What Is Philosophy?

The aestheticians believed that there is such a thing “The

Beautiful” It is something that doesn’t depend on what you
We’re going to use this word more narrowly, to describe a happen to find attractive, but something that’s just
way of approaching the world that traces its roots back to objectively true
ancient Greece, 500 years before the common era.

This was a time of great intellectual movement around the

world. Buddhism and Jainism were developing in Asia, at Logic
the same time, philosophical thought was emerging in
Greece. It is the Philosopher’s toolbox

It is about reasoning, giving strong arguments that don’t fall

victim to fallacies, which are the mortal enemies of
Philos- Science philosophical precision.

Mythos- Storytelling (Fallacy- a failure in reasoning or flawed reasoning that

leads to an invalid or unsound arguments)
At that time, there were bards, like Homer, who were trying
to understand and explain the world through stories, while
the earliest philosophers were using methods that were more
analytical and scientific- although they didn’t really have the The two-step method
concept of science back then.
Step 1: Try to understand- try to get inside of the idea

Step 2: Critical Evaluation- subject your understanding to

Philosophia- The love of Wisdom some critical evaluation

It was a new way of trying to make sense of the world.

When the earliest philosophers used the word philosophy,

they basically meant, “the academic study of anything”

Studies that had strong empirical elements came to be

considered science- a search for answers.

But Philosophy came to be understood more as a way of

thinking about questions.

Metaphysics
The branch of Philosophy that studies and understand the
nature of reality. (world, universe and being)

Epistemology
The branch of Philosophy that studies the nature and scope
of knowledge

Value Theory
Ethics
Plato’s Allegory of the Cave
The branch of philosophy that study and evaluates human
conduct. - Alex Gendler
(It isn’t just a code of what’s right and wrong, its about how (found in Book VII of “The Republic”
humans should live with each other.)

Aesthetics
In which the Greek philosopher envisioned the ideal society
The branch of philosophy that study the nature of beauty by examining concepts like justice, truth and beauty.

(Aesthetics is a part of value theory, because beauty and art In the allegory, group of prisoners have been confined in a
are things that we value and evaluate.) cavern since birth, with no knowledge of the outside world.
They are chained, facing a wall, unable to turn their heads,
while a fire behind them gives off a faint light. Occasionally,
people pass by the fire, carrying figures of animals and other
objects that cast shadows on the wall.
The prisoners name and classify these illusions believing
they’re perceiving actual entities. Suddenly one prisoner is
freed and brought outside for the first time, the sunlight
hurts his eyes and he finds the new environment
disorienting. When told that the things around him are real,
and the shadows were mere reflections, he cannot believe it.
The shadows appeared much clearer to him. But gradually
his eyes adjust. Until he can look at reflections in the water,
at objects directly and at the sun. Whose light is the ultimate
source of everything he has seen. The
prisoner returns to the cave to share his discovery, but he is
no longer used to the darkness, and has a hard time seeing
the shadows on the wall.
The other prisoners think the journey has made him stupid
and blind, and violently resist any attempts to free them.

Plato introduces this passage as an analogy of what its like

to be a philosopher trying to educate the public.

Most people are not just comfortable in their ignorance but

hostile to anyone who points it out.

In fact, the real life Socrates was sentenced to death by the

Athenian government for disrupting the social order, and his
student Plato spends much of “The republic” disparaging
Athenian democracy, while promoting rule by philosopher
kings.
With the cave parable, Plato may be arguing that the masses
are too stubborn and ignorant to govern themselves.
Theory of Forms, developed in Plato’s other dialogues,
which holds that like the shadows on the wall, things in the
physical world are flawed reflections of ideal forms, such as
roundness or beauty.
For theologians, the ideal forms exist in the mind of a
creator.
For philosophers of language viewing the forms as linguistic
concepts, the theory illustrates the problem of grouping
concrete things under abstract terms.
The best way to learn from Plato’s Allegory of the Cave, is
to think of the people trapped in the cave as majority of
people in the world.
The cave people believed that the shadows they saw were
the “truth,” just like majority of the world who believe in
and pursue shadows based on money, education, fame, love
and so on.
These are generally the ideas and social norms that we’ve
been told to stick to from childhood because of the majority
consensus.
Unfortunately, thinking like this often leads to a life of
missed opportunities and mediocrity because you’d never
realize how much more of reality actually existed outside
the “cave.”

What about the person who escaped the cave?

This represents the small handful of people who dare to

think and act in a different way from the crowd.

They don’t have an imagined “shadow” reality because

they’ve stepped outside their comfort zone into the
“sunshine” to uncover the true reality of life. And face their
fears and think in a unique way.

These people live a life with limitless possibilities and often

change the course of history
So, how can you escape this “cave”?

It takes courage to step outside of your comfort zone and

think differently than you’ve previously done. But, the
rewards are always worth it

Finally, remember that it’s not enough to leave the cave. It’s
much more important that you stay outside of the cave.

Plato’s Allegory of the Cave is a reminder that not everyone

will understand or be happy for you, when you decide to
change your habits and outlook on life.

Just like how the people in the cave responded to the

escaped prisoner who returned—you can expect friends and
family to laugh at your “stupid” ideas.

It’s normal to face criticism once you leave the cave.