Classical Thought
Foundation
to the Western Worldview
Classical Age
- Greek Classicism (500
BC - 300 BC) - Athens and the flourishing of philosophy, drama and art
- Roman Republic (500 BC
- 27 BC) - Constitutional law, utilitarianism and architecture
- Roman Empire (27 BC -
476 AD) - Power, wealth and decline
Understanding Rhetoric
- Rhetoric - The art of effective speaking and writing
- Sophist
- Educated rhetoricians
- Sought victory in debate
- Philosophers
- Those whom seek truth
- Used debate to discover
Plato's Allegory of the Cave
- An allegory to convey the Platonic concept of human reason
and its ability to transcend our passions
- Part I - Illusion
- Men are bound from the moment of their birth forced to
look at the wall of a cave
- Behind them is a walkway and a fire which in turn projects
shadows on the wall of the cave
- The men, only knowing the shadows from the day of their
birth, think them to be real
- This is however an - Illusion
- Ignorance from non understanding
- Our senses deceive us
- Part II - Reason
- One day a man detaches himself from the chains
- When seeing the fire, walkway, and shadows comes
to understand - Reasoning
- Upon reflection he rises above what his senses conveyed
as a false truth
- Reason can overcome the senses
- Part III - Knowledge
- Seeing the light streaming in from the opening of the cave
he now reasons that greater light must be the source to greater understanding
- The light leads him out of the darkness
- He sees the sun and achieves total knowledge
- Sun is the source of all light
- Feeling the burden of knowledge he returns to the cave to enlighten
the others
- Out of fear, ignorance and misunderstanding they threaten the
man
- Modern lessons from the allegory
- Digital shadows
- Government manipulation of data
- Is truth the first hits on Google?
|
The
Platonic Ideal
|
|
Ascend
from the darkness of the cave's illusion into the light of knowledge
|
|
Intellect
|
Knowledge
|
God
|
Spirit
|
Sun
|
|
Reason
|
Choice
|
Man
|
Transcend
|
Cave
Entrance
|
|
Sense
|
Appetites
|
Animal
|
Matter
|
Dark
Cave
|
 |
|
Platonic
Government
|
|
The
ideal best and the ideal worse
|
| |
Best
|
|
|
Monarchy
|
|
Republic
|
|
Rule
of One
|
|
Rule
of Many
|
|
Tyrant
|
|
Democracy
|
| |
Worst
|
|
Platonic Love
- The goal of love is to unite and become one
- Physical love - Erotic love
- Impermanent and fleeting
- Always end in separation
- Appeals to the senses
- Platonic Love - Godly love
- Permanent and eternal
- Spiritual union
- Appeals to the intellect
Humanities
Resource of Mark Hunter