Post#6-Plato's Allegory of the CAVE

1) What is an Allegory?; 2) Provide examples of 5-popular allegorical novels/books?; 3) On Monday we will learn about Plato and his allegory of the cave.  Plato's view of reality as well his concept of knowledge is represented by this allegory.  In his allegory of the cave, what does Plato suggest is true about reality? Please reference the following web link for details to help you answer this question (http://www.historyguide.org/intellect/allegory.html).

Post # 5-Plato

Explain in 5-sentences (Max) who Plato was and what ideas he was best known for postulating.

Post #4-Socrates: Dangerous IDEAS!

Today in class we discussed the 6-areas of philosophy.  We then began our lecture discussing the famous Western Philosopher-Socrates.  We learned that as a result of his ideas, Socrates was punished by the State (Athens, Greece) for corrupting the minds of the young.  Question:  What makes an idea dangerous?  When you answer the question provide specific examples to suport your view.  Watch the following video by Dr. Kaku to energize your ideas and opinions.  You can comment on Dr. Kaku's views but come up with additional examples of dangerous ideas (Hint:  you may have to do a google search).

http://bigthink.com/ideas/38469

Post #3: What Do Philosophers Study?

Answer the post question by visiting this website from Texas A&M: http://philosophy.tamu.edu/Academics/Undergrad/what_philosophers_do.html

POST #2-Other's Purpose

How can we identify the purpose of someone else's existence?  Is this possible, if we have difficulty arriving at our own purpose for living?  What advice would you give a friend who says, "I do not know what I should be or what I should be doing in this life?

PURPOSE IN LIFE

What is your purpose in life?  How do you know? Define: Epistemology.  Also: Portaportal is giving me problems.  Use this site to access philosophical works: file:///Users/admin/Desktop/Philosophy/Philosophy%20Texts%20Online.webarchive