Plato's Republic: The Allegory Of The Cave

In Plato 's the Republic book seven we have the allegory of the cave. This cave represents "...education and [our] want of education..." . The cave is a place that 's dark with almost no light. It 's a place where people are bound. They are chained and they can 't move. They stare at the shadows and shapes on the walls but never get to see the what is truth, the reality that is making that shadow. There are puppet masters who can manipulate the shadows and those who are bound think that what they are seeing is reality. We can see this same kind of idea in our world today. Many people live in different caves. It can be the cave of tradition where we do things a certain way because we 've always done things this way or the cave can even the …show more content…
Gage discusses the idea that the chief end to education is to train the soul in justice and righteousness. That was what the ancients believed but for most people today the chief end of education is a good job and/or the making of money. There are other things that act like bonds in our modern educational system but this one comes to mind as one of the most common. The idea that a person goes to school and gets an education simply to be able to get a good job and make lots of money is probably the most dominant view out there. There seems to be less of an emphasis on education as a training or "molding of the soul" than for making money. Even my wife has commented to me that she thinks it 's "funny" that I 'm the preacher of a very small congregation (30 people) who doesn 't get very much for support and I 'm paying to get my Master 's degree. To her and others this is almost laughable because we 've been told and taught that the only reason to get an education is to make more money. In fact I 've heard people say things like "I didn 't go to college and I 've got a great business". or "I didn 't go to college and I have a good paying job", as if the only reason to seek higher education was to make more …show more content…
She was shocked to find out that the class taught evolution as a major part of the curriculum. Instead of teaching about musical notations, types of music, and what makes for good music, she was taught about evolution. It is simply an unquestioned truth that people often cannot even see and has invaded almost every area of our thinking. It has even invaded theology. Many people today see theistic evolution as the only viable option in light of the "fact" of evolution. It appears to me that the "puppet handlers", those casting and manipulating the shadows are those who inform the teachers as well as society at large. Public figures, people like Richard Dawkins or scientists like Bill Nye who simply teach that everything evolved and to question that truth shows one to be "stupid" or a