Submitted: 09 Dec. 2015
Final Research Paper
Plato’s Metaphysics
Plato seeks to find true wisdom, for without it we only see a shade of the true worlds wonders, and can’t hope to understand the worlds true nature. Exactly what is this true wisdom Plato searches for and does this wisdom truly bring happiness? Plato seeks a pure wisdom, he calls the form of good, not so he can better understand nature, but so he can better understand himself. Only once he understands the true nature of himself will he have the capacity to understand the true world around him. We focus mainly on Plato’s allegory of the cave and Aristotle’s Golden mean to answer this question. The reason I seek to answer the question is because to find the path to happiness you must first understand that you have to learn to perceive the world not with your physical attributes, but your mind (Allegory of the Cave).
Plato tells the story of people in a cave who have never moved, and only see shadows dance on the wall in front of them. His allegory of the cave helps the reader to understand his own thought process of what leads society to turn on the free thinkers as the ones who try to change how society sees the world. Plato goes on to infer that we as a society are starling at a well and being spoon-fed our thoughts and ideas from ourselves. We are our own jailers and hold the keys to our freedom. The only thing holding us back is ourselves (Allegory of the Cave). Aristotle supported Plato’s plight for the quest of true wisdom to find happiness, stating that “Moral behavior is the midpoint of two opposing extreme positions, and that with this morality you will find happiness (Golden Mean). A non-philosophical person might say that happiness can’t be found by questioning every single thing in life. But I believe if you don’t question anything you are no better that the people in the cave sitting in chains, with nothing holding you back but your own fear of the unknown. Aristotle in some ways...