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“Nathaniel Appiah – The Entire Summary”

Nathaniel Appiah

Professor Richard Schumaker

PHL-1010

December 3, 2021.

Introduction

Individuals tend to shift away from questions that seem to conflict with their usual reasoning, or which appear to have no concrete answer. For example, a physician would willfully welcome the honors after healing a patient with a deadly disease. Still, if that same patient had died, the physician would forward the blame to the gods. Why is it tough to accept both when he can take one joyfully? Such questions set the ground for philosophical thinking.

The cave Allegory

The light visible to the human eyes could as well be just a shadow of the pure light. Pluto's reasoning creates the idea that what is thought could be a shadow of the real thing. Plato (2019) presents the famous allegory of the cave that best explains what the ordinary language could not relate to exhaustion. The prisoners get accustomed to the darkroom partially lit by the flame behind them and the shadows the flame casts before them whenever some objects cross the path just behind them. When one of them eventually gets free, the outside world does not look like reality to him. After a series of doubtful realizations, he comes back to free the rest so that they can also observe the beauty of the fact. The prisoners stubbornly retaliate and even treat him violently (Coyne, Daniel W. and Steven Fishbane, 896, 897).

In my personal view, Plato's allegory today, although it was born over two thousand years ago. It is not new that ideas usually are sacrificed at the altar of ignorance, and mine is not an exemption. Indeed, it is a difficult task to get accustomed to the truth after spending years in perpetual knowledge. For me, the allegory of the cave is a fascinating philosophical text because of the symbolism, which illuminates so many powerful ideas as it can be interpreted in many ways. The individuals in the cave represent all trapped in specific ideologies about the realities of the world. The puppeteers are the institutions that try to instill thorough knowledge into our minds, while the chains refer to the substances which limit us intellectually. The cave is simply this planet on which all the puppeteers live, while the shadows are the only things we perceive as accurate. Finding the truth is like breaking off from a cocoon. When the prisoner finally discovers that his former opinions were fables, he gets excited to share the news with his colleagues. Nonetheless, this works seems to be as hard as setting up a new foundation.

The Symposium

The next problem was the issue of love. At the feast of Agathon, all the philosophers present their understanding of the subject, the Socrates finally comes in to disorient their preconceived ideologies. Before his conversation with Socrates, Agathon had landed at the conclusion that" love is beauty," the ultimate of every desire. At this thought, Socrates questions, "can one love nothing, or must something exist to be loved?" Agathon confirms that there must be something in existence or thought to exist to be loved. If that is true, then love is not beauty but simply in love with beauty. Conclusively, if we love what is not in our current possession, love cannot be beautiful (Santoro. F, 15-22). Agathon is now forced to agree to this reasoning.

I tend to side with Socrates. The search for love is a mission of every living being. I can only survive where I feel I am loved and accepted. It would have been impossible if I had lived with parents who had no spark of love in them. Nonetheless, I am troubled by Socrates' thinking as well. Love only exists about some object, not in our current possession. I am thinking of a scenario where one has found "the love of his life," or to be precise, a life partner. He is now in possession of what he did not have and of which love drew him to have. Will love to stop existing if the person now has what he did not have before? Perhaps the Biblical paradox of love explains it best. It is justifiable to think that Agathon was freed from his self-incurred tutelage after his conversation with Socrates. He embraced the new understanding from reasoning. It is philosophically hazardous for humankind to lean on already processed ideas and refrain from advancing them

The Apology

The Apology was not an apology in the sense of how people perceive it to be. From the Greek language, the word "apologia," which is translated to an apology, means "defense." Plato was one of Socrates' admirers, especially when Socrates was making his defense before the court on the day that he was condemned and sentenced to death for "corrupting the minds of the youth." The core of the Apology is Socrates' record of how he has carried on with his life. The apology sentiment talks about Socrates' life and the defense that he introduced to the jury. Rather than offering an expression of remorse, Socrates essentially expressed his safeguard. It is accepted that Socrates realized he would have been indicted and condemned to death; accordingly, he utilized his "defense" as a chance to face his accusers (Sellars. J, 433-445).

The act of accusing someone of reasoning contrary to expectation is not a new norm in our society today. The Apology reminds me of the essence of laying down my pride when there exists something better than what I formally preconceived. Ideologies differ depending on the mind that has conceived them. I sometimes get angry when he uses his thought to cancel mine after presenting my written thoughts to the instructor. I, therefore, end up asking myself, how sure is he that his thought is proper and mine wrong. The only drawback that brings me back to my knees is that Socrates' defense mechanism was so annoying to his accusers that they had to find ways of sending to rest. Hence the thought makes me afraid of getting sent to the grave prematurely; at least he was old when he was laid to rest.

The fearless nature of Socrates was also exhibited in Martin Luther King Jr. He spoke out what he believed with courage that pierced the minds of his audience. He knew what he believed in and was firm to defend it though the heavens fall. Yet as the trend is, he faced the same end as that of Socrates. It implies that there are still people in our midst who will not wish that their philosophical standing be challenged.

Conclusion

Finally, the words of Socrates that death is not the ultimate solution to silence the voice of any man have been proved right down the ages. We now study his ideology as if he is still alive. To him, death meant to travel to another place, probably far better than the current one. If the reasoning of Socrates is correct, Plato's ideology can also be acceptable, for he was a student at the feet of Socrates. Therefore, it shall be right to argue that we are indeed living in the shadow of the actual reality. I, too, admit that I have lived on the verge of other people's thoughts. It is common, mainly because one must have a version of something before it is changed, yet the truth must prevail in all these.

Reference

Plato, By. Apology. BookRix, 2019.

Timeline-World history documentary "Cultural history of Islam" Youtube 27 March 2019 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XdOxBCpk39c. Accessed 20 November 2021

Crashcourse, "Christianity from Judaism to Constantine: Crash Course World History #11" Youtube 6 April 2012 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TG55ErfdaeY. Accessed 20 November 2021

Coyne, Daniel W., and Steven Fishbane. "The value of intravenous iron: beyond the cave of speculation." (2020): 896-897.

Santoro, Fernando. "Dionysian Plato in the Symposium." Psychology and Ontology in Plato. Springer, Cham, 2019. 15-22.

Sellars, John. "Plato's Apology of Socrates: A Metaphilosophical Text." Philosophy and Literature 38.2 (2014): 433-445.

AgeofAntiquity "The Ancient Greeks: Crucible of Civilization - Episode 1: Revolution "Youtube 15 February 2014. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2tFoTa-i6w. Accessed 20 November 2021

Lectures beyond "Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle" Youtube 11 July 2015. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nke9geV7g98. Accessed 20 November 2021