1. Can we really leave the cave behind, or do we just walk out of one cave and into another, bigger one? (Plato says the prisoner is eventually able to stare at the sun, but is it really the sun, or just an artifical light?)
2. What is the point of the character Glaucon? From what I can tell, all he does is agree with everything that Socrates says.
3. Are the scientists who support plant neurobiology in the position of the prisoner who has gone outside and come back to the cave? If so, or if not, why?
1. I don't think that people will ever reach the point where they stare directly at the sun. Maybe we can go outside of the cave and look at objects and how the light illuminates them, but will never reach a point of all-knowing un-biased-ness.
ReplyDelete2. Maybe Glaucon is supposed to give the reader a character to empathize with? maybe Plato thought his words would be more effective if it were as if the reader was witnessing and reflecting on a dialogue instead of feeling like the author is lecturing them?
3. I think they are in the position of the returning prisoner, because those unwilling to accept this remain unchanged and still "in their cave." Although there is a chance that the scientists who support plant neurobiology are wrong? But people will never know if they are right or wrong unless we "leave the cave" and see for ourselves.