The Myth of the Cave. The role of philosophers and educators in society - Essay Example

The Myth of the Cave This paper discusses the notion that educators have to aware of the dangers that they pose to students and to themselves by giving an education different from what others receive. Ancient and contemporary educators are known to be guided by a curriculum in what they teach. Do these curricula guarantee that students are free from being misguided or misled? I believe that the answer is a resounding NO! Humans are born into an already existing world. They find other humans who have varied beliefs and conceptions. Throughout the life of humans, they come to know certain things as they found them to be. They proceed to believe that these things are the truth and reality. When they come to be told the truth, they reject it because it is a contradiction of what they know. Ignorance has been said to be bliss. That is what makes people not to see the truth. That is why they vehemently reject the truth. Different people have different perceptions of the truth. That is why there are those who will want to go and look for the truth outside the cave, and those who believe that the truth is in fact inside the cave (Watt, 25). Teachers have to realize the dangers of giving an education that is different from what others receive. Education should not compel us to believe in one single thing. It should in fact encourage us to go and find out the truth for ourselves. All that we merely see is not necessarily the reality. It might just be that we are so used to seeing it that we believe it is the ultimate truth. This is the danger that educationists need to eliminate. They need to encourage and promote the search for the truth. In current times, this can be aided by proper research. Education should not merely be an exercise of imparting already existing knowledge. It should not be an activity of coercing other to believe in one thing. It should be a process of facilitating research and self reliance. It should promote the search for the ultimate truth (Watt, 23). The myth of the cave is used to illustrate the wanting nature of human education. In the myth of the cave, human beings have been described as being ignorant of the truth and unwilling to accept change. In reality, the times that we live in are pretty difficult and the world is suffering. The reading describes a scenario whereby what is taken to be real by most people may just be a mere illusion. ‘All people living in a cave’ is taken to represent the high levels of ignorance among humans. Human beings are in total darkness. The truth is just near them yet they have refused to embrace it. ‘Being chained on their necks and legs’ represents the unwillingness of humans to accept useful change. It shows that unless they take action, they are bound to ignorance. They have to free themselves from the caves otherwise they will always be prisoners of ignorance. The prisoners watching the shadows on the wall means that this is what they think the world is. The shadows which they see on the walls are what represent reality to them. They do not know any other truth. This is what they have known the world to be since they were born. Their conceptions and understanding of the world are skewed and misinformed. Their unwillingness and reluctance to leave the cave is all as a result of ignorance. In the cave, all that the humans see is a mere reflection of what reality is. What they see is not reality. It is a mere illusion (Watt, 25). This is what the shadows represent. The shadows are like a mirage that tries to depict reality. Ignorance is very prevalent and humans do not want to let go of it. It is the duty of philosophers and educators to liberate these humans from the darkness. The truth can only be obtained by these philosophers. The senses of human beings skew and misconceive reality. Humans are so ignorant to the extent that they would reject a prisoner who left the cave to go and experience the real world in search of the truth. The prisoners represent the humans who are slaves of ignorance. They shun positive change because they are used to a particular way of life. The truth is sometimes brought to them but they shun and ignore it. The prisoner who leaves the cave in search of the truth represents the philosopher or educator. This kind of prisoner represents the typical life of a philosopher. If this prisoner was to come back and explain his/her experiences of the real world to those in the cave, they would not understand. The sun symbolizes the truth that lies outside the cave. Humans simply do not want to discover this truth. The free man refers to the life of a philosopher in search of the truth. It depicts how the philosopher is always attempting to leave the cave and search for the truth (Watt, 25). His efforts are always met with resistance and criticism. The prisoner who frees himself (philosopher) wants to break away from the chains of falsehood and discover reality. The role of philosophers and educators in society is to seek for the truth from outside the cave. Philosophers are supposed to be investigators. They should find out what reality is from outside the cave then educate and enlighten the ones who are still in the cave. The philosophers should construct ideas from outside the cave and use them to spread reality. These ideas should rid humans of their ignorance. The human understanding of the world is very limited and primitive. For this reason, if humans were to see reality, they would not comprehend it. It would not make sense to them and they would not understand it. This is because reality is outside human experience. Humans should therefore not reject the truth from philosophers. Those who have gone outside the cave have experienced real life. They can differentiate reality from fantasy. Education is important in the fight against ignorance. It should be promoted so as to ensure that the cave remains empty and void. No human being should remain chained in the cave. No human being should be a slave of ignorance. These much needed change can be brought by teachers, educators and philosophers. They need to work together to eliminate ignorance and bad governance. In my opinion, I think of the curriculum as the cave. We are born into the world and we go to school to find a prescribed curriculum. We all follow it blindly despite what we believe in. We take it to be the gospel truth and those who go against it are rebuked. Those who believe in something different are not given the opportunity to express their beliefs. Teachers ought to promote and facilitate a different kind of learning that encourages ideas and thoughts outside the curriculum. The curriculum should only be a guide to facilitate creative learning. If teachers insist on sticking to one single curriculum for ages, they risk being like the prisoners in the cave who shun the truth because it is foreign to them. They risk stifling self reliance, individualism, creativity and autonomy (Watt, 25). They should allow others to leave the cave and go and discover what lies beyond it. Students on the other hand need to strive to look for the truth. They ought not to follow blindly. They ought to leave the cave and go and discover life outside of it. In conclusion, philosophers are always in search for the truth so as to make life simple and understandable. It is humans who do not want to accept the truth as it ought to be. Ignorance has its root in the lives of millions of people. Ignorance is worse than disease. It is more threatening to human existence than plague. It should be eliminated. Those who are not educated choose to let other decide and think for them. Politicians sometimes take advantage of the ignorance of certain individuals to gain political advantage. We should not be afraid of the truth or reality. We should face it as it is. Once we are taken out of ignorance, we should not take ourselves back to it. We should always strive to be knowledgeable and free ourselves from the chains of ignorance. We should not do thing blindly in mass just because other are doing it. We should have our own stands and philosophical perspectives on every issue in life. Philosophers and educators should help in the fight against ignorance (Watt, 25). They should strive to spread the truth and reality. We should not fight the truth because it is good for us. Works cited Watt, Stephen. Introduction: Theory of Forms. London: Wordsworth, 1997. Read More