CORE THEME – WHAT IS A HUMAN BEING?
Plato’s Allegory of the Cave The "Allegory of the Cave" by Plato represents an extended metaphor that is to contrast the way in which we perceive and believe in what is reality.The "Allegory of the Cave" represents a complex model as to which we are to travel through our lives and understanding. The four stages of thought combined with the progress of human development represent our own path to complete awareness in which the most virtuous and distinguished will reach, and upon doing so shall lead the public.In the beginning of the Allegory of the Cave, Plato represents man’s condition as being “chained in a cave,” with only a fire behind him. He perceives the world by watching the shadows on the wall. He sits in darkness with the false light of the fire and does not realize that this existence is wrong or lacking. It merely is his existence — he knows no other nor offers any complaint.Plato next imagines in the Allegory of the Cave what would occur if the chained man were suddenly released from his bondage and let out into the world. Plato describes how some people would immediately be frightened and want to return to the cave and the familiar dark existence. Others would look at the sun and finally see the world as it truly is.They would know their previous existence was farce, a shadow of truth, and they would come to understand that their lives had been one of deception. A few would embrace the sun, and the true life and have a far better understanding of “truth.” They would also want to return to the cave to free the others in bondage, and would be puzzled by people still in the cave who would not believe the now “enlightened” truth bearer. Many would refuse to acknowledge any truth beyond their current existence in the cave.
Mind-body Problem The ‘Mind-Body Problem’ refers to the intellectual debate concerning the nature of the mind, the body, and the relationship between the two. Are the mind and body separate things? Is one spiritual with the other physical? Or, should we see the mind and body simply as aspects of one physical self? Then, in light of this debate, we must ask how it affects human nature. It is significant because it defines what it means to be human.Theories Dualism: is the theory that there exist both bodies and minds – distinct from one another but linked together in some way.
Materialism: is the theory that our minds are inseparable from our bodies.
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A dualist approach to the mind body problem would argue that the mind and body are two separate entities. The mind determines our personality and our body is an outer shell for the real self. The body is destined for decay but the soul is immortal. The belief that the soul continues after death is known as immortality of the soul.Plato Plato was the first thinker to put dualism forward as a philosophical argument. He believed that the soul belonged to a level of reality was that was higher than that of the body. He claimed that our soul was born into a world with knowledge, which it has forgotten. This is the understanding of ideas or “forms” which are perfect, absolute and true. By arguing that the soul acquires knowledge through recollection, he tries to argue that the soul lived previously in another body. The body is physical and limited but the soul is essential and belongs to the world of the forms. The body can be destroyed at death but the soul, not being physical, cannot be destroyed and therefore moves onto another life. He states that people are like plants and that they could develop if they were planted in good soil.
Plato uses an analogy that the soul is like a chariot being pulled by two horses. One horse is a well-behaved white horse, which represents our reasonable desires or spirit, while the other is dark, which represents our wild desires and appetites. The charioteer represents our intellect or reason and is on its journey towards truth. The task of the charioteer is to keep them in check and to control the desires, getting them to work in harmony.Rene Descartes Descartes believed that that nothing exists unless it could be proven and certain. He doubted everything, even the existence of the world and physical objects perceived by senses. However he could not deny his existence because in the act of doubting everything, he was thinking and this meant that his existence was obvious.He therefore saw a major distinction between the mind and the body.
Because it is his mind that thinks, it must be that the mind exists but the existence of the body has not been proven. Therefore is a real distinction between the mind and the body.He concluded that “I think, therefore I am”.
Strengths of Dualism • The mental and physical realms have very different properties. Mental events have subjective qualities such as what does it feel, look or sound like. Sensations like these can’t be defined as something physical.• The science of psychology implies the existence of the mind.• Our thoughts cannot be determined by measuring brain waves. People have to ask us what we’re thinking.Weaknesses of Dualism • One argument is the lack of any understanding of how interaction takes place between the brain and the mind. This argument depends on the presumption that there is no supernatural or another realm that exists to help this interaction.
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