I am beginning to see the light-

First and foremost, John Partridge did an outstanding job on his essay. The first thing that caught my eye was his thesis statement. In Partridges’ opening paragraph, he describes the eyes of the slaves being overloaded with sensory information and their rejection of it. This closely relates to my first blog where I shared my story of being overloaded with Calculus in Math class. I was blinded by the light, or knowledge, that was being thrown at me, for it was too much all at once. My eyes viewed the information, but it was my mind that rejected it. Partridge says that some of the prisoners would wish to remain imprisoned through the horror of their condition. Just as I would have rather remained imprisoned in my ignorance of Calculus than become over powered by the ‘light.’ In life, I feel that is absolutely necessary to respect everything and to at least give your full effort in whatever it is that you are learning. How will I succeed, grow, and experience, if I do not put forth the efforts which are needed from me?

Partridge explains how Socrates also believed that he was commanded by the god Apollo to practice philosophy. This notion ties in with my belief that we, humans, must receive aid from others. In an earlier blog, I shared my opinion on mentors and their importance in helping us grow as individuals. There are people out there who have experienced some things first hand, but without the guidance of the mentor it may not be possible to view the light. Therefore, Socrates may have been a mentor to the slaves, but he too learned his wisdom from another. In this case, it was the god Apollo. Does this mean that Socrates was a slave at one time in his life as well, possibly during his infancy? What can we infer when he, too, was led to believe a certain ideal? The question is, how can we lead a life away from being a slave and being imprisoned? Will I be a slave my entire life? What can I do to break the chains which have imprisoned me since birth? I would like to experience everything for myself, so that the truth may come directly to me and not through the eyes and ears of another.

Partridge goes on to examine the importance of this very topic by sharing his correlation between The Matrix and Plato’s Cave: proper teaching only occurs when students are prepared to make discoveries for themselves. I discovered that I learn the best through self-examination. I wonder if the “care of soul” mentioned in his essay may be a possibility for me and my future endeavors.

Another point that closely relates to my first blog, is how we can distinguish different things but lack a systematic, casual explanation of them. Partridge states that we have an assortment of true beliefs about the what of things, but a mistaken hold on the why of things. I gave a similar view on this by explaining the truth behind the apple. I used the apple as an example for seeing the truth more clearly by using the aid of light (knowledge) to gain from experience. Truth of the apple has come to us through the vision we now have of it with the aid of light. For us to search for more truth of the apple, we could take a bite of it, find where it came from, and find other deeper meanings using experience. Thus, we can continuously find out more about what the apple is, but can only speculate as to why the apple is.