After that, Dr. Preston gave us some background on Plato/"Allegory of the Cave." Here's the gist of my notes--
- dialectic: formal argument between two people (you can tell because it starts with "di" like "dialogue") about the nature of truth
- (btw, argument ≠ conflict; the modern connotation is sometimes misleading)
- Plato was the son of a wealthy family, and was destined for a life of politics
- he also became a student of Socrates
- when Socrates got in trouble with the government for "corrupting the youth," Plato became a teacher to carry on Socrates's legacy so his way of thinking wouldn't die with him
- Plato used the dialectic format because he believed it was the best way to write
- he used Socrates' name as a way of paying homage to him
- the other character, Glaucon, is Plato's brother; as the author, he didn't want to insert himself into the dialectic, but using his brother's name is a pretty close second
- Plato's philosophy states that real understanding only comes from intellectual pursuit
- humans are unable to understand truth through the senses only, because what we see ≠ reality (shadows on the cave wall)
- reality requires logic and study to see/understand (the prisoners couldn't understand the outside just by hearing about it; you actually have to SEE the sun and GO outside for yourself to get it)
- furthermore, you can't learn from experience, only from reflecting on experience
- Dr. Preston mentioned "extended metaphor," but didn't explain it-- from the Norton Anthology of Poetry website, extended metaphors are "[d]etailed and complex metaphors that extend over a long section of a poem." From changingminds.org, "An extended metaphor is one where there is a single main subject to which additional subjects and metaphors are applied." I also found a slideshow here which explains it very nicely.
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