Prof. Duddy ARCH1101.OLC5 | Prof. Rosen ENG1101.LC07

Reflection and the Allegory of the Cave

Earlier this semester, we thought about Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave.” Let’s return to that reading, and to our earlier discussion, to consider if or how Plato’s Allegory of the Cave presents spaces for reflection. What in Plato’s text is relatable to the kinds of spaces for reflection we’re looking at? In what ways is it unrelatable or incongruous with a space for reflection? Is there another text we’ve read/watched that relates to our focus on spaces for reflection–if so, how does it relate? This is an opportunity to re-read the text, re-watch the videos (first or second or the third and , and re-engage with our earlier discussion, but with the focus on the spatial and other sensory aspects from the text that we can observe and analyze.

10 Comments

  1. Alvin Kalicharan

    The ways in which Plato’s text is relatable to the kinds of reflection we’re looking at is that the guy who gets loose and goes out to explore finds new things in life he never imagined. It is like taking a detoured walk, you will never know how it is until you experience it. In addition, if you try to explain how the detoured walk was, the other person won’t fully understand it unless they also experience it as well. One way I think Plato’s text isn’t relatable to the reflection we are looking at is the guy who never gets to experience the outside world never gets to reflect all the new things outside of the cave, he never gets chance to reflect.

    • Luka Vardoshvili

      i agree with you that experience is crucial to learn something. When i was i. high school i used to do math problems with my way because i thought it was easier, but when i tried the way teacher thought us, it was mach better and easier. I would not tried it and experienced it, i would never know.

      • Stacy Amaya

        I agree with both Alvin and Luka they bring up significant ideas about the prison who was released and the prisoners who refuse to leave the cave. having an idea about the outside and in anything in general is an important process we all have to go through. You never know what your going to like or not. Like how my dad says “try it to see if you like it”.

  2. Kevin Giron

    Looking back at the, Allegory of the Cave, it presents spaces for reflection since Plato demonstrated the Outside world as a place of reflection. Once the prisoner was free he was able to leave the cave and reflect on everything in his surroundings. This allowed him to expand his own knowledge. The cave its self and the people in that space are unrelatable to spaces of reflection since they were all closed minded. They themselves didn’t want to reflect on the outside world. They wanted to continue to hold their own beliefs and not expand their knowledge. Its also a dark place, the cave, other than the flame, which also has nothing in it to reflect on.

  3. Luka Vardoshvili

    Plato’s text is relatable to the spaces of reflection we are learning right now. before the prisoner was freed, he was looking at the same wall for a long time. he could not see anything other than wall and shadows. He unable to reflect because he was looking at the same wall, over and over. It is same situation in architecture. An architect which is always home and never tries to go outside to try new things, will not be creative.
    As soon as prisoner faced the outside world life, he learned many new things that other prisoners would never understand it, because they have never seen anything other than the wall for their whole life, they had nothing to reflect on, and thats why they rejected the prisoner which was freed.

  4. zafarjon abdukahorov

    Looking back to the Allegory of the cave, it presents spaces for reflection of the cave after a prisoner who’s been living inside of that cave all his life. Then out of nowhere gets freed to go outside and explore the world. It is like a detoured walk because he is walking in a place where he saw only through shadows so it was very different to his eyes, which when he went back to the cave to share his finding with his friends they had thought he went crazy. This shows that if another person hasn’t gone through what you have then they cant truly understand you. The cave itself is a place for reflection because once the man who was freed comes back he now knows the shadows were just the reflections of real figures that the prisoners were seeing all their lives. One way Platos text is relatable to the reflection was looking at where the prisoners who didn’t leave the cave don’t understand what their friends are saying because they never really went through his experience, because all their lives they only have taught the dark and shadows and taught them to perceive the shadows as real.

  5. Jody R. Rosen

    It’s so interesting to see how many of you connect the detoured walk or experiencing new things outside with the allegory of the cave–experiences so close to what you have always known but that expand your world maybe even beyond recognition.

    The prisoner who escapes the cave finds the light painful at first, but then comes to the point of revelation about the world. Are these milestones of an experience of reflection?

    If we removed all the details of the allegory of the cave–the imprisonment, the false reality, the manipulation by those in power,etc–and all we have left is a cave and the space outside the cave, how do those feel as spaces for reflecting? That is, would you rather an enclosed, dark space to be alone with your thoughts, or a bright, open space? How do our preferences influence how we experience the situation Plato presents us with? What associations do we have with caves that might get us to think further about that physical space?

  6. Jose Bocio

    Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave” it’s relatable with what we are learning now because the prisoners in the cave where trapped in there just looking to shadow silhouettes. They were is experience something different from normal people. The cave was a closed space where the prisoners lost the notion of reality. When one of the prisoners scapes and get out of the cave, observe nature and out in this big space. This makes the prisoners differ from what’s real or not. This relates to what we are leaning because spaces can influence people mind depending on the circumstances they are facing.

  7. Johnathon Abrego

    Platos text is somewhat relatable to the different types of reflection that we have learned. Putting us in a view of a guy going out for the very first time and seeing how different it is from his so cold cave of friends. As he goes back he starts to teach his friends about the outside world and that’s it’s better then there cave putting them in the same position as the dad from the movie the croods. Saying that everything is dangerous leading him to not trying new things meaning not reflecting on his wrongs.

  8. SiniaB

    Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave” is relatable to the lesson on reflection in some ways. The story of the three men in the cave is about three men chained in a cave where they can only see what’s being shown to them. It isn’t until one of them gets released then they go out to explore on their own. The walk that the man was a reflection because he realizes other things that he haven’t seen before when he was chained in the cave.

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