Plato’s Allegory of the Sun and the Cave: Metaphysics and Epistemology
Plato’s Allegory of the Sun
In this allegory, Plato attempts to explain the concept of the Good by comparing it to the sun. In the sensible world, the sun provides light and life to all sentient beings. Similarly, in the world of Ideas, the Good serves a comparable function, granting all ideas the possibility of existing and being knowable.
Plato explains that for sight and visibility, one needs more than just the sense of sight and an object. Light is also necessary. Likewise, ideas cannot be known
Read MoreApollonian and Dionysian in Nietzsche’s ‘The Birth of Tragedy’
The Apollonian and the Dionysian and the Problem of Socrates
In his 1872 work *The Birth of Tragedy*, Friedrich Nietzsche tries to revolutionize the rationalist view that had the Greek world in his time.
Nietzsche says that it is not political philosophy or the height of Greek culture, but the tragedy is the ripest fruit of the Hellenic world. In the tragedy, the confluence of two forces that had inspired the entire Greek production: the Apollonian and the Dionysian. Apollo, as god of sleep, light,
Read MoreDescartes: Rationalism and the Method in 17th-Century Philosophy
René Descartes: A Philosophical Revolution
Life and Context
Born in the 16th century in La Haye, Touraine, René Descartes studied at La Flèche before enlisting as a volunteer at the beginning of the Thirty Years’ War. A series of three dreams led him to conceive the foundations for his groundbreaking invention: analytic geometry and the method. He was born in a time of great intellectual upheaval, where the authority of the Church and Aristotelian scholasticism were being questioned.
Major Works
- 1637:
Faith, Reason, and Truth: A Philosophical Analysis
Main Lines of Thought
Faith and Reason
There is only one truth, and what is important in the life of a man is to reach the Truth. Try to see if that truth (God) can be reached through reason, not only by faith. Faith alone is sufficient for Christianity. Faith and reason can be complementary elements or independent. Reason: Philosophy. Faith: Theology.
The two concepts work together in a circular manner (there is not a rational man and a Christian man). Intelligence paves the way for faith, and faith
Read MoreMarxism, Alienation, Cloning, and Descartes’ Philosophy
Classification of Types of Alienation: Karl Marx
Karl Marx distinguishes several types of alienation:
Religious Alienation
Religious alienation is a psychological state stimulated by the priests, who encourage belief in a perfect afterlife. This serves to alleviate the hardships of the present. The radical problem with this is that subjects seek happiness in the hereafter and neglect to change the material circumstances of real life, as this belief encourages conformity.
Economic Alienation
Some social
Read MoreUncommon Words: Definitions and Meanings
- Ague: (n) A fever or chill.
- Amphisbaena/e: (n) A serpent with a head at each end.
- Arid/ity: (adj/n) Lacking moisture; lacking imagination or creativity.
- Ascetic: (n) A person who deprives themselves of pleasure in order to obtain a higher goal.
- Avatars: (n) Embodiment of a deity, principal, idea, or way of life.
- Brook: (v) To bear, to suffer, to tolerate, or to endure.
- Dacoits: (n) A member of a class of criminals who engage in robbery and murder.
- Deferential: (adj) Respectful, courteous, or obedient.
- Dolorously: