CHALLENGING STEREOTYPES THROUGH PLATO
“Understand, then, that as we said, there are these two things, one sovereign of the intelligible kind and place, the other of the visible…. In any case, you have two kinds of things, visible and intelligible.”
- Plato (Republic, 509d: page 183)
In his allegory of the ‘line’ and “cave Plato defines various types of knowledge and how each is acquired. Per the allegory of the ‘line’ his forms of knowledge are broken into two major categories, each with two sub categories. These major categories are the intelligible and visible which are broken down into understanding and thought, and belief and images respectively. Through the allegory of the ‘cave’, Plato shows how each stage arises and how one can progress …show more content…
To exploit its potential, we can make this reasoning practical and as a medium to address and potential help solve a problem(s) in society. As an international student, I have come across a predominant mode of knowledge and its various stages during my stay here: stereotypes. After reading the Republic, I saw Plato’s allegories parallel, to some extent, the various ‘levels’ of stereotypes or to say bluntly ignorance about the African continent and people. I realised that everyone I met was at a different stage in “stereotypes” very much like in the allegories of the line and cave. Extensively, saw in Plato’s allegory of the cave as a model not only for outlining stages of stereotype beliefs, but also a means for possibly quelling them in our …show more content…
A typical example of such knowledge would occur is someone after getting past, images and beliefs, would base all knowledge of Africa and its people on a single instance or situation. For example, this summer a security guard after looking at my passport said with confidence: “Oh Ghana, you speak Swahili right”. As awkward as these situations are for me and anyone subjected to stereotypes, this stage represents someone who is on their way to understanding of African people but has knowledge based on one hypothesis that holds true for only a fixed set of parameters that they apply to every situation in hope of success. Which is very much in line with Plato’s views. In explaining this stage, he states how students of geometer, for example, “make these their hypotheses and don’t think it necessary to give any account of them, either to themselves or to others as if they were clear to everyone. And going from these first principles through the remaining steps arrive in full agreement.” (Republic: 510c Pg 184). In this same manner, the guard based his entire knowledge of the African people on the ‘hypothesis’ that Swahili is a popular language in Africa, thus everyone must speak it. The security guard, just like the geometers know but do not full understand. He is the common after effect the woman I met in the airport who after encountering me would use my
“Understand, then, that as we said, there are these two things, one sovereign of the intelligible kind and place, the other of the visible…. In any case, you have two kinds of things, visible and intelligible.”
- Plato (Republic, 509d: page 183)
In his allegory of the ‘line’ and “cave Plato defines various types of knowledge and how each is acquired. Per the allegory of the ‘line’ his forms of knowledge are broken into two major categories, each with two sub categories. These major categories are the intelligible and visible which are broken down into understanding and thought, and belief and images respectively. Through the allegory of the ‘cave’, Plato shows how each stage arises and how one can progress …show more content…
To exploit its potential, we can make this reasoning practical and as a medium to address and potential help solve a problem(s) in society. As an international student, I have come across a predominant mode of knowledge and its various stages during my stay here: stereotypes. After reading the Republic, I saw Plato’s allegories parallel, to some extent, the various ‘levels’ of stereotypes or to say bluntly ignorance about the African continent and people. I realised that everyone I met was at a different stage in “stereotypes” very much like in the allegories of the line and cave. Extensively, saw in Plato’s allegory of the cave as a model not only for outlining stages of stereotype beliefs, but also a means for possibly quelling them in our …show more content…
A typical example of such knowledge would occur is someone after getting past, images and beliefs, would base all knowledge of Africa and its people on a single instance or situation. For example, this summer a security guard after looking at my passport said with confidence: “Oh Ghana, you speak Swahili right”. As awkward as these situations are for me and anyone subjected to stereotypes, this stage represents someone who is on their way to understanding of African people but has knowledge based on one hypothesis that holds true for only a fixed set of parameters that they apply to every situation in hope of success. Which is very much in line with Plato’s views. In explaining this stage, he states how students of geometer, for example, “make these their hypotheses and don’t think it necessary to give any account of them, either to themselves or to others as if they were clear to everyone. And going from these first principles through the remaining steps arrive in full agreement.” (Republic: 510c Pg 184). In this same manner, the guard based his entire knowledge of the African people on the ‘hypothesis’ that Swahili is a popular language in Africa, thus everyone must speak it. The security guard, just like the geometers know but do not full understand. He is the common after effect the woman I met in the airport who after encountering me would use my