Thanks for this interesting piece on your interaction with your students and getting them to ponder possible symbolic meanings of Plato’s cave.
There’s an echo of this in the works of Mulla Sadra, a 17th century Philosopher/Mystic, who speaks of four journeys of realization (of the sacred intellect) in Islamic terms. But a rough analogy could be made with Plato’s cave.
The four journeys, if I remember correctly, would correspond to the journey in the cave/shadow world;
the journey out of the cave to the world of the origin (the world that generates the shadows);
the journey of astonishing knowledge within the world of the origin;
the journey of return to the cave and within the cave, but this time bearing the higher knowledge of the world of the origin and empathy for the plight of the cave dwellers.
I don't ask my students to come up with symbolic meanings of philosophical concepts. What I do is kind of on the opposite end. I ask them to apply the concepts to their actual lives and experiences.
Thanks for this interesting piece on your interaction with your students and getting them to ponder possible symbolic meanings of Plato’s cave.
There’s an echo of this in the works of Mulla Sadra, a 17th century Philosopher/Mystic, who speaks of four journeys of realization (of the sacred intellect) in Islamic terms. But a rough analogy could be made with Plato’s cave.
The four journeys, if I remember correctly, would correspond to the journey in the cave/shadow world;
the journey out of the cave to the world of the origin (the world that generates the shadows);
the journey of astonishing knowledge within the world of the origin;
the journey of return to the cave and within the cave, but this time bearing the higher knowledge of the world of the origin and empathy for the plight of the cave dwellers.
Enjoyed your reflections.
I don't ask my students to come up with symbolic meanings of philosophical concepts. What I do is kind of on the opposite end. I ask them to apply the concepts to their actual lives and experiences.
Glad you enjoy the posts about my class sessions