could think. His idea of a utopia was interesting because it made me think of what my idea of my utopia would really be. Platos thoughts and ideas of these physical manifestations was very interesting because certain things you might think are real maybe really aren't..... According to plato!

    By Blogger @darien_isaac, at 6:00 AM  

  • I found that Plato's idea that everything is a representation of something very interesting. It is a different way of thinking. However I do not believe everyone is your parent because in todays society everyone has a set guardian, blood related or not. The Allegory of the cave showed a valuable insight to me on the subject of reality.

    By Blogger jhallowell, at 6:00 AM  

  • The way plato expresses his ideas and beliefs are differnet from amy other philospher. The way he describes his thoughts are quite interesting ,and forces readers to think more in depth. The Allegory of the Cave interested me beacuse it showed how people become accustomed to their way of living, and if anyone tries to make a change to that it creates a problem. Even though the one who had broken lose was trying to help his people, they didnt know any better than to assume what he was saying was inaccurate.

    By Blogger ktlown, at 9:11 AM  

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    By Blogger PG-13, at 4:22 PM  

  • Plato is a unique guy to say the least. Nowadays, who would Plato be? Without a doubt, he would be the ancient equivalent of a philosophy major, and who are the philosophy majors in today’s society? The burger flippers and pizza delivery people of society are those who were philosophy majors in college. So, in short, it can be equated that the advice and wisdom Plato has to offer should be taken with as much regard as the advice of a pizza delivery boy. Plato was never married, why is it then that he believes himself right in abolishing marriage and the family? He, being a lonely, bearded man, cannot possibly understand the bond that is formed between parents and their children. Seeing as Plato is talking about subjects upon which he has very little knowledge, his credibility is shown to be a cheap representation of credibility, and not the ideal argument.

    By Blogger PG-13, at 4:24 PM  

  • I believe that Plato had a very interesting view on the world. His whole chair just being an idea was weird; however, it makes sense since chairs come in many varieties. I did not agree with his views in family matters, because in modern society that just wouldnt work out and things could lead to family memebers liking eachother and thats messed up.

    By Blogger dking2022, at 7:47 PM  

  • I think his way of asking questions to make one learn is very interesting. His idea of a perfect society is different than the one we have today. I dont think that you could ever completely eliminate families. I think that philosophers or hightly intelligent people should rule and that is realitively how are soceity is today. Also in todays society woman are equal. Over all I found his teachings intersting but somewhat impractical

    By Blogger Katie_Dunn, at 4:47 AM  

  • I agree with almost all of Platos different ideas on life, some of them not so much. I dont believe that a perfect society is ever rally possible, unless everyone is an exact model of everyone else, and then that would be a pointless world. Other than that his teachings seem to really make you think about the world around you.

    By Blogger chad_mcdermott, at 3:16 PM  

  • I think Plato's mindset for his era was incredible. His ideas were very radical and I respect that in my philosophers. The concept of his theory of forms was prbly wat interested me the most just because he took something we look at every day and gave a whole new perspective to it.

    By Blogger Sean2340, at 12:33 PM  

  • I agree with many of the concepts Plato presented. One of the most interesting was the allegory of the cave because it can be seen often, even in today's society. Another thing that has continued over generations is the "representation" of objects. The idea has remained, even though the physical object may no longer exist.

    By Blogger kristinmcfar, at 12:29 PM  

  • Plato's thinking sometimes goes over my head, especially his theory of forms. The whole idea that everything we think to be really isn't is kind of a complicated idea that can get pretty extensive and confusing. I do however enjoy trying to figure out what he is trying to say. A theory I did however really enjoy was the allegory of the cave, because this still happens. People do not like change and I think that is important to listen to the people that go out and find new things, because that is how we evolve.

    By Blogger smayhew93, at 8:54 PM  

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