Plato’s Approach to Education
Plato’s Pedagogy as Derived From Republic 1-7
Plato’s Republic is mainly known for the defining of justice, but it also provides an element of education, mainly in the field of philosophy. There are many different specific aspects of teaching within Republic, including the use of Plato’s physical images versus the concept of forms, the idea of intentional and random education, and the cave allegory. Plato’s teaching is very intentional, and he has a high skill level when it comes to the different teaching styles he uses. Stated in the College English Journal; Contemporary Composition: The Major Pedagogical Theories, “Since all pedagogical approaches, it is argued, share a concern for the elements of the composing …show more content…
Education has taught us things such as the number two, or what a table is. So if one refuses to believe in God because they are not able to see, touch, taste, feel, or smell him, what gives that person the right to believe in the number two, for example. There are many differences between the images, or physical things that are believed to be known in the world, as opposed to the concepts or ideas of things that are believed. For example, a beautiful person is a physical aspect of life that will eventually go away. In reference to that, the concept or idea of a physical person is beauty. What happens when one loses their beautiful body, though? The beauty of a person is beyond just what there is on the outside. Everything on the side of physicality is going to go away. The things on the other side, the metaphysical, are aspects that stick around, in a way. When one dies, their body stays behind, but where does their soul go? Philosophers see the concepts or ideas as more real than the physical images. Not that the images do not exist, but they only exist for a short amount of time. Another example of this is love and sex. One does not see, nor touch love, but obviously experiences these things through sex. So what is being taught in the education of students? Plato believes that these ideas should be taught to everyone, that people do not …show more content…
The allegory of the cave is linked to the ones who are only familiar with the theory of forms without actual imagery versus concepts. The allegory of the cave talks of people who are unable to turn their heads to either side, or look behind them. There is a fire behind these prisoners, as well as a barrier where puppeteers are able to hold up puppets that create shadows on the wall of the cave. The prisoners cannot see the puppets, but can see the shadows cast by the actual objects they can’t see. Thus the prisoners see the shadows as being real things. If a prisoner saw a book, for example, or the shadow of a book in their case; he would call it a book. Because he believes that the shadow is the book. In all actuality, we know that it is just the shadow of a book. This is the similar to the concept of images and concepts. You may not see a certain concept, but because you have learned of it as something that is not seen with the bare eye, you believe in it in the way that you have recognized it. As stated in The Line and the Cave, the line is the point where we take a concept and turn into something we can physically understand. There is a difference between the dialect of a certain object and an actual “contemplation of actual objects in the world.” (Malcolm) Plato is saying that the words we use are not names of physical objects, but names of things we
Plato’s Pedagogy as Derived From Republic 1-7
Plato’s Republic is mainly known for the defining of justice, but it also provides an element of education, mainly in the field of philosophy. There are many different specific aspects of teaching within Republic, including the use of Plato’s physical images versus the concept of forms, the idea of intentional and random education, and the cave allegory. Plato’s teaching is very intentional, and he has a high skill level when it comes to the different teaching styles he uses. Stated in the College English Journal; Contemporary Composition: The Major Pedagogical Theories, “Since all pedagogical approaches, it is argued, share a concern for the elements of the composing …show more content…
Education has taught us things such as the number two, or what a table is. So if one refuses to believe in God because they are not able to see, touch, taste, feel, or smell him, what gives that person the right to believe in the number two, for example. There are many differences between the images, or physical things that are believed to be known in the world, as opposed to the concepts or ideas of things that are believed. For example, a beautiful person is a physical aspect of life that will eventually go away. In reference to that, the concept or idea of a physical person is beauty. What happens when one loses their beautiful body, though? The beauty of a person is beyond just what there is on the outside. Everything on the side of physicality is going to go away. The things on the other side, the metaphysical, are aspects that stick around, in a way. When one dies, their body stays behind, but where does their soul go? Philosophers see the concepts or ideas as more real than the physical images. Not that the images do not exist, but they only exist for a short amount of time. Another example of this is love and sex. One does not see, nor touch love, but obviously experiences these things through sex. So what is being taught in the education of students? Plato believes that these ideas should be taught to everyone, that people do not …show more content…
The allegory of the cave is linked to the ones who are only familiar with the theory of forms without actual imagery versus concepts. The allegory of the cave talks of people who are unable to turn their heads to either side, or look behind them. There is a fire behind these prisoners, as well as a barrier where puppeteers are able to hold up puppets that create shadows on the wall of the cave. The prisoners cannot see the puppets, but can see the shadows cast by the actual objects they can’t see. Thus the prisoners see the shadows as being real things. If a prisoner saw a book, for example, or the shadow of a book in their case; he would call it a book. Because he believes that the shadow is the book. In all actuality, we know that it is just the shadow of a book. This is the similar to the concept of images and concepts. You may not see a certain concept, but because you have learned of it as something that is not seen with the bare eye, you believe in it in the way that you have recognized it. As stated in The Line and the Cave, the line is the point where we take a concept and turn into something we can physically understand. There is a difference between the dialect of a certain object and an actual “contemplation of actual objects in the world.” (Malcolm) Plato is saying that the words we use are not names of physical objects, but names of things we